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Published: June 21st 2005
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Whatta Wat...
For Buddhism being a very moderate religion, their temples certainly don't spare any expense... Chiang Mai was my favorite place in all of Thailand. It is a city of about 500,000 inhabitants, and it’s very cozy and homey. It appears warmer and friendlier than Bangkok, and it's even cleaner (judging by what I saw anyway). Everything about Chiang Mai was fantastic—we had the best hotel, the most fun (I think), and so on. There are little shops and eating places everywhere, and the Night Market is great. Not only do can you go shopping in this huge complex that makes up the Night Market, but there is also a free drag show (that doesn’t even compare to the Calypso Cabaret) and kick boxing tournament. There’s also a pretty zoo, temples, and lots of really intriguing places to get lost. In addition, we also found a car bar run by a Thai guy dressed as a Rastafarian. Fantastic!
What we did/Where to go:
1. Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep: This temple seemed smaller, but just as sparkly as the one in Bangkok. What made this wat even more interesting was the after walking through, we had a lecture on Buddhism by a real live monk! By the way, this is where we got to see
the monk strip tease…he was showing us how they tie their togas up. And I bought Buddhist prayer beads and a sparkly spirit house.
2. Orchid Jade: The Orchid Jade is a glorified jewelry and knick-knack store that specializes in jade, jadeites, and other select precious stones. While it is really cool and everything is genuine, it is also pricey (Western prices returned here). I didn’t buy anything because at this point I was still hoarding my money and I went to a place exactly like this last year in Beijing, China, and I dropped $180 there on jade stuff. So, I was jaded. Hee… Still, if you’re looking to buy jewelry or really cool jade carvings, this would be a place to hit up.
3. Chiang Mai Zoo: This zoo was very nice, and they are making additions to it. It was nicer than some I’ve been to in the States. And they have animals there you wouldn’t think they would have in a tropical-type climate like Thailand has…polar bears, and I think they had penguins too. Maybe not. Four of us were there on a mission during the scavenger hunt to find the pandas. We found
Wicked Elephant Camp
Seemed innocent and fun before I learned I was giving an elephant back problems! the pandas, but it was another 100 baht just to get to see them, so we took a pic of the big stuffed one at the entrance, and then we left.
4. McKean Rehabilitation Center: This place is awesome, but it’s not open to the average tourist. McKean is a treatment center for people with leprosy, and the director is a really well spoken Australian woman. The area that this center is in is gorgeous also. The thing that makes this treatment center so neat is that it has a housing complex for those who have no where to go and who have been turned out by their families, and it has a handicrafts store of things all made by lepers!! The idea behind this is to help the people who live there and who are being treated feel empowered and give them something to feel proud about. The profits from the items that are sold go to the individuals who made them, as well as the treatment center. I bought a painting, chopsticks, a fan, a wood carved water buffalo, a keychain, necklaces, and a metal bookmark all made by lepers!
Email address (if you would like to buy something): handicrafts@mckeanhosp.org
5. Nikki’s Place Agape Home: Nikki’s Place is one of the things right in this world. It is an AIDS/HIV orphanage (named after one of the first children to live there and adopted by the director). Presently, there are over 50 some children who live there—not all of them have AIDS or HIV, but some of them have parents or other care takers who have died from AIDS. Canadian missionaries Avis Rideout (who is quite the character) and her husband Roy are the founders and in charge of the home. Our small group played with the children for an hour or so. We came bearing stuffed toy lizards. It was so fun! We were a group of 6 attacked by a baby explosion! The other 15 or so of us were partyin' it up trekking…which is cool and I would have liked to do it also, but almost every tourist in Thailand does it…we took the road less traveled by visiting here…or trekked… so to speak… For anyone interested, there is information available for sponsoring a child from Agape.
Website: www.agapehome.blogspot.com
We also went to a random silver jewelry store, a snake show (where I saw a guy basically make out with a snake, then they played a Richard Marx song…), and an orchid and butterfly farm, but these were all little side things we did on a one-day tour group. We weren’t at any of the places very long.
We also did the riding of the bamboo rafts and elephants—almost prerequisites for leaving the country, but really freakin’ awesome. You can do these things about anywhere in Thailand, but I suggest that wherever you go to ride elephants, steer clear of the camps that put baskets on the elephants' backs. From what I heard from someone else in our group after we were reunited, it’s not good for them and the neck is the best place to ride them because they are strongest there. I found out we went to a wicked elephant camp!!!
We left the country and went to Ha Long Bay, Vietnam next.
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