Chiang Mai
After a nice, albeit a bit segregated, train journey from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, we pulled into the station 45 minutes late. When we arrived into the station, all the foreigners piled out of the cars in a big hoard.If Somyat's brother, Wiwat, was looking for foreigners with backpacks, he'd hit the jackpot! If he was looking for a couple specific ones, he would be screwed. And we were too! We walked out into a swarm of people with no idea how we would recognize Wiwat. Armed with his mobile phone number, we were prepared, but I was amazed that with so many people, I instinctively knew which one was Wiwat. I spotted the resemblance straight away.
When we finally confirmed by mobile that it was Wiwat, we grabbed our stuff and hopped into his SUV. Having spoken to Some beforehand, we thought that Wiwat would be picking us up and checking us into a good guesthouse in Chiang Mai, and that would pretty much be it. We were in for a big surprise!
The military patrolling the streets
Wiwat drove us to a beautiful guesthouse in the trendiest part of Chiang Mai. It was amazing. I would have to say that it was the nicest room we had stayed in the whole year! A bit more than we normally spent, but it was so worth it.
The best room we've had in a long time!
Once Wiwat had got us checked in for a few days, he offered us an opportunity to clean up a little while he waited. OK. Waited for what? Ah, here would be the surprise.... When Some said his brother would show us around Chiang Mai, he wasn't exaggerating! Wiwat had our itinerary planned for the next few days!! :) Too funny.
After leaving the guesthouse, we had a whirlwind tour planned. Wiwat wanted to make sure that we covered the best temples in Chiang Mai without putting us into overload to quickly.
Exploring the temples of Chiang Mai
We head straight out to see the best sights of Chiang Mai.
First stop...
Temple Doi Suthep
Temple Doi Suthep is one of the most important temples in Northern Thailand. Sitting on a hilltop with panoramic views over town, it is impressive. (Even with the stupa covered in golden scaffolding.)
Legend says that a Buddha relic atop a white elephant "chose" this spot as its new home. The elephant wandered through the hills, then stopped & died in this spot.
The famous monk associated with this temple, but I can't remember his name. Wiwat??
Some of amazing Buddha statues at Doi Suthep
A monk giving blessings by dipping his bamboo wand into some sort of holy water and casting it out. I was the next in line to be blessed. Very cool, literally. It was a nice experience, but the best part was that I got absolutely soaked! It was steaming hot outside, so the cool-down was welcomed.
Depictions of the Seven Days of the Week - for some weird reason, Tuesday had two different representations for morning and evening. I must have been born on a Tuesday evening as I've done a lot of sleeping on this trip!
Prayer bells
The huge nagas guarding the steps up to the temple
Kyle even managed to find a good junk food challenge just outside the temple - a hotdog covered in waffle for only 50 cents!
Love these butterflies! It's a real challenge to get one staying still for long enough to take a photo.
Laughing Buddha
Bhubing Palace
A few kilometers further up the road was the Bhubing Palace, the winter palace for the royals. The royals head up here every December or January to escape the heat of Bangkok. Oh, and the king is from Chiang Mai.
Thailand's Royal Family
The grounds are filled with lovely rose gardens which dozens of workers were scurrying to tend to in preparation for the King & Queen's arrival.
A sample of the gorgeous blooms
The Swiss chalet overlooks the stunning pond and the terraced gardens
Wiwat & Kyle enjoying a Thai-style iced coffee in the shade on a very hot day
A colourful butterfly in motion
Working in the garden
Hmong Village
The next stop was the Hmong Village. The Hmong are the second largest of the 10 officially recognize hill-tribes in Thailand. Each tribe has its own language, style of dress and spirituality. According to LP, the current total hill-tribe population in Thailand is 550,000.
The Hmong originated from Southern China and have an approximate population of 124,000 throughout Thailand, Laos, Vietnam & Southern China. Their economy depends on cultivating rice, corn and opium (although the King is doing his best to replace opium with other cash crops). According to the Opium Museum, through the Royal Projects the King has managed to decreased opium growth in Thailand by 99%.
Kyle perfecting his technique on the Tibetan singing bowl
The very green terraced gardens in the village
After paying admission to see the opium plants, we were slightly dismayed to see what we'd paid to see... the two very dead potted opium plants in the back. Ah well, guess the Royal Projects are working - they've given up growing poppies.
Traditional Hmong dresses
We happened to catch some of the local kids playing around after a long day of, hopefully, school
Showing the kids the photos that I'd taken of them diving
There was an even a very small "cultural" museum that we managed to find ourselves a local guide for. The cute little one appeared out of nowhere and showed us around, in her native language, the strange and scary sights in the museum.
Scary preserved snakes
Monkey fetus
Our new friend posing for a photo...
and then collecting her tip. (Very cute, but then it became a bit unsettling once we saw this little girl excitedly take her earnings back to her mum and then lay down for a nap. Hmm, so is this her future? If she continues to earn money as a guide, does that mean that she will never be allowed the opportunity to go to school?)
A cute little Thai girl touring the village with her sisters & friends
After a busy first day in Chiang Mai, we got back to our guesthouse and absolutely collapsed. Wiwat's tours aren't for the weary!! ;)
Thai Elephant Conservation Center
Our plan for the next morning was an early pickup and a drive out to the Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, about an hour's drive from Chiang Mai.
Elephants used to be amongst the hardest workers in Thailand, used for the once-thriving logging industry. With a ban on logging, elephants and their mahouts (elephant trainers) were left jobless.What's the solution? Ecotourism.
The center is Thailand's way of protecting and looking after some of the now unemployed elephants. Young elephants are trained, older elephants are looked after and give rides. It may not sound terribly exciting, but these elephants used to be worked worked hard for 50 years in logging before being allowed to retire.
A mahout bringing his elephant for a morning bath
I love elephants butts!
Morning bath time - some are getting right in their with scrub brushes. The ones getting a scrub on their backs and behind their ears really look like they are enjoying it!
One of the cheeky ones trying to give me a little bath too! Boon-boon!! (Boon-boon is the command to splash with the trunk or spray, depending on the trainer.)
Sitting still for some good back exfolitation
Fresh & clean for the day
Kneeling down for a trunk rub
Helloooo
After morning bath, the elephants put on a show daily. It is run by the mahouts but those doing the mahout training course get to help out too!
Filing in trunk to tail
The elephants lined up with the introductions with a couple mahout trainees doing well with their new friends
Showing off a suave dance move
Picking a stick up in a very puppy-like pose
Hoping for a belly rub... How Foof-like!
A nice gesture... Putting her dropped hat back on her head for her
Demonstrating a little of their logging prowess & surprising balance and coordination.
The mahout trainee looks less than confident though...
How artistic!
We loved feeding the performers some bamboo shoots & giving their trunks a little tickle.
Look at those eyes!
After grabbing a nice curry lunch at the Elephant Cafe, we investigated the mahout courses. I was completely in love with the elephants and was keen to spend a couple days working with them. Unfortunately, the center has worked out that despite the moderate cost of medical care, feeding and housing the elephants, they can charge foreigners a bomb to get involved. Wiwat had a brochure from a couple years earlier that it was about 800 baht for a 3 day/2 night program (less than $30 per day per person). Since then, the price has blown out!! It is now almost $100 per day, per person. At more than double our budget, we decided that would have to wait on our elephant handling experience.
In the meantime, we decided to go on a proper ride. It got us near the elephants and fit much better into our budget.
You big poser!
A whole family taking a trek
Enjoying our trek although going down hill was a bit scary!
From head to toe, these elephants are really amazing creatures.
Carrying his morning snack
After our ride, we stopped by to visit the babies. They had two "little ones" at the moment. One was about 9 months old and topped the scales
"No mama, I want that banana!"
Baby trying to climb over the fence to get first go at the bananas!
This little one is ravenous!
Cheeky little one trying to steal a little snack right out of Mama's mouth
Cute baby face
A short refuge from the rain in the shops. Love the hats! :)
