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Published: January 22nd 2008
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Day Five- last day in Chiang Mai.
We have breakfast at the resort, and had been speaking previously to the owner of the place. He is a very serene, lovely man who instantly puts you into a state of calmness I've not experienced before. I was sharing my love of plants with him, and he offered to give Bill and I a tour of the grounds. He is a retired architect, and when he turned his firm over to his son took the land that had been left to his wife by her family and turned into this place. Nothing in the resort is there without a reason...things that are used to hold plants relates to the history of the area, something neither of would have known if not for touring the place. Then he takes us to his real "Fern Paradise"...a greenhouse filled with hundreds of different species of ferns. With great passion he explains how he cultivates them, how everything that is placed in there is done so with thought to not only the best growing conditions but also to be asthetically pleasing. I asked many questions, and I suppose he liked the fact that I was so
interested. He asked me to tell him which fern I liked the best. I chose one, and he then told me he was going to give me spores from that fern to take home and plant myself! I was quite touched, and a little intimidated, I must say. He gave me instructions on how to grow the spores, then turns to Bill and says..."You know, she chose the most expensive fern I have in my entire collection!" No pressure there...I would have liked to have spent more time there. If we go back it's the only place I would stay.
We check out, and Sutthi takes us for an elephant ride. We get a mamma and her baby...and boy, were they hungry! I think the process went something like this...take a step...get a banana. Take another step, banana...and so forth until we were out of bananas. Then there's be another stand with an old woman or man or a couple children selling more bananas...and at 10 Baht a bag of course we always bought more. Meanwhile the baby elephant ran along side me wrapping his trunk around my leg until I'd give him more food...which got to be quite
comical. At the end of the ride we brought out Santa hats we'd brought along to pose for our 2008 Christmas cards...and then got off the elephants and went to lunch.
Another great meal...this time at more of a local establishment. Fish and chicken and pork...all fabulous, but none of them as spicy as I was expecting. That is of course until we add the chili sauce! Ah...the secret ingredient!
Then off to another Karen village. I have mixed feelings about visiting these villages...much as I did last year in Egypt when we went to a Nubian village. These people are trying to live their lives, and here we come parading past and sometimes through their houses (houses...more like shacks)like they are entertainment. That beinf=g said...I guess they make money that way...so it's a double edged sword. I buy another couple scaves from a woman there (I was careful to pick ones I knew had been made in the village, not ones that had been bought in town and sold there) and we left and went to take a bamboo raft ride.
The ride was fun...and of course I got soaked! Bill was wearing the quick dry
pants...I on the other hand was not. I was hoping I would dry out before we got to the airport! Stopped at a handicraft market...got some sticky rice inside a bamboo shoot...very interesting, and did a little more shopping. My daughter wanted a Buddha statue, and Sutthi had received a call from someone asking him to buy a couple as well. I guess I'm a better bargainer than he was...I got mine for a LOT less than he did!
Sutthi drops us off a little early at the airport...he has to drive to Chiang Rai that night to begin a three day trip with a family the next morning. It was a good thing too...when we arrived we found out that ALL the Bangkok Air flights had been cancelled...we went to the desk and with some bit of wheeling and dealing they got us on a flight back to Bangkok on Thai Air. We don't get back until after 11, and we're starving! We end up just eating at the McDonald's...we're too tired to try to walk around to find a place that's open. It's funny...we don't even eat at McDonald's here in the States!
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