Adventures in Chiang Mai
The last few days we've actually been doing stuff here in Chiang Mai! First of all we welcome Liz to our trip - she got here three days ago and will be a part of the fellowship we call the bro trip (like it or not Liz, this is the bro trip. You're a bro now.)
Two days ago we went on a full day trip, outside of the one main street we've been seeing so much of these past few lazy days. The plan was to ride elephants, go for a swim in a waterfall, visit a native village and go river rafting. And that's exactly what we did! The bus picked us up at 8:30 am. About an hour later we reached our first destination - the elephants! Without any real instructions we found ourselfes riding an elephand within five minutes! Chris and Liz sat on the "saddle" on the elephants back, and Marcus was the designated mahout - the elephant driver. :P Not too comfy sitting on an elephant neck, but a great experience!
Since we were kind of rushed onto the elephant, we didn't really now any commands how to "steer" the elephant. Luckily, a trainer came with us, telling the elephant what to do and where to go. The elephant took us through a narrow jungle path, managed to climp surprisingly steep hills and then all the way down again to where we started. At times, we clinged to whatever we could - the saddle, each other, the elephants ears - trying not to fall off while the elephant tried to reach new hights! Elephants really are magnificent, huge and funny creatures! The one we rode was a 45 year old female! For an older gal, she had a lot of energy! As thank you, we gave her some bananas. It made her happy :)
Our elephant almost went bananas.
A baby elephant we met on our way to the waterfall.
We said goodbye and went on with our trip. After 30 minutes of walking we reached the Maewang waterfall. After the long trek a dip in the cool water was more than welcome! The water was freezing by the waterfall and the current was so strong but that didn't stop Marcus and Chris from goofing around! We continued our trek through the jungle after that and came to a little village where we wandered around, seeing the handmade scarfs for sale and the villagers making them.
Bros @ Maewang waterfall.
The mermaid of Maewang.
It was finally time for lunch after the village (by this time it was like 3pm and we were all starving!) and then we went on to the final item on the agenda for the day - river rafting. We left our bags with our guide for the day, Pot, and got on our bamboo raft. It was an hour cruise that started out quite calmly but there were a few rapids so we were soaked by the end of the trip. After that, we went back to Chiang Mai and our hotel for some much needed rest.
Almost like Huckleberry Finn.
The next day (thursday) wasn't nearly as long as the day before but just as exciting. We went to the Tiger Kingdom! A kind of tiger park where you can visit tigers of different ages (depending on what you are paying), walk into their enclosures and interact with the tigers. We decided to visit the big tigers, about 2 years old and the smallest tigers, about 1½-3 months old. We started in the enclosure with 3 big tigers. It was so cool standing next to these huge cats. Took a lot of photos with them. We were lying on the tigers, sitting behind them, standing next to them and patting them. You only get 15 minutes in there, so time passed rather quickly.
The big tiger, Oliver.
We continued to the smallest tigers. They were so cute! Looked like bigger housecats with enormous paws. There were two sisters, just 1½ months old, who were playing around with each other that were so adorable. Just wanted to take them home. We didn't. The 3 month old was also very playful and tried to bite us (and succeeded) and kick us. But we had a leaf rattle to keep it busy. We all had a really good time and left tiger kingdom after a couple of hours.
The sisters - Lala & Nala.
Today, we haven't done anything. We are leaving Chiang Mai tonight and heading for Koh Tao once again. The plan is that Liz will get diving certificate and Chris & Marcus will do some fun dives and swim in the ocean. Sounds like a good plan, right?
/ C, M & L
Two days ago we went on a full day trip, outside of the one main street we've been seeing so much of these past few lazy days. The plan was to ride elephants, go for a swim in a waterfall, visit a native village and go river rafting. And that's exactly what we did! The bus picked us up at 8:30 am. About an hour later we reached our first destination - the elephants! Without any real instructions we found ourselfes riding an elephand within five minutes! Chris and Liz sat on the "saddle" on the elephants back, and Marcus was the designated mahout - the elephant driver. :P Not too comfy sitting on an elephant neck, but a great experience!
Since we were kind of rushed onto the elephant, we didn't really now any commands how to "steer" the elephant. Luckily, a trainer came with us, telling the elephant what to do and where to go. The elephant took us through a narrow jungle path, managed to climp surprisingly steep hills and then all the way down again to where we started. At times, we clinged to whatever we could - the saddle, each other, the elephants ears - trying not to fall off while the elephant tried to reach new hights! Elephants really are magnificent, huge and funny creatures! The one we rode was a 45 year old female! For an older gal, she had a lot of energy! As thank you, we gave her some bananas. It made her happy :)
Our elephant almost went bananas.
A baby elephant we met on our way to the waterfall.
We said goodbye and went on with our trip. After 30 minutes of walking we reached the Maewang waterfall. After the long trek a dip in the cool water was more than welcome! The water was freezing by the waterfall and the current was so strong but that didn't stop Marcus and Chris from goofing around! We continued our trek through the jungle after that and came to a little village where we wandered around, seeing the handmade scarfs for sale and the villagers making them.
Bros @ Maewang waterfall.
The mermaid of Maewang.
It was finally time for lunch after the village (by this time it was like 3pm and we were all starving!) and then we went on to the final item on the agenda for the day - river rafting. We left our bags with our guide for the day, Pot, and got on our bamboo raft. It was an hour cruise that started out quite calmly but there were a few rapids so we were soaked by the end of the trip. After that, we went back to Chiang Mai and our hotel for some much needed rest.
Almost like Huckleberry Finn.
The next day (thursday) wasn't nearly as long as the day before but just as exciting. We went to the Tiger Kingdom! A kind of tiger park where you can visit tigers of different ages (depending on what you are paying), walk into their enclosures and interact with the tigers. We decided to visit the big tigers, about 2 years old and the smallest tigers, about 1½-3 months old. We started in the enclosure with 3 big tigers. It was so cool standing next to these huge cats. Took a lot of photos with them. We were lying on the tigers, sitting behind them, standing next to them and patting them. You only get 15 minutes in there, so time passed rather quickly.
The big tiger, Oliver.
We continued to the smallest tigers. They were so cute! Looked like bigger housecats with enormous paws. There were two sisters, just 1½ months old, who were playing around with each other that were so adorable. Just wanted to take them home. We didn't. The 3 month old was also very playful and tried to bite us (and succeeded) and kick us. But we had a leaf rattle to keep it busy. We all had a really good time and left tiger kingdom after a couple of hours.
The sisters - Lala & Nala.
Today, we haven't done anything. We are leaving Chiang Mai tonight and heading for Koh Tao once again. The plan is that Liz will get diving certificate and Chris & Marcus will do some fun dives and swim in the ocean. Sounds like a good plan, right?
/ C, M & L
Kommentarer
Postat av: Christina
Åhh, så härligt det ser ut. Både elefanten, vattenfallet och tigrarna! Hoppas det blir fortsatt fint på Koh Tao. Kram på er alla!
Postat av: Marie
Vad underbart ni har!!! Alla på hotellet hälsar så gott till er . Kramar
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