![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Last Day in Chiang Mai
Aug. 19th, 2010 08:36 pmI was very sorry to say good bye to the city, I have to say. I enjoyed myself so greatly there. :) It's a beautiful place and the people are marvelous. There was this Yank on the train who was telling is that CM is a TERRIBLE place, full of shysters etc. That we'd HATE it. Um, no :)
We spent our last night at the Vegetarian place down the rd called Food fro Heaven, they are sister to the Elephant Nature Park. The food was AWESOME. In the morning we packed, then took the scooters back to their shop. Which sucked. Got back to the Soi, and checked out. There is this crazy little dog that lives across the Soi that we all made friends with. She's the dog of our laundry woman. Doggy came to say goodbye.
All 3 of us then went for a 2 hour traditional Thai massage. Holy SHIT the PAIN! But GOOD pain :D I felt loose as a goose afterwards. And anything I needed to distract myself from the pain I could hark back to seeing Craig in the bright pink loose pants they had given him to change into; you change into very loose light clothing for the massage.
Then off to the airport and back to BKK.
We're in a different hotel than the last one, but only one Soi over. I have my whole own room on a floor above C&M, which is actually very lonely after we have been living in each others pockets :P We had dinner and then went to Soi Cowboy, a famous Adults Only Soi here in BKK. Everything goes! And it did! We had drinks at a bar on the cnr and gave each other conniptions by being extremely risk-ay :D Our faces were HURTING from all the laughing :D I didn't bring my cam so I will go again tonight and try and get some shots :)
way, way, way too much fun :D Craig and I on our little scooter.
( a couple more under here )
We spent our last night at the Vegetarian place down the rd called Food fro Heaven, they are sister to the Elephant Nature Park. The food was AWESOME. In the morning we packed, then took the scooters back to their shop. Which sucked. Got back to the Soi, and checked out. There is this crazy little dog that lives across the Soi that we all made friends with. She's the dog of our laundry woman. Doggy came to say goodbye.
All 3 of us then went for a 2 hour traditional Thai massage. Holy SHIT the PAIN! But GOOD pain :D I felt loose as a goose afterwards. And anything I needed to distract myself from the pain I could hark back to seeing Craig in the bright pink loose pants they had given him to change into; you change into very loose light clothing for the massage.
Then off to the airport and back to BKK.
We're in a different hotel than the last one, but only one Soi over. I have my whole own room on a floor above C&M, which is actually very lonely after we have been living in each others pockets :P We had dinner and then went to Soi Cowboy, a famous Adults Only Soi here in BKK. Everything goes! And it did! We had drinks at a bar on the cnr and gave each other conniptions by being extremely risk-ay :D Our faces were HURTING from all the laughing :D I didn't bring my cam so I will go again tonight and try and get some shots :)
way, way, way too much fun :D Craig and I on our little scooter.
( a couple more under here )
Tootle around Chiang Mai
Aug. 18th, 2010 10:48 amWe had SO much fun yesterday! Craig and Marion hired a couple of scooters and we had a BALL. I'm too hesitant to deal with Thailand traffic so I pillioned behind Craig. That's what yesterday's clip was about. We had to change scooters shortly after we started as ours was too weak to handle us both. The helmets were not exactly the standard I'm used to, and we rode in just light pants and t-shirts which I'd NEVER do in Melbourne. We could actually talk to each other rather than yell too which was awesome. We had far, far too much fun. Went up to see a huge Wat, then coasted down the entire 7k's back down the hill with the engine off as we had almost no fuel. Evil, evil fun!!! We then went to a shop that sells handmade Hill Tribe stuff, all proceeds going back to the Tribes, gives them alternatives to growing opium and logging. SO many beautiful things there! OMG! I restricted myself to a Hmong bag and a note book, and got a book about Thai stamps for dad who loves stamps :) Then we eventually found a celedon pottery place which was AWESOME. I could have spent vast fortunes in there very easily but I just don't have the room in my bag. I did get a couple small cute things. Today is our last day in Chiang Mai, we leave at lunch time. I SO don't want to.
Our little noble steed!!!!
( fun around Chiang Mai )
Ok, better get going. Power is getting cut off here shortly. And have to pack. I'm going to really miss Chiang Mai.
Our little noble steed!!!!
( fun around Chiang Mai )Ok, better get going. Power is getting cut off here shortly. And have to pack. I'm going to really miss Chiang Mai.
YEEEEEEHAAAAA ON A SKOOTAH!
Aug. 17th, 2010 09:58 pmOn the back with Craig this afternoon, so much fun I almost wet myself laughing :D
Elephant Nature Park P2
Aug. 17th, 2010 08:56 pmWe spent the night in a funky little hut, just Marion and I as Craig was back in Chiang Mai; he had awoken the morning we left with a terrible migraine so hadn't come. We both missed him. The hut was just a small thing, no air con, two beds with mosquito netting and a sep room with a toilet and COLD WATER ONLY shower. Which was just fine - you don't actually need the hot water there :D It was right on the banks of the river, so I fell asleep to the sounds of insects, bats and the river tripping along on the shallows. No traffic sounds at all. Sheer freakin' heaven. God I loved it there...
Anyway, next morning we had a glorious breakfast. They feed you like royalty there. At breakfast, lunch and dinner we gathered at the complex and could serve ourselves from a huge selection of yummies. Apart from one dish with chook and one with fish, everything was veggie and BEAUTIFUL! I have discovered Dragon Fruit and I LOVE it. Ate sooooooo much!
We got to have a walk around with our guide Por, out in the actual grounds. Had to wear gumboots. It was awesome walking around amoung the elephants. Most are very happy to come up and have a cuddle with you :) I got to cuddle Mae Do. Unfort I slipped and fell onto my knees twice from getting my foot caught in the ropey grass. The first scared me because it's actually the first time I have fallen onto the bad knee since I killed it. Yeah it hurt, but not so bad. 2nd one was alright. But it did bruise up and jarred itself so I was happy to just hang out once we got back to the main complex.
Best thing was when I ran into Lek! Lek is the founder of the Park. She is a very small woman, a grand-daughter of a shaman of a local Northern Hill Tribe. Her family was given an elephant when she was 5 as payment for saving a mans life, and Lek's heart was stolen forever. She took her passion for elephant welfare forward and started Elephant Heaven. She rescued her first 4 elephants. Things grew, one day an American come on a tour, a week or so after he left they received a MASSIVE cheque. Turns out he's a multi millionaire and was so impressed with the work that he wanted to buy them land. With that money they purchased ENP. Things have just kept growing since then. They still have Heaven, they walk the ellies there to let them roam free and learn to be wild again. The dream is to one day stop the capture of wild elephants so they can release them. Logging was banned in Thailand a few years ago but not in the surrounding countries. And illegal logging continues. Plus the begging trade and tracking. Begging is BAD. It's extremely stressful for the elephants. NEVER feed a begger elephants. You are just contributing to the problem. Tracking is not bad as long as the elephants are kept in humane conditions. There are also NO laws protecting elephants. Lek is working to change all that. She employs local people from the hill tribes as guides, staff, cooks, kwan's, she buys the locally grown and produced veggies and fruit, plus meat, eggs, milk etc. She hires local labor for building etc. It all comes back to paying it forward. As a result, the local community loves and supports her work. She was ultra busy but she made the effort to track me down when she heard I wanted to meet her, so that we could have a chat and a photo. She called the baby herd over and took me in among them (not normally allowed) so that I could get a shot to remember.
She is quite frankly my hero. It's people like this who are true heroes, not stupid sports stars or actors or whatever. I didn't want to leave. I so didn't want to leave. I will be back.
They also had a little brown colt pony who they rescued from slaughter. I couldn't get any photos of the little devil as he was in grass/reeds higher than his head when we near him.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABIIIIIIEEEEEEEES!!!!
( photos under here )
I will be back as soon as I can. Honestly, if you are strapped for cash but want a holiday, I can not recommend this place enough. No, you won't be lounging on a beach somewhere; you will be working HARD. You won't have air con, you'll have the heat and humidity of the jungle and you will sweat so much that after two days your skin will look like you've had a VERY exxy treatment and radiate health and a killer bitchin' tan. You won't get polite, distant staff who keep their eyes down and wear impeccable uniforms, you will get hill tribe men and women in gumboots and jeans with a lighting fast smile that reaches their eyes, they will teach you Thai, joke around with you, feed you like you have NEVER been fed before in your life (not fine dining but OMG SO SO SO GOOD!!!!!! And plentiful), chat with you for hours, and make you feel welcome like no tourist resort EVER would. You'll wear gumboots, slosh around in warm mud, touch and hug and kiss and scratch the largest land animals who will rumble like big kittens if you connect with them. You'll learn to tell an elephants age through their scat! You'll find these awesome fern like plants that curl up when you gently run your finger over them. And if you are anything like me, you'll wish you could throw it all in to live there forever, no matter how hard and dirty it gets because, well, it's simply the most wonderful place ever created by human hands.
Anyway, next morning we had a glorious breakfast. They feed you like royalty there. At breakfast, lunch and dinner we gathered at the complex and could serve ourselves from a huge selection of yummies. Apart from one dish with chook and one with fish, everything was veggie and BEAUTIFUL! I have discovered Dragon Fruit and I LOVE it. Ate sooooooo much!
We got to have a walk around with our guide Por, out in the actual grounds. Had to wear gumboots. It was awesome walking around amoung the elephants. Most are very happy to come up and have a cuddle with you :) I got to cuddle Mae Do. Unfort I slipped and fell onto my knees twice from getting my foot caught in the ropey grass. The first scared me because it's actually the first time I have fallen onto the bad knee since I killed it. Yeah it hurt, but not so bad. 2nd one was alright. But it did bruise up and jarred itself so I was happy to just hang out once we got back to the main complex.
Best thing was when I ran into Lek! Lek is the founder of the Park. She is a very small woman, a grand-daughter of a shaman of a local Northern Hill Tribe. Her family was given an elephant when she was 5 as payment for saving a mans life, and Lek's heart was stolen forever. She took her passion for elephant welfare forward and started Elephant Heaven. She rescued her first 4 elephants. Things grew, one day an American come on a tour, a week or so after he left they received a MASSIVE cheque. Turns out he's a multi millionaire and was so impressed with the work that he wanted to buy them land. With that money they purchased ENP. Things have just kept growing since then. They still have Heaven, they walk the ellies there to let them roam free and learn to be wild again. The dream is to one day stop the capture of wild elephants so they can release them. Logging was banned in Thailand a few years ago but not in the surrounding countries. And illegal logging continues. Plus the begging trade and tracking. Begging is BAD. It's extremely stressful for the elephants. NEVER feed a begger elephants. You are just contributing to the problem. Tracking is not bad as long as the elephants are kept in humane conditions. There are also NO laws protecting elephants. Lek is working to change all that. She employs local people from the hill tribes as guides, staff, cooks, kwan's, she buys the locally grown and produced veggies and fruit, plus meat, eggs, milk etc. She hires local labor for building etc. It all comes back to paying it forward. As a result, the local community loves and supports her work. She was ultra busy but she made the effort to track me down when she heard I wanted to meet her, so that we could have a chat and a photo. She called the baby herd over and took me in among them (not normally allowed) so that I could get a shot to remember.
She is quite frankly my hero. It's people like this who are true heroes, not stupid sports stars or actors or whatever. I didn't want to leave. I so didn't want to leave. I will be back.
They also had a little brown colt pony who they rescued from slaughter. I couldn't get any photos of the little devil as he was in grass/reeds higher than his head when we near him.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABIIIIIIEEEEEEEES!!!!
( photos under here )I will be back as soon as I can. Honestly, if you are strapped for cash but want a holiday, I can not recommend this place enough. No, you won't be lounging on a beach somewhere; you will be working HARD. You won't have air con, you'll have the heat and humidity of the jungle and you will sweat so much that after two days your skin will look like you've had a VERY exxy treatment and radiate health and a killer bitchin' tan. You won't get polite, distant staff who keep their eyes down and wear impeccable uniforms, you will get hill tribe men and women in gumboots and jeans with a lighting fast smile that reaches their eyes, they will teach you Thai, joke around with you, feed you like you have NEVER been fed before in your life (not fine dining but OMG SO SO SO GOOD!!!!!! And plentiful), chat with you for hours, and make you feel welcome like no tourist resort EVER would. You'll wear gumboots, slosh around in warm mud, touch and hug and kiss and scratch the largest land animals who will rumble like big kittens if you connect with them. You'll learn to tell an elephants age through their scat! You'll find these awesome fern like plants that curl up when you gently run your finger over them. And if you are anything like me, you'll wish you could throw it all in to live there forever, no matter how hard and dirty it gets because, well, it's simply the most wonderful place ever created by human hands.
Elephant Nature Park P1
Aug. 17th, 2010 12:35 amI have found heaven, and it is not in some other dimension or whatever. It is located on a large property outside the city of Chiang Mai right here in Thailand and it is called the Elephant Nature Park. I will never forget my time there. Have you ever stepped into the gates of a place and known right away that every single thing there is RIGHT? Just... right? I never have. Not until yesterday morning. As soon as I stepped off that mini bus I knew I had found a place where I belonged like no where else I have ever felt I belonged. I met the most amazing people, and even tho we sometimes had trouble speaking with each other (they were mainly hill tribes), we got along like a house on fire. There were loads of vol's from all over the world, most speaking English so I made heaps of new friends. Each and every one of the elephants found here (barr the babies that were born there last year) has a sad tale. Some are not so bad as others (elephants and keepers fallen on extremely hard times and forced into doing things they don't want to until BOTH were saved by the park), some are so horrific that I want to track down the people who did these acts and beat them into bloody pulps. Yes, I know, not very Buddhist of me but sometimes you have a right to be FURIOUS. Girls, I bonded to an elephant. I know. I KNOW! WTF, you say? I kid you not. We were able to walk amoung the little herds and made friends with them. You can go right up and love on them all you want, as long as you follow the directions of the kwan/mahouts and use your common sense. All have scars and other signs of physical abuse. One of the worst is Mae Do. Her story is distressing as hell. I won't put it here in case it upsets you, but you can read it here:
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/herd/medo.htm
Be aware it's distressing.
Her injuries are horrific but OMG she is sooooo beautiful. She has the most beautiful face you have ever seen on an elephant (well I think she does anyway!), and her spirit just shines. She's also very, very gentle, and loved me :) I went up to give her love and she full on leaned into me. She started up this deep belly rumble and closed her eyes. Her kwan was a little shocked! I gave her more love, the more I gave her and the more I love-talked her, the more she responded. Apparently, according to our guide, she is not normally that demonstrative apart from to her kwan! So, she LIKED me! I loved her to pieces, quite frankly. I intend to start sponsoring her as soon as I am home.She is the biggest love, in every sense of the word.
I'll pop the photos up in 2 lots as there was a bit. There is also video but that will have to wait til I am home and can install a software to splice it all together as there's too much in segments. If you want to know what I got up to, let me know and I'll post. Never quite sure what y'all will be interested in :D
( a whole lot more under here )
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/herd/medo.htm
Be aware it's distressing.
Her injuries are horrific but OMG she is sooooo beautiful. She has the most beautiful face you have ever seen on an elephant (well I think she does anyway!), and her spirit just shines. She's also very, very gentle, and loved me :) I went up to give her love and she full on leaned into me. She started up this deep belly rumble and closed her eyes. Her kwan was a little shocked! I gave her more love, the more I gave her and the more I love-talked her, the more she responded. Apparently, according to our guide, she is not normally that demonstrative apart from to her kwan! So, she LIKED me! I loved her to pieces, quite frankly. I intend to start sponsoring her as soon as I am home.She is the biggest love, in every sense of the word.
I'll pop the photos up in 2 lots as there was a bit. There is also video but that will have to wait til I am home and can install a software to splice it all together as there's too much in segments. If you want to know what I got up to, let me know and I'll post. Never quite sure what y'all will be interested in :D
( a whole lot more under here )Exploring Chiang Mai
Aug. 14th, 2010 09:33 pmI woke up needing to MOVE!!! C&M were being lazy so I gave them a little time to see if they'd perk up. Went outside on the balcony (as opposed to, you know, inside on the balcony) and saw a SWEEEEEET little grey and white squirrel! He was going ballistic, playing on the rooftops, wires and stealing food off the little Shrines. I tried TRIED to get vid but nooooo, the G9 fogged up, DIDN'T IT!!! ARRRGH! :D C&M were still being lazy tarts and I couldn't stand it any more so I took off alone. That's right, ALONE! OMG alone in a strange city in a foreign land! What ever will happen to our hero now! You'll just have to click the cut and find out, in the next exciting installment of... THE NATURE NERD IN THAILAND!!!!
This just doesn't sound right to me from a Buddhist perspective, somehow, ya know? :P
( NATURE NERD TACKLES THAILAND! )
Tomorrow morning we take off the Elephant Nature Park! That is a rescue and rehab for the elephants of Thailand. We won't be back til the next afternoon. I can not wait. This is what I have been hanging out for the most, even more than the tigers :)
Must find banana man shortly...:)
( vids from today, 2 short ones )
This just doesn't sound right to me from a Buddhist perspective, somehow, ya know? :P
( NATURE NERD TACKLES THAILAND! )Tomorrow morning we take off the Elephant Nature Park! That is a rescue and rehab for the elephants of Thailand. We won't be back til the next afternoon. I can not wait. This is what I have been hanging out for the most, even more than the tigers :)
Must find banana man shortly...:)
( vids from today, 2 short ones )Chiang Mai
Aug. 14th, 2010 10:58 amAfter that epic train ride I think we all just wanted a quiet day, so that's what we had. Also, C and I got upset tummies yesterday morning so neither or us were in a mood to go explore terribly much. We walked up the street just out of our Soi to the pharmacy tio get supplies like Deet etc when my stomach cramped up violently. Dashed across traffic (ped crossings and obeying traffic lights seem to be optional extras in Thailand!) to the McD's and spoke to god for a bit. Felt FABULOUS after that :D M's legs started to swell up a bit tho so after C and I had checked out a little of the old wall that used to surround the city, we headed back. Stopped at a book shop and I got a copy of 'The Life of Pi' since EVERYONE is telling me to read it. Also did a little shopping, go some presents for a few ppl back at home and also got M her 'tacky-gift' gift. We're doing a thing here where we get each other something terribly tacky to take back :D I drew Marion, Craig got me, Marion got Craig. This should be exciting :D Spent a rather lovely afternoon just hanging out, chilling out. M got a txt saying she'd won an interview she was desperately wanting so we all cheered and went a little HAPPY for her :) She has to go to it the day we get back!!!! Thankfully we're back early morning and this will be at 6pm. I'm keeping EVERYTHING crossed for her.
I really like Chiang Mai so far. It's far more relaxed than BKK and more ppl smile at you. It's also cleaner and not anywhere near as hectic. Less food stalls but then again we HAVE found the most important thing you poss can in Thailand; THE BANANA GUY! They cook roti right there for you on like an inverted hot plate. Then they spread raw egg over the top, slice up a banana over that, then pour condensed milk over the whole thing. Then they flip another roti over THAT and cook it for about 1 min. HOLY SENSORY OVERLOAD, BATMAN! You have NEVER tasted anything like it! The bananas here are super sweet and just PERFECT! We loooove it. I think we're pigging out on it again tonight :D
Anyway, some photo's of the local area under the cut and, if I have time, some random shots from Craig :)
Craig trying to get a fix on us with his Tracker. We're down a soi off a soi. It's like a rabbit warren! If you didn't know where this place was, you'd NEVER find it :) We LOVE it. (Soi - like a laneway that runs off a main street. Some are quite big, others you would prob not be able to get the average family sedan down).
( Chiang Mai )
I really like Chiang Mai so far. It's far more relaxed than BKK and more ppl smile at you. It's also cleaner and not anywhere near as hectic. Less food stalls but then again we HAVE found the most important thing you poss can in Thailand; THE BANANA GUY! They cook roti right there for you on like an inverted hot plate. Then they spread raw egg over the top, slice up a banana over that, then pour condensed milk over the whole thing. Then they flip another roti over THAT and cook it for about 1 min. HOLY SENSORY OVERLOAD, BATMAN! You have NEVER tasted anything like it! The bananas here are super sweet and just PERFECT! We loooove it. I think we're pigging out on it again tonight :D
Anyway, some photo's of the local area under the cut and, if I have time, some random shots from Craig :)
Craig trying to get a fix on us with his Tracker. We're down a soi off a soi. It's like a rabbit warren! If you didn't know where this place was, you'd NEVER find it :) We LOVE it. (Soi - like a laneway that runs off a main street. Some are quite big, others you would prob not be able to get the average family sedan down).
( Chiang Mai )
