Chiang Mai, Thailand (Temples, Tigers and Elephants, OH MY!!)

Well we got one answer down for sure while we were in Chiang Mai, "We are from the US, yes California, and we will be visiting for four days." This was what all the locals wanted the answer to. "Hi, where are you from, California, how long are you here?" as they said to us at every street corner, temple, restaurant, bar etc...The Thai people on more then one occasion told us how grateful they were for our tourism during this rocky patch in their government. We flew through Bangkok to get to Chiang Mai and we can now say this openly as both sets of parents know about it (after the fact) :) and honestly you wouldn't have known there was any turmoil from the bustling Bangkok airport, probably the biggest airport Jason or I have seen! I'm pretty sure you could spend a week there and not get bored, well if you like shopping and eating that is.

We arrived in Chiang Mai and it seemed to be a bit of a ghost town as the streets seemed sleepy and deserted, but maybe that was just due to the incredible 100 + degree afternoon heat! We decided first thing was first and a beer was needed - it tasted so good we left a fine tip!

We spent the day in the old city of Chiang Mai with our borrowed bikes from our hotel,
Bodene Serene Spa, and wandered around the square and temples that are surrounded by remnants of a medieval wall that was built 700 years ago to defend against Burmese invaders. I think our favorite temple was Wat Chedi Luang that started to be built in 1411 by the Thai king but he died before it was finished and as did the next king and then during the reign of the following king there was an earthquake that left it as it is today, a fantastic ruin!

Wat Chedi Luang

This tube is what they used to get messages up and down from the Chedi

Monk's robes hanging out to dry

Now this was the freakiest thing of all! That little man in the glass cube is real!! I snapped a photo and quickly ran out!

Wat Chiang Man

The highlight of our trip was definitely the Patara Eleaphant Farm, although Jason's might have been the Riverside Restaurant that he ate the best dish of his life, Gang Hung Lae (Burmese Pork Curry), and had to commemorate it with a tee-shirt. At the elephant farm we got to be an elephant owner for a day! Sure that means you get to ride it and go on a great adventure but it also means you have to do some dirty work like check its poop! All in a days ride I guess...

Poop checking

I love this photo of Jason showing the elephant where to go - like its going to listen like his obedient dogs :)

We started the day with doing health checks on our elephants and brushing them off before we headed to the river for their daily bath. Oh and we had to wear the traditional clothes so the elephants would recognize us. Jason looks like he is detailing a car instead of washing an elephant in this picture:

This is how they would follow you, you grab them by their ear and steer.

Did I say that they were getting a bath? Oh yea we got a bath too!

After we all got a good clean we were off for our jungle adventure and we had to learn how to ride them and give commands, they wrote on our arms the Thai commands that the elephants followed.

Up we go!

They prepared a traditional lunch for us at the waterfall and all our extras went back to the elephants

They had babies on the farm too!

What an amazing day!!

The next day we explored the Hilltribes of Chiang Mai, villages up North that Burmese workers call home. They have handicraft shops set up in front of their homes so they can make a living and send their profits back to their families in Burma. We were one of the first people into the village and they were very welcoming, this one man let us come into his home to show us around! Here is Jason and him, he was showing us his homemade mouse trap:

Garlic

Jason testing out the merchandise with a local

I stuck my tongue out at him and it worked as usual - I guess those tricks work anywhere on kids from the US to a small village in Chiang Mai

The Long Neck Tribe

She was my absolute favorite! She was beautiful :)

On our way back from the village we stopped at the Umbrella Making Factory to see where all those paper umbrellas come from in the world - they make them all by hand! Incredible!

We spend our nights exploring the night markets around town and trying out the different food. We had a tuk tuk driver that hung out right outside our house and took us all around with his small passenger that would jump up and down every time we came around to give Dad our business. Some of the time he didn't know where he was going so we would have to stop around town to ask other people. The little guy would always just sigh and get impatient, he was quite the drama king!

That white thing is a mushroom - amazing!

Kalare Night Bazaar

Oh and I'm pretty sure I found my wedding dress - its pink taffeta!

Our last day was a visit to Tiger Kingdom, on the touristy side but we couldn't resist being put in a cage with baby tigers. We opted out of being put in the cage with the large tigers because we would rather have one last lunch in Thailand instead of being lunch! The babies were too cute and of course they loved Jason as all the animals in South East Asia seem to...

We had a great time in Chiang Mai with all the animals! Next blog: Siem Reap Cambodia!