A Thai Tale

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Chiang Mai

Once we crossed the border early in the morning we discovered minibuses to Chiang Mai were full, a minor hissy fit on Debbies part later (mainly due to concerns over when I was going to get breakfast) we boarded the public bus instead, which was more expensive than a private minibus but we did get a free bottle of water and 2 free packets of biscuits which more than made up for it in our opinion (and solved the lack of breakfast quandry!) We got into Chiang Mai about 4pm after 7 hours on this bus and after discovering our first 2 choices of guesthouse were full we booked into the OK guest house. After freshening up and then getting caught in a rain storm we went for a mexican and an ice cream before wandering home via a cocktail bar. The next day was our only real day in Chiang Mai so we decided we wanted to explore however it was pouring with rain so we went to the Central Airport Plaza for some shopping (it was absolutely huge). On our return we headed to the Sunday night market which was the biggest market I think we've come across (and we're writing this having completed our tour of Aisa) it sold almost everything and was ridiculously busy and had amazing food. We spent ages exploring and didn't even cover a lot of the side roads onto which stalls had spilled over. Not completely laden down but with a few purchases we then returned to our guest house as we had another early start in the morning!

Amazing week with elephants and the Chiang Mai Elephant Nature Park

We got picked up early by Brad Pitt (or mammoth as he also liked to be known - neither of which being his actual name!) who took us to the office of Elephante Nature Park to collect our volunteer t-shirts - we were volunteering for a week doing various tasks. We then drove to the park which was about an hour north of Chiang Mai, via the market to collect watermelons, bananas, sugar cane and lots of other fruit to feed the elephants. We arrived at the park just in time for feeding so that we could help out. On our first day we were simply guests at the park so didn't actually have to do any work. We just watched the elephants, gave them a bath in the river, had a talk on the aims of the park and watched a really sad film about how elephants are treated elsewhere and also learnt the tales of a lot of the elephants who have been rescued and our now living in the sanctuary. We learnt how baby elephants are trained for work (be it trekking or painting or performing in shows) - basically they are locked in a cage where they cant move and poked with a stick which has a nail at the tip which goes into their skin - the idea is to break their spirit - it really was quite disturbing). The proceedure is known as the Phajaan - Wikipedia it or worse look it up on youtube!

To demonstrate the conditions a lot of the elephants are in I shall tell you about Medo the elephant whose injuries our most obvious to the naked eye as you will see from the photos (when we get round to putting them up). Medo worked in the logging industry and when logging became illegal she continued work illegally however she was too young to be working and so broke her ankle due to the loads she was carrying. Since she was still young but realising she would never work again she was sold to someone aware of her condition but who wanted her to earn her keep - i.e. by producing children. She was chained to a tree and essentially raped by an agressive bull in musth (kind of like elephant periods but affects men - they become more aggressive and dominant). She collapsed from the exhaustion of the rape and since the bull was chained too it took two days for someone to assess her injuries as they were too afraid to go near the bull) When they did find her she had a dislocated spine and a broken pelvis - injuries she has never recovered from caused by the weight of this agressive bull on her back. She was rescued by Lek (the founder of the park) and brought to the park where she now lives and has her injuries treated as best as is possible. Unfortunately none of the other elephants (except one) accept her as her appearance is so different they don't realise she is one of them - nonetheless her existence is much happier at the park than it would have been anywhere else!

The food at the park was absolutely sensational - buffet breakfast lunch and dinner which loads of dishes to choose from - stacking the plate became quite an art form! Work there consisted mainly of shovelling poo in the morning to clean up the elephants homes and the elephant platform (where the visitors feed them) which wasn't the most pleasant but was worth it to be so up close with the elephants so often. We also had other projects such as collecting banana trees, building a fence and steps (which we are very proud of!), planting trees etc.

Towards the end of the week we went up to the elephant haven which is a place up in the hills where the elephants can roam free for the night (at the park they roam free all day - unlike elephants at any other elephant place in Chiang Mai where they are chained the whole time they arent being worked - but they are chained up at night to stop them straying into nearby farmers fields angering the farmers) it was about a 2 hour walk up there where we camped out in a little hut for the night before trekking through the forest to find the elephants in the morning. It was amazing to see the elephants so happy - they knew where they were going and couldn't wait to get there - they were also really pleased to see their mahouts in the morning (the elephant keepers) and literally ran towards them (possibly because they had bananas!)

We could keep talking about this week and the elephants for pages and pages as it really was an incredible experience but there is lots more to talk about so we shall stop there!

One thing - and sorry to lecture but please never go 'elephant trekking' or buy an elephant painted painting or visit an elephant circus - we have seen how they are trained, how they have their spirits broken etc - disturbing doesn't even come close!Also don't believe places that call themselves elephant rescue centres - the above park is the only such place in the whole of South East Asia - the rest treat the elephants in an appauling manner for their own personal profit. lecture over, for now.

Cooking School Chiang Mai

The day after we left the elephant park we did a cooking class back in Chiang Mai in the Thai Cookery School run by Sompon Nabnian a thai celebrity chef. It was much fun and the food was amazing! We cooked fried big noodles with sweet soy sauce, steamed fish in banana leaves, yellow curry with chicken, chicken with cashew nuts, spicy prawn salad and bananas in coconut milk. The dishes were all really easy (although we did have experts watching us to make sure we didnt make mistakes) and we were given a cookery book of the dishes and a load more so we shall have to see whether we can recreate them at home! Anyway it was a very fun day and we left feeling very very full (especially after the 7 previous days of buffet food!) The cookery school dropped us off at the train station where we boarded a sleeper train down to bangkok.

Bangkok part one

Overnight trains are much nicer than overnight buses it has to be said although there still wasnt a lot of sleep had. However on arriving to Bangkok we discovered that by the time we got to Champon we would have missed the last ferry to Koh Tao so would have to spend the night there. As an alternative we decided to spend the day in Bangkok and get the overnight train down to Chumpon arriving in the morning. Unfortunately there were no beds left so it was a night on an upright seat again! With 12 hours to fill in bangkok and running on not a lot of sleep our first stop was to find breakfast. Mission accomplished we headed to the grand palace. It was quite expensive to get in and we had to borrow ultra fashion clothing to ensure we were covered properly. Was quite spectacular inside especially the kings throne and the emerald buddha. After a few hours exploring here we headed to Siam square and the famous MBK shopping centre which was ginormous! We had dinner in the food court and then headed back to the station absolutely exhausted to prepare for a long journey without much sleep!

Koh Tao

Running on little if any sleep from the past 2 days we got on board a ferry to Koh Tao which got in about 9:30am. Jon found us a good place to stay where we could do our PADI open water course. Our group turned out to be just the two of us so we got 2 to one tuition (or one on one a lot of the time). We went for an explore but feeling completely exhausted we had to return for a nap before beginning our course in the late afternoon by watching a video. In the evening we went to a cool bar with neon beads in the trees and watched a man doing fire poi before heading to bed ready for early starts to begin our course. On the first day we were just in the pool learning some techniques then in the afternoon we took our theory exam (where we got 100%!b(MISSING)ecause we're geeks!). The next 2 days we did 2 dives each day, the first 2 at 12m and the 2nd 2 at 18m practicing lots of skills on the way to ensure we could get our open water. This generally took up just the morning leaving the afternoon free. We headed to the beach for some sunbathing and swimming (the water was like a bath) and Jon got chatted up by a South African man who told us to head to the opposite side of the island for the evening. That we did and headed to Queens Cabaret show! This was basically a group of ladyboys in super flambouyant costumes miming to cheesy songs and dancing - it was absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately afterwards we had to walk back again and it literally being the other side of the island this took about 50mins of up and down hills but we made it back...eventually! After we completed our final dive we had to leave the island to catch the ferry to koh Phangan.

Koh Phangan - Had Rin

We arrived at the port and got a tuktuk taxi along the crazy roads to Haad Rin where Jon found us some pretty good accommodation in Bird Bungalows, walking distance from the full moon beach but far away enough so that we could actually sleep. Evening being upon us we headed to a really cool bar a little way down the beach for a drink then went to explore Haad Rin. Unfortunately the night escalated (and D wasn't even drinking due to being on antibiotics) and we ended up at the beach where there were loads of thai people selling buckets and doing fire poi etc and loads of people about. One bar made a limbo with a line of fire (hard to explain) and another had a skipping rope. Jon had several buckets and we had a dance and some giggles (I shall say no more) before getting home about 4:30am - and so began our nights of being nocturnal. The next day Jon went to do a yoga class & Debbie went exploring and sunbathing. In the evening we went to the bar which became our usual prebeach bar and bumped into Ella - a girl we had met at the Elephant Park - who was with a load of her friends. The lot of us then headed to a cross dressing beach party. It was absolutely crazy but so much fun (D no longer on antibiotics) there were bodies everywhere all in minimal clothing. After a while we headed to the beach and the night continued....
Did not feel good the next day which was the 19th and full moon eve. Today was a holy Buddha day in Thailand so when we headed to the beach it was really quiet - it wasnt until 12:30am (and thus no longer the 20th) that the music began as did the dancing! The beach had been getting increasingly busy every night in the run up to the full moon and the atmosphere was electric. We headed to Mamas Chicken Schnitzel (amazing sarnies) and got chatting to a funny guy called Alex before heading to bed sometime between 4:30 and 5:30am...ish.
Full moon day upon us and after Jons daily yoga class and D backing up the photos we chilled out on the beach before getting ready for the night (decorating ourselves in Neon paint). At about 8pm Doug and Vanessa arrived (Lovely 😊 Canadian we met in Laos and her boyfriend) and the 4 of us headed to the usual bar for some drinks before hitting the beach. The beach was about 10 times busier than the previous nights and bodies were literally everywhere in a sea of neon, buckets, sangsom whisky and fire. We consumed a good few buckets and did a good bit of dancing, and watching the fire people (who were amazing!!!). Not sure what time we headed home but it was definitely getting light!
Unfortunately for Jon, Dub woke up very early the next morning and was feeling a little overexcited so Jons dreams of sleeping it off were dashed by Dubs singing of Fall out Boys thanks for the memories, at 9.30am. We didn't have the energy for much in the day so we just chilled out.

Koh Pangan - Thong Sala

Feeling the need to chill we headed to Thong Sala which is at the northen end of the island and where Doug and Vanessa were staying. It was much cheaper here and there was a really good food market. We spent our days sunbathing at the next door resorts pool or on the beach and generally catching up on lack of sleep and catching some last few rays before the tans start to fade! We said goodbye to Doug and Vanessa and then left ourselves a few days later via boat, bus and train back up to Bangkok.

Bangkok - again

Got into bangkok about 5:40am and got a taxi to Khao San Road. We found accommodation on the next street down and then after a long breakfast (since it was still ridiculously early) we headed off exploring. We tried to go to the Chatuchak weekend market (despite it being a monday) as we had been assured it was now open 7 days a week however, we were given false info and it was infact closed. Instead we headed back to MBK and did a good bit of shopping, D got some bits and bobs and jon a few clothing items. We then headed back feeling the need to post stuff home again as we had another 15kg baggage limit air Asia flight ahead of us! We then explored Khao San Road and the surrounding areas which were pretty insane with lots of people offering us Ping Pong Shows - which we politely declined since neither of us have any interest in that particular region!!! It was up earlyish the next day (although later than planned as our flight was delayed by 3 hours) to get to the airport for our flight to Macau.

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