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Published: December 19th 2010
We got back to Bangkok early after our restful journey on the government bus - this is definately the way to go from now on - and headed towards the hotel that we had stayed at when we were there before, so that we could spend the day by the pool as it was so hot, before catching our overnight train that night to Chaing Mai in the north. We had some dinner and then made our way to the train station on the other side of town for our 10pm train, something we had been looking forward to as it would mean we had tried almost every mode of transport in Thailand - bus, moped, tuk tuk, ferry, car and now train. We boarded and were pleased to see the beds were already set up - bunk bed style- so we got in one each (they were actually comfortable and had a curtain you could pull accross for privacy) and after a while drifted off to sleep, but not before squashing a few bugs that were running around (!).
We woke up in the morning when it was light to great countryside views, we both enjoyed hanging outside of
the train like in old western movies whilst the other one took photos from a carriage further back and after a while we pulled into Chiang Mai station around 2pm, pleased that it was sunny but cooler than Bangkok. We jumped in a tuk tuk and went to the centre of town for lunch and to look for a guesthouse for a few days. After a while we found one in a great location with a small pool and nice clean rooms so had a quiet afternoon before changing and heading out in the evening. We had read about a restaurant and bar on the river which was said to have good food as well as live music, so we went there and were surprised at how lively it was - the atmosphere was great as was the food, and we enjoyed listening to the Thai band for a few hours who were pretty good, although their version of 'Walerie' will not have Amy Whinehouse quaking in her boots and was not so good haha. We then wanted to dance so got a tuk tuk to a club we had heard of called Bubbles in a hotel called the PornPing
(?) but it had closed down recently! So we headed back to our guesthouse and went to few bars near there before calling it a night around 1am, excited for the next day...
The next morning we were up early for a quick breakfast before we were picked up and taken to ... an Elephant sanctuary! We had booked this a few days before and it was something we were really looking forward to as we'd never done anything like this before. We didn't just want to ride an elephant and at this place you actually get to learn about the elephants wash them, feed them and be around them all day which is just what we wanted. We arrived at the sanctuary around 10am and caught our first glimpse of these magnificant animals as we pulled in to the car park. The sanctuary was started by a Thai woman called Lek who rescues abused, out of work and injured ele's from places all around Thailand and gives them a new home and life in her park, which is over 150acres of lush greenery and river. The park is also home to over 70 rescue dogs! We were shown
around before our guide for the day (called Bird) told us it was feeding time so we headed over to feed the elephants their morning munch which was tons of watermelon, pineapple and pumpkin - they eat so much, roughly 10% of their body weight per day, so a 500kg ele would eat a whooping 7.8 stone of fruit per day!
There are 36 ele's at the park including 2 small babies who were so cute and born in the park! There were a couple of ele's with bad legs and feet and we later found out they had been victims of landmines which had exploded when they walked on them when they were working, so they now walked with a limp and couldn't work so Lek bought them to the park as they would have been abandoned otherwise by their previous owners. There was also one who was blind as she wouldn't work for her previous owners so they poked her eyes out to punish her which is just awful but she seemed happy at the park. It was so sad to see and hear these kinds of stories but lovely to see the animals having a new
lease of life and they seemed on the road to recovery here at the park.
After the eles had their morning feed we had some free time to wonder around the park and just look at the ele's which was great as we'd never seen these so close up before and they really are amazing creatures. It was then time for some lunch for us before the ele's afternoon bathing time! We walked to the river with buckets and waited for the ele's to be bought over by their mahouts (trainers) so we could wash them which they love. When they were in the water we threw buckets of water over them and splashed them and they responded by sucking uop water in their trunks and throwing it around! They then would get out and get muddy before getting back in, they really seemed to enjoy this and it was so good to be part of it. It was then the babies turns to be washed but as they were naughty we couldn't be in the water with them so watched from a platform above - they were so cute!
We then went to watch a short film
about the plight of the ele's in Thailand which was so sad as it showed how although they are a religious symbol in the country and considered almost royal, they are treated so badly in some parts and considered in the same league as cows and sheep so have no rights...it made the ele's at the park seem so lucky and we wished all the ele's could end up as happy as them but we know this isn't realistic unfortuantely. Afterwards it was time for the ele's afternoon feed of more fruit and veg, some of them were so greedy and tried to eat 2 or 3 baskets full instead of just their one haha. We then went to watch them just playing and one ele gave (or tired to give) us a big wet kiss with his trunk! We had time for one more river wash before getting ready to leave the park - again it was so good to interact with these creatures so closely, we had one of the best days ever and wished we could have stayed for a few days with them!
As it was a Saturday night and we had such a great
meal the night before we decided to head back to the riverside restaurant. The food was again superb, especially the steamed fish with lemongrass, chilli and lime, again there were a few bands playing which we watched and danced to until closing - we didn't carry on too late though as we would be up again early for an all day thai cooking school, which included an early morning visit to the local market.
The cooking school we had chosen was called Siem Rice run by Nancy and her husband Pot - the whole day took place in her actual home and by the end of it we both felt like part of the family as they were both so welcoming and great teachers. The day started with an ingredients test at the local food market where we had to identify various smells, tastes and types of ingredient (lemon grass, 3 types of basil, ginger, various chilli's, etc) before spending 10 minutes or so walking around with the local's who were all out purchasing fresh fish and ingredients for their restaurants.
We then arrived at the cooking school and were introduced to the chefs and family (and their little
puppy which Vic fell in lovw with) before deciding which each of us wanted to cook. We were told we would be cooking seven dishes and we would have to choose one item each from each category - curry paste, curry, noodles, soup, dessert, stir-fry, salad - I wont list all 14 dishes (as we each picked something different) which we cooked but a few of the highlights were; fried chicken with holy basil and chilli, pad si-eww noodles, red curry, tom yum soup and coconut sticky rice with mango.
We then donned our aprons (Scott's was a garish pink) before moving outside to the open air kitchen and stoves. We were told not to eat breakfast the day we arrived as we would be eating everything we cooked - but we never quite imagined how much. First up we cooked the soup and stir fry dishes before having a break to eat them, then it was back to work with the noodles and salad prep - both of which were very good and the hosts were very entertaining - after eating those we started work on the curry pastes and curries themselves - before of course eating them
too - then as if we weren't totally stuffed it was dessert time and we polished off the coconut rice and mango too - needless to say all the food was awesome and we left with a recipe book and apron, totally stuffed and very proud of ourselves for all the cooking we had done - we will be trying to re-create the dishes at home but not sure it will be quite the same!
After getting back and having a quick nap and freshen up, we headed to the famous Chaing Mai Sunday night market - it was absolutely huge and consumed about 4 blocks - each stall selling traditional home made thai crafts and great little food stalls (which was so nice compared to the same, same copied goods you see in most markets in Thailand) Scott got to fire a small ball bearing pistol at some targets and all the Wats (temples) were amazing to see at sunset, we were there for a good few hours and it was strange but a great experience to learn that twice a day the national anthem is broadcast over speakers and the whole street comes to a standstill and
observes it in silence - we found this out the hard way when we were walking and talking and everyone else was as still as statues. We weren't even that hungry, but passed a really nice looking italian and as we hadn't had pasta for so long we ended up sharing . . . a couple . . . of dishes, promising ourselves we would be good for the next few days. We then decided to call it a night but not before arranging with a tuk-tuk driver to meet us at our hostel at 7.45am the next morning to take us to the Tiger Kingdom which is around 15km outside of Chaing Mai - before we had to head to the airport at midday...
So up early again the next morning we headed to Tiger Kingdom not quite sure what to expect - we had heard you pay to go in the tiger enclosures with the actual tigers who are very calm because they are used to humans but we weren't sure we belived this so wanted to see for oursleves. We arrived by tuk tuk about 40 minutes after leaving CM (via a monkey park which we
didn't want to go in to as the monkey's were in small cages) and were shown the options available...There were 4 different sized tigers which you could choose to go in enclosures with - smallest (3-5 months old), small (6-9 months), medium and big. Now once we saw this and read more info about the tigers and why they are calm it made a lot more sense - this is the only tiger park in Asia that the tigers are not sedated through drugs and it was clear to see that in their big enclosures and the frredom they have to roam around that they were treated well (they are so sleepy and hot in the day which is why they don't move around much, plus as they don't have to hunt for their food they are not overly aggresive.) We were one of the first people to arrive at the park and we both selected to do the smallest tigers first together after which Scott would go in with the huge ones. It was quite possibly the luckiest we had ever been that when we arrived at the smallest enclosure we were told that their were one month old
tiger cubs who we could play with . . . Cue huge excitement for both of us!!!! Originally we were told we had ten minutes to spend with the 3 month old cubs but this turned into 25 minutes with both these and the newborns just us two and the two keepers - it was without doubt one of the most incredible, amazing thing we have ever experienced. The cubs were so playful and small like cats, they were so cute and kept fighting with each other which was lovely to see, we got to pick them up and roll around with them and although they were little, their paws and claws were getting big. Vic's then got the chance to feed (through a milk bottle) one of the sleepy 3 month old cubs, who were already the size of a medium dog - but again so, so, cute. We got to hold them like babies and cuddle them whilst they slept. We then went back in with the newborns for one last play around before it was time to say our goodbyes, give kisses and leave. (I think if we were in CM another day we would have probably
gone again!).
Scott then braced himself as it was time to go in with the big beasts. They were fully grown adults and there was 3 keepers to each tiger. It was very scary compared to the little cubs but also an amazing experience putting your head on their bodies and hearing their stomachs rumble and hearts beat. Vic's was happy to observe Scott slowly approaching the Tigers from the saftey above.
We then had to head off back to Chaing Mai as we had a flight to catch; we were saying goodbye to Thailand for a while as our next destination was Laos . . .
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Amanda Moore
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Wonderful experiences
How amazing Chiang Mai must have been, everything you did, just wow. I cried when I read about the mistreated elephants. It will take a lot to compare to these few days! Keep having fun you two! xxxxxx