Ch-Ch-Ch-Chiang Mai

Blog- Ch-Ch-Ch-Chiang Mai We took a bus from Siem Reap to Bangkok. Everything went smoothly, but our first all-land border crossing was an experience! We're not quite sure why, but busses can't carry people or their stuff across the Thai-Cambodian border. We were happily napping when all of a sudden everyone was getting off and the bus was pulling away! We both felt the bus could have given better directions, because the walk between one customs and another was long and in the middle of a crowded street, and we had no idea where to find the bus on the other side. An hour later, we were off again towards Bangkok. We are shocked that no one got left behind... that we know of.

We stayed overnight in Bangkok in an area near Don Mueang, the domestic airport. The neighborhood was quite different than anything we'd seen in the touristy areas we stayed in the first time (although perhaps that was safer this week :/) This area felt much more local, with way less English and the Thai version of WalMart where everyone was doing their shopping.

We flew to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand the next day. Chiang Mai is up in the mountains and has a whole different feel than Bangkok. Chiang Mai University ("CMU," surprise, Reid!) is here, and has a large, beautiful campus more like American college campuses. This was the first city we've been to where we felt the presence of a large and thriving middle/upper-middle class. There are lots of well-dressed students and IPhones and nice malls. We stayed in the Old City, which is surrounded by a moat and remains blissfully calm compared to most Asian cities we've seen, where pedestrians share the street with trucks, cars, motos, busses, tuk-tuks, carts, bicycles, etc. [moat pic]

Our first full day, we decided to hit Doi Inthanon, Thailands tallest mountain. Although I was picturing a long hike, the mountain turned out to only be accessible by motor transport. We looked into public transport options and found them tough, so Noah offered to brave the Thai traffic and rent a car, which meant driving on the LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD (!) We picked up our Honda City and headed for the mountain! It turned out to be a cloudy day so the views weren't great, but we did see some spectacular waterfalls at the Royal Garden. Noah was especially happy at the summit, where the weather was a cool 15 degrees Celsius. I obviously froze.

I had to be the one to write this post because the next day was my favorite of our whole trip so far!! We signed up for a full day adventure at Patara Elephant Camp and had an AMAZING time. There are many elephant attractions in northern Thailand, but this place came highly recommended to me by multiple friends as being fantastic and most important, safe and healthy for the animals. We arrived at Patara around 830 am, and were immediately introduced to a mom elephant and her baby, Arun. Arun is 2, and if it were in some way possible to take this guy back to the US and keep him as a pet, I'm sure there would be a line from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. 

The best part about this was seeing the interaction between Arun and his mom. They were so affectionate with each other! It's easy to see why humans have taken such a liking to elephants. Next we were split up into groups, and each assigned an elephant to hang out with for the day. Other baby elephants accompanied the group too. My elephant was a younger male elephant named Pri and Noah's was an older lady elephant named Mahmoon. I could talk about these elephants forever, but to keep it short, we spent the day feeding them, brushing them, riding them on a trail hike, and then bathing them in the river. It was about the greatest time ever! We knew we were really loving our elephants when it didn't even bother us that there was elephant poop everywhere. It was a fantastic day!!

We took it easy the next day. We've been hearing from past visitors that Southeast Asia can be tough on your body, and experienced that this week! We rallied late afternoon for a cooking class. Very different from the super informal cooking class we did in Vietnam, this was a social affair with a group of 8. Our group was extremely multinational- Australians, Israelis, Hungarians, Spaniards, & our Thai host. It was very organized and had us go on a trip to the market to buy ingredients and visit an herb garden to see local Thai spices. We made 4 dishes and Noah and I both think that it was the best meal we've had so far in Asia! We promise to try & recreate for friends and family at home. [pic]

Noah was feeling under the weather the next day, so I took a solo adventure to Doi Suthep, a popular mountain near Chiang Mai. Taxis are apparently illegal here, and the way to get around town is to grab a ride on the back of a red Isuzu pick up truck. They function like busses, and the drivers will fit as many as 10-12 people in there (more if anyone's willing to hang off the back). I made friends (well, sort of... my Thai is rusty and they spoke no English) with a group of Thais venturing up to see the mountain. When the truck couldn't climb higher, a 400-step staircase built in xxx took us to the summit, where there is a temple and beautiful views of chiang Mai below. [pic]

Next we are off to Koh Phangan for beach adventures and the Full Moon Party!