Siam and her Thai Smile

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We arrived into Chiang Mai around mid day on Monday and caught our free transfer to Eagle Guest House 2. Not a bad place with private rooms, AC and ensuite bathroom for only 4 pounds 50 per night (about 9 dollars per night). Bit of a backpacker shock for mom but by the following day I think she felt a bit better about her very budget surroundings. The monsoon is following us now and we spent the first day sheltering from the brief downpours while enjoying the local cafes. Had lunch at The Wall owned by a Dutch/Thai couple whose club sandwiches have now become a daily essential for Ev (even 2 to 3 times a day!-madness). We had our first (of I'm sure many) Thai oil massages. How can you not when a 1 hour foot massage (including the cracking of every single toe-ouch!) costs 2 pounds and a 1 hour full body massage costs 4 pounds. Ev has had one every day since we arrived and ensures me he plans to continue having one a day until we leave Thailand. Dinner at the Thai Thai where we booked our 1 day trek for Wednesday!

The next day got up for a bit of sight seeing through Chiang Mai's old town. We wandered through markets selling fruit and fresh fish (so fresh they were still alive and swimming) and past wat (temple) after wat. The wats are beautiful here covered in gold, silver and anything else that shines. Carvings of dragons, naga (sort of half snake, half dragon) and tigers guard the steps to keep the bad spirits away and statues of buddha grace the interiors. Truly peaceful no matter your religion. Ended up a bit lost in the old town (probably would help if the map I had actually had real street names on it) and had to flag down a tuk tuk to get us back to the guesthouse.

Wednesday morning arrived and we were raring to go on our 1 day trek. We started our morning driving about 1 hour out of Chiang Mai into the surrounding countryside passing rice fields on our way. Our first stop was the elephant riding station. This station is based on the edge of a rural village where the elephants have grown up. Each elephant has it's own mahout (trainer) that has been with it since about age 4. Elephants used to be used in Thailand as timber workers (carrying felled trees) and war machines. Now they have an easier life taking tourists on 1 hour rides through the forests surrounding the village. They work halfdays during which time they are constantly fed sweets (bananas and sugar cane) by their riders.

We boarded our elephant for our ride with a big bag of bananas in hand. Too bad our elephant was privy to this fact as he stopped about 10 feet after we started already begging for his first banana. Even though the bag was stuffed full of fruit no way was it going to last me the entire one hour ride. Every couple minutes he would haul his trunk back in my face wanting a treat. If I decided to ignore him he would continue to breathe in and out at me to get my attention. Elephant breath mixed with bananas is not at all pleasant so I tended to give in and feed him every time he "asked". The worst time was when climbing a steep hill he stopped short of the top for a treat, refusing to go on until I caved in. As I ran out of bananas we just happened to pass by a hut on silts with more bananas for sale. They have us tourists figured out.
In fear of having our elephant stop and refuse to go on I bought another bag (boy am i a sucker).

We continued our trek down the river bank and through the river. We had a small elephant with the group who decided to lay in the river in front of our elephant to cool off before continuing on. It wasn't long until he rolled himself in the sand before we got out of the river and back to where we started. So dear!

From the elephant ride we headed for the Karen Hill Tribe village. Many of the hill tribes in Northern Thailand have migrated from other places in Asia in the past centuries and settled here to enjoy more freedom than they had in their home countries. The Karen tribe is the biggest and lives in houses built on silts. We had a walk around the village before trekking to a nearby waterfall. The trek wasn't too intense but the humidity was and I was dying for a swim by the time we arrived. We slipped down the clay banks (literally- the bamboo railings were all the saved me from the most ungraceful descent of my life!) and took a dip in the waterfall- such relief!

After refreshing we continued our trek to the Mahong Hill tribe village over wooden planks (also known as bridges in this part of the world) suspended over sometimes fast flowing water to add a bit of adventure to our trek. We past the spirit houses that sit on the edges of the village. Thai people are great believers in spirits. They believe by building these houses they will give the good spirits some place to stay so they can protect their villages. They bring food, water and flowers occasionally to keep the spirits happy so they stay.

The Mahong originally are from China and journeyed through Vietnam and Laos less than 100 years ago for freedom. They have their own language that is similar to Chinese although it is not a written language.

From the village we went back into town past our now happy elephants (roaming the fields freely,enjoying the river, lunch and no tourists) for a traditional Thai lunch of broth (made from chicken feet), rice, stir fried veg, curried chicken and potatos and fresh pineapple and melon! From lunch we headed to our last activity of the day- bamboo river rafting.

The raft they use is simply long shoots of bamboo strung together with what looks like old lengths of rubber. They quickly built our rafts (in front of us which was a bit unnerving) and crossing our fingers that they would hold we boarded. You sit right on the raft and as it is just bamboo you basically sit in the river for the entire journey. Good fun unless you forget your bathing suit (right mom?)!

Our (not so happy) poler took us down the river through rapids (very tiny but still exhilirating) and past some amazing scenery. We got stuck quite a few times when our poler had to jump in the river and pull us out (thus the reason for his unhappiness). Although he did get us back by nearly beheading us and our raft mates with the occasional tree or rock sitting in or on the edge of the river. Our 1 hour rafting was fantastic and a great end to the day.

Thursday was a bit less action packed and consisted of a 1 hour foot massage (I love Thailand) for 2 pounds and lazing around. Lovely! It is also Buddha Day in Thailand. A day when the religion is celebrated with going to temple, parades and a day when no alcohol or tobacco is sold in the country. We went to a few temples to see some of the ceremonies. The monks chanted and candles were lit and processed around. In the old days you would take a candle to the temple to give to the monks (as there was no electricity) now it remains a traditional gift.

The next morning we headed for the highest temple in Chiang Mai - Doi Suthep. First stopping at the bus station to by our tickets for Chiang Rai next week we caught the shuttle to the zoo and then the red truck (taxi) up the winding road to Doi Suthep. Sadly the motion sickness began about halfway up the 20 minute taxi journey and I felt dreadful by the time we reached the top. After recovering we began the walk up 306 steps to the top past the naga (7 headed dragon/snake).

The temple was packed as the holiday was still being celebrated. Faithful Buddhists bought candles and flowers to "give" to Buddha. This festival, like many in Asian countries, coincides with the beginning of the rainy season- a time when life is given through the rains. We didn't get a view of the city from the top due to the mist but it was still worth the trip up. Spent the rest of the day recovering from the zig zag journey before heading to the famous Night Bazaar. The night bazaar is a must see in Chiang Mai where you can buy everything and anything while practicing your bargaining. Home via tuk tuk.

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Photos

The digs
Eagle Guesthouse 2

Alive and well
for the moment

Rice
just before the harvest

village
where i bought the 2nd bag