Northern Thailand Coursework and Encounters with Wildlife

WATER MARKETS: Cool sight, but they only take you to the touristy part where everyone sells the same tourist geared paraphernalia.

TIGER TEMPLE: A tiger cub first arrived at the monastery in 1999 after her mother was killed by poachers. Although the monks cared for her and helped her recover, she ended up becoming ill and dying. Everyone in the temple and surrounding cities was saddened by this and decided they did not want to see another tiger go mistreated so they now care for tigers who are intercepted from poachers. These poachers make up to $5,800 (year's salary for a farmer) for killing a tiger - well worth it. Currently, the monastery is in the progress of building a huge open air "natural" enclosure for the tigers because over the years, they've reproduced and their numbers have increases. Touching story, but the $15 I paid to see them was a joke.

Basically, I walked in there expecting to see tigers, but not wanting real wild tigers cause I don't want to die.... and then I found myself in some kind of an amusement park... You wait in a line until it's your turn. Then you give your camera to one of the 30 people in yellow shirts. They take your hand and you walk you over to the first tiger. You sit, take a photo and stand up. They grab your hand again and walk you over to the next tiger. Flash. Flash. Next tiger. And so on until you've had your picture taken with all of them.

What's the "tiger experience" like? Oh you know... they're all just laying there like they're dead. For a while I was thinking the $15 I was paying was going towards the drugs these tigers are injected with to stay so comatose, but one of the guys there assured me he wouldn't be working there if drugs were involved. The reason they're so lethargic is because they're 1) "fed well" aka overfed chicken and pork (probably gourmet) from Bangkok and 2) they're naturally not really active during the day - even less so with the heat. So... the tigers are basically fat, lazy and hot... fabulous....

The baby tigers are a little more energetic and when one of my friends wanted a picture I ran up ahead of a baby tiger on a leash to take it. It thought I wanted to play so it started running after me and wanted to jump on me and probably bite my leg off. You see, the funny thing about these tigers is that they're domesticated and used to humans. They've become "desensitized" to us and have no desire to kill or eat people... they just want to plaaaay... except playing and "play biting" for them means one less leg for you. But don't worry, the big ones are just enjoying the high life. They don't play. They just want some more chicken and they'll put up with all the tourists and photo taking you want.

CHIANG MAI: Cool city, but nothing to do here except get involved in Thailand's cultural side by signing up for mountain tours or cooking/massage/etc. courses. Everyone says it's "the coolest city in Thailand" and yes... it is... but that's only because the other option is Bangkok.


MASSAGE COURSE: I spent 3 days learning how to give a 2 hour Thai massage in a little town outside Chiang Mai. The course was one on one and my teacher was the cutest Thai lady ever! She cooked me lunch (and didn't put hornets in it though she herself ate boiled bugs like chips), took me to see a Thai celebration and talked to me about politics and Thai women who use western men for money they eventually buy stuff for their real boyfriends with. Can I give you a massage yet, you ask? No. I have my book and notes, but it's going to take lots of practice. I have new respect for these masseuses because becoming one is a lot harder than I thought.


PAI: In addition to Ko Tao, I would also come back to Pai if in Thailand. Pai is a small hippie liberal mountain village of 3000 people. At night, there's live music everywhere and during the day you can rent motor bikes and go out to visit the hill tribes and get lost among fields of rice paddies. (I finally drove a motorbike! :) ). There's also 80 degree natural hot springs which are very theraputic and here too, I participated in a bunch of activities. See below.

MEDITATION and YOGA: I originally wanted to meditate with monks on an overnight retreat in Chiang Mai, but for some reason they were all canceled for the month. I couldn't do it in Pai either, but I was at least able to attend a morning meditation session with some western hippie guy and ask questions after. The next day I did yoga. As some of you know, I hate yoga. I like jogging, spinning, kick boxing and basically anything where I'm moving, feeling like I'm getting a work out and sweating... none of this "hold position and be at peace" stuff. BUT, you'll be happy to know that I only looked at the clock about 5 instead of 500 times during the 2 hour yoga session I attended here. I think the reason is because the lady was Hindu and we did yoga in her open air house with pretty rugs on the floor, Hindu decorations all over and really chill music playing. It was relaxing and "spiritual". I tried to get the most out of both my meditation and yoga experiences and I feel I was able to only because these activities fit the location where I was. (MISC FACT: I learned the difference between meditation and hatha yoga. In meditation, you sit and try to reach your inner space where there are no thoughts. In yoga (the type I did - "Hatha"), you're trying to get to the same place, but while doing movements that are supposed to help keep your mind occupied so it's easier for you to reach that point.)

On this topic, I've got to say, its a very different life these people lead and so unlike mine. Those who do yoga spend their time lighting incense, praying to their gods, listening to calming music, eating fresh fruit or healthy vegetarian meals and sitting in strange positions that stretch, build strength, and help them find themselves.... Those who meditate (like the monks) sit in silence or repeat the same words/phrase over and over as they're meditating... and that's it.... ALL DAY EVERY DAY FOR HOURS AND HOURS. I know I couldn't do it, but I'm very impressed.

ELEPHANT RIDING = ABUSIVE AND NEVER AGAIN!:
I wanted to really ride an elephant, not sit in a box on top of one, but you needed 2 people... so I made Mike do it with me against his will. I really expected to ride a happy elephant, see some pretty jungle scenery and jump in the mud colored river to "bathe and play" with them as advertised. How was my real experience? Well, we both hopped on. Elephants are BIG creatures and straddling one is 1) painful if you're on its actual skin because it has spiky 1 inch long cactus hair and 2) interesting because it moves its spine slowly so you constantly shift from right to left. I was comfortable, but Mike was in pain.... I guess being male and riding an elephant should not really be recommended if you want to have children one day... That aside though, we felt awful because what it came down to was us paying to see our guide hitting the elephant and using a hook to turn its head from side to side. It was brutal. And then, when we went to the river, the elephant didn't want to go in. So, the guide tried to turn it (by severely beating its head and hooking it) and it started bucking and rolled down (almost on top of me). I can still remember making eye contact with Mike thinking "This is it. I'm going to get crushed by an elephant. Tell my family I love them". Luckily, the current took me away from the elephant so I lived. Mike got thrown off too and we floated down the river. When we made it to shore, we looked back to see the guide wrestling with the elephant, beating and hooking it as it stood up on 2 feet and was moving in all sorts of directions trying to tell the guide "NO!". We were done. It was an experience, to say the least, but I don't want to support this kind of elephant riding ever again. What's also sad is that elephants are not used for anything BUT tourism these days... so they just sit there chained, depressed and diseased looking with discolored ears until someone chooses to ride them. I'm sure the beating and hook doesn't hurt them as much as you would think because they've got strong, tough skin, but it really ruined my experience.... as did the guide throwing a stick directly into a dog to make it run off so the elephant (who is afraid of dogs) could keep walking in the right direction....oh... happy HAPPY day....

PEOPLE: I keep wanting to have ME time and travel alone, but I'm constantly meeting people and failing. In Pai, I hung out with Mike (the 20 year old), Rachel (a really white, blue eyed girl with freckles from Canada whose 30 and backpacked a whole chunk of Africa BY HERSELF), a British guy on his 4th vacation to Thailand and a couple from Kentucky who are teaching English in Bangkok. Everyone has such interesting stories from shootings in Africa, how touchy Thai men are with other men and how good Al Jazeera TV (which you get here) is (international and on par with the BBC). I can't help but be intrigued.

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