maggies_lens

As promised :)

Right, been slack :) So yes, am back in BKK now and really wishing I were back in CM but making peace with it. Yesterday was exhausting. We went on a bus tour of Ayatthaya. A very historis part of Thailand not far from BKK. It was a bit exhausting, to be honest. We had to meet the bus early, and then we were in a very large group, so it wasn't as intimate as all the other stuff we'd done. It also felt very rushed. We couldn't linger in any of the places we wanted to i.e the Grand Summer Palace, the ruins of the ancient Wats. We did get to scoot around the Grand Summer Palace grounds tho. Marion has owie legs at the moment and we wanted to see as much as we could in our limited time so I splashed out INSANELY and hired a little golf cart thingy ($10 for an hour Australian). That was WICKED fun :D

( pics from the Grand Summer Palace Grounds )

After that we set off for about an hour to the ruins that broke my heart. Over the 2nd world war and over wars these temples were destroyed, they are now World Heritage listed so that no one can ever cover up the sheer destruction the stupidity of war creates. This is Wat Pra Raturana, the site of the famous Buddha Head in a Tree that all the tourists come to shoot.

( Wat Pra Raturana shots )

We had a bit of a kip in the arvo, the headed out to Cabbages and Condoms for a really good but rather expensive dinner. C&C was created to help raise funds to provide villagers education and practical help with family planning and also to help them seek alternatives to growing drugs to make a livelihood. It started as a small back room eatery, it is now HUGE.

Today Marion wasn't feeling all that well so C and I disappeared. We went to this MASSIVE tech mall. 6 levels of gadgets and everything a tech geek could want i.e Craig heaven :D I didn't mind wandering around. Got myself a water proof cheapy watch. We then had lunch where I foolishly thought that because I could eat a small amount of mild green chillies, I could eat a fork full of them.

I can't.

Craig got video. I will post it when he puts it online.

Gotta dash now; dinner time :)

We 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.

We 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.

I 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 )

After 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 )

TIGER TEMPLE!!!!
We woke up late and had 20 mins to get the 3 of us showered, fed and dressed. Try THAT with one bathroom! We made it tho. Our driver and guide came and met us in the foyer and so we drove out of BKK and to the Kanchanaburi province. Took about 2-3hrs to get there, with a couple stops (including one at a beautiful but very sad graveyard, and also the River Kwai which made me sad and angry all at once) and also a lunch break. Tiger temple is AWESOME. I have NO idea where the hell ppl get the idea that the tigers are mistreated there. All I saw were sleepy, very well fed, healthy, happy, playful tiggers. The guides were very careful about where you were allowed to walk and what you were allowed to do. We got to pat the tigers, but only from the back and to the right. Then we got to have a few steps with each one down to the canyon. There you got to have photos taken with the sleeeeeeepy spoiled fat happy tigers who rolled over a few times for tummy rubs from their handlers. The cubs were playful as heck! Also saw the enclosures they are developing, they look great! There were also piggies, deer, cattle and PONIES! The big daddy bull Brahman liked me and brushed up against me as he walked past to get the scratch :) There were 2 mules (I think) and a little brown pony. All 3 were colts. It took about 3-4hours to get home as the traffic in BKK was awful, and they made us go to this gem place. Was very pretty but VERY exxy. Blergh. Had dinner at the usual place. Now waiting for our laundry to be delivered, then off to Chiang Mai tomorrow morning. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39873599@N07/sets/72157623106437297/
Photos there for now; I'm too stuffed to do the posting thing. I'll try and do them tomorrow, i swear.

Made it to BKK. More later.

Ok, well, apparently in Feb next year for about two weeks I will be in Thailand. WOW! Al and I are going with Craig and Marion. I just got emailed that it's all organised and paid for. I know we'd been chatting a bit about it for the past two weeks or so, but yeah, it's uh... it's clearly going ahead! I CAN'T WAIT! This will be amazing!!!! The food! The scenery! THE TIGER TEMPLE!!!!!! Oh my GOSH!!!! THAILAND!!!!!!!