Uluru and Kata Tjuta
On sunday we did what we came to Alice Springs to do - see Ayers Rock. The drive to the national park where Ayers Rock is located (Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park) takes around 5 hours from Alice Springs so that meant a 5am wake up. Our day started with breakfast at sunrise and a 6am pickup from our hostel.
On the way there we stopped to view Mt Connor, which is commonly mistaken for Uluru due to it's size, shape and proximity to Uluru. We also learnt about the salt lakes that are spread out over the Northern Territory and got our first look at the red sand up close.
The beautiful sunrise right outside our room.
The boiling hot red sand of central Australia.
Our first stop when we got to the national park was The Olgas, or as the aboriginals call it, Kata Tjuta. Kata Tjuta (which means 'many heads') is a rock formation consisting of 36 domes. It is very important in aboriginal culture, we are not even allowed to know what happens here, which meant we are only allowed access to the western side of Kata Tjuta. We went on the Walpa Gorge walk - a rocky track between Mt Olga and Mt Walpa. These massive domes are up to 500m high. The walk was incredible but exhausting in the 41 degree heat.
The Olgas. The Walpa Gorge is right in the center where we did our walk.
Bros @ Kata Tjuta.
Marcus in front of the massive Mt Olga.
We visited the cultural centre next to learn more about Aboriginal laws and culture and then we were off to Ayers Rock. We did two walks around the base of Uluru - the Mala Walk and the Kuniya Walk. During these walks our guides told us the aboriginal dreamtime stories (stories passed down through the generations about how things came to be) about the different areas around Uluru. They showed us the aboriginal paintings on the walls and taught us about the landscape. The surrounding area was unusually green and wet due to the massive ammounts of rain Australia has had lately. These walks were thankfully alot more shaded than The Olgas so we weren't out in the boiling sun so much.
We decided to do the full on tourist look and bought matching hats.. haha!
We were unfortunately unable to climb Uluru. The climb is closed during the summer months due to extreme temperatures and can also be closed due to rain, wind, cloud, heat or cultural reasons. It's pretty rare the climb is open and even when it is the aboriginals request that you don't climb. It's very spiritually significal to them and they also feel a responsibility to warn tourists of the dangers involved. Like one of the guides told us: an english backpacker holds the record of being the fastest man down the rock - it only took him 5 seconds! He didn't survive though...
Ayers Rock. Enjoy it under the influence!
Kicking back and relaxing with a glass of champagne and enjoying the view.
Uluru at sunset.
We concluded the day with a barbeque dinner (including champagne) watching the sun set over Uluru. An amazing end to an amazing day!
/M, C & L
On the way there we stopped to view Mt Connor, which is commonly mistaken for Uluru due to it's size, shape and proximity to Uluru. We also learnt about the salt lakes that are spread out over the Northern Territory and got our first look at the red sand up close.
The beautiful sunrise right outside our room.
The boiling hot red sand of central Australia.
Our first stop when we got to the national park was The Olgas, or as the aboriginals call it, Kata Tjuta. Kata Tjuta (which means 'many heads') is a rock formation consisting of 36 domes. It is very important in aboriginal culture, we are not even allowed to know what happens here, which meant we are only allowed access to the western side of Kata Tjuta. We went on the Walpa Gorge walk - a rocky track between Mt Olga and Mt Walpa. These massive domes are up to 500m high. The walk was incredible but exhausting in the 41 degree heat.
The Olgas. The Walpa Gorge is right in the center where we did our walk.
Bros @ Kata Tjuta.
Marcus in front of the massive Mt Olga.
We visited the cultural centre next to learn more about Aboriginal laws and culture and then we were off to Ayers Rock. We did two walks around the base of Uluru - the Mala Walk and the Kuniya Walk. During these walks our guides told us the aboriginal dreamtime stories (stories passed down through the generations about how things came to be) about the different areas around Uluru. They showed us the aboriginal paintings on the walls and taught us about the landscape. The surrounding area was unusually green and wet due to the massive ammounts of rain Australia has had lately. These walks were thankfully alot more shaded than The Olgas so we weren't out in the boiling sun so much.
We decided to do the full on tourist look and bought matching hats.. haha!
We were unfortunately unable to climb Uluru. The climb is closed during the summer months due to extreme temperatures and can also be closed due to rain, wind, cloud, heat or cultural reasons. It's pretty rare the climb is open and even when it is the aboriginals request that you don't climb. It's very spiritually significal to them and they also feel a responsibility to warn tourists of the dangers involved. Like one of the guides told us: an english backpacker holds the record of being the fastest man down the rock - it only took him 5 seconds! He didn't survive though...
Ayers Rock. Enjoy it under the influence!
Kicking back and relaxing with a glass of champagne and enjoying the view.
Uluru at sunset.
We concluded the day with a barbeque dinner (including champagne) watching the sun set over Uluru. An amazing end to an amazing day!
/M, C & L
The Red Centre
We arrived at Alice Springs yesterday, which is a small town of 27,000 in the heart of Australia. We flew over the famous red sand but Alice Springs itself is actually quite green at the moment due to the massive amount of rain the city has had. It's now 35 degrees here in the middle of the desert but luckily we have a pool at our hostel! Score! Within 2 hours of arriving in Alice Springs we were already lying by the pool and soaking up the sun. This is the life!
The red desert of North Australia.
This is how happy we were to be in Alice Springs.
Our last days in Adelaide we not very productive due to the terrible weather. However we did squeeze in one more day at the beach (before the bad weather came) and a free tour of Haigh's Chocolate Factory which included free samples! Haigh's is an Australian chocolate which produces exclusively for it's 13 stores across Australia. Most of the work is done by hand and we watched as they wrapped the chocolates individually, hand dipped the truffles and decorated the chocolates one by one. We got to taste their milk and dark chocolate, chocolate coated almonds and rasberry chocolates. Liz was forced to buy a selection of truffles to taste what we had seen in production.
Chocolate everywhere! And all of these were handmade!
Mmm... chocolate.
We are planning on doing lots of swimming and sunbaking here and of course we are going to see Ayers Rock tomorrow! It costs a whopping $200 per person though, but we're spending the day seeing Ayers Rock and the surrounding area. Hope it's worth it. We're flying back to Melbourne on 20th and spending 2 weeks there. After that, on the 4th of february, we are coming home.
/M, C & L
New continent, New year, New adventures!
Long time, no blog (again)! We have been pretty lazy with the blog posts lately, and we apoligise for that. There's just so much going on all the time and whenever there's time left of our days we basically just do stuff we want (sleeping).
Alrights, let's just jump right in.
We're now in Adelaide, a pretty big city on the coast of South Australia, about 2 hours flight west from Sydney, which is the last city we visited. Lots have been going on since our last post, including a few more days in Melbourne, new years eve & sightseeing in Sydney, and now our new route, away from the bad weather and the floods in Queensland. We've managed to hit the worst summer Australia's had in 90 years. Fail-bros strike again!
After celebrating an Australian christmas with the Walkers (Liz's parents, brother Bob, sister Samantha, grandparents & aunt) and Aina, we didn't really do much other than shopping in the city. The boxing day sales started, and we all went looking for bargains. Marcus and Chris went to see Tron: Legacy at the IMAX cinema, which was AWESOME! Then, on the 28th of december we left for Sydney! Even though the flight was delayed, we made it there alright, and the next day we saw the city, the Harbour Bridge, the Opera house, enjoyed the great weather and met up with friends.
Bros in Sydney!
Enjoyed a beer (or two) in the baking heat in front of the harbour bridge!
The coming days we checked out what the fuss about Bondi beach was, as well as Manley beach. Bondi was huge, and packed with people! We went there on the 30th of december, an awesome sunny day, went for a swim, got tanned, and had dinner. A cool place indeed! Manley beach was about the same, but the rain pretty much wrecked that day on the beach for us, so we went for a beer instead at a nearby bar.
Bondi Beach, December 30th. Packed!
New years eve was amazing! We started out early by taking a ferry from Circular Quay by the bridge to Balmain, which is west of the bridge and the opera house and settled down on blanket & foldout chairs, with food, drinks, beer, snacks, music and good friends. We managed to find a great spot in the shade overlooking the bridge. We basically sat there for more than 12 hours, which might sound a bit much, but the great company and nice weather really made it a memorable day! The fireworks at midnight were amazing! It lit up the city and the whole sky, leaving everyone stunned and amazed, cheering and laughing. After the fireworks we hung out for a while and then took the ferry back to the city, and walked back on crowded streets to the hotel.
The awesome gang on new years! And yes, our dutch friend Tim insisted on hanging the dutch flag by our camp, even though there were only two dutch people among us...
The sky exploded at midnight!
The following days we stayed in two new hotels/hostels, trying to figure out where to go next. Our last two nights we stayed in a hostel in Kings Cross in Sydney, which basically is the red light district. All the noisy drunks outside the bars and strip clubs didn't really help you fall asleep at night... We decided on going to Adelaide to find the sun, and spent the last day in Sydney with Mike, Tommy and Jocke at Mike's mom's place, having a barbeque and playing water volleyball in the pool! It was a good day :) (Marcus and Tommy beat the crap out of Chris and Mike at volleyball. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Chris and Mike couldn't reach the bottom of the pool in the deeper end, on one side of the volleyball net).
Volleyball @ Mikes! We all felt really pool! ...I mean cool.
Adelaide is a quiet, mellow and cozy city, as far as we know. On friday we went to the beach, in 34 degree heat and sun (got burnt - we had it coming. Australian sun really is a lot stronger than anywhere else we've been so far). It was still a great day though! Yesterday was an even better day, since we went to the world famous Jacob's Creek, in the Barossa Valley, about an hour drive from Adelaide. It's the home of yellow hills with crops swaying in the wind in the distance, green vineyards as far as the eye can see, and of course - wine tasting! Since we arrived a bit early, we had a nice lunch with good wine, and while the rain poured outside we enjoyed cheesecake, kaluha creme brulee, coffe and tea. The sky then cleared up, and the sun was shining on us while a guide showed us the vineyard and the many different kind of grapes they grow. We then did some wine tasting. The list was long, and we tried many different kinds! After this, we made our way to a look-out point, giving us a breathtaking view of the beautiful valley!
A fine selection @ Jacob's Creek Visitor Centre!
In front of the vineyard at Jacob's Creek.
The amazing view from one of the look-out points in Barossa Valley.
From here, we all want to go to Alice Springs to see Ayers Rock. If we can find a cheap enough way to get there, that is. We'll keep you updated on how it goes. Hopefully ;)
/M, C & L
Alrights, let's just jump right in.
We're now in Adelaide, a pretty big city on the coast of South Australia, about 2 hours flight west from Sydney, which is the last city we visited. Lots have been going on since our last post, including a few more days in Melbourne, new years eve & sightseeing in Sydney, and now our new route, away from the bad weather and the floods in Queensland. We've managed to hit the worst summer Australia's had in 90 years. Fail-bros strike again!
After celebrating an Australian christmas with the Walkers (Liz's parents, brother Bob, sister Samantha, grandparents & aunt) and Aina, we didn't really do much other than shopping in the city. The boxing day sales started, and we all went looking for bargains. Marcus and Chris went to see Tron: Legacy at the IMAX cinema, which was AWESOME! Then, on the 28th of december we left for Sydney! Even though the flight was delayed, we made it there alright, and the next day we saw the city, the Harbour Bridge, the Opera house, enjoyed the great weather and met up with friends.
Bros in Sydney!
Enjoyed a beer (or two) in the baking heat in front of the harbour bridge!
The coming days we checked out what the fuss about Bondi beach was, as well as Manley beach. Bondi was huge, and packed with people! We went there on the 30th of december, an awesome sunny day, went for a swim, got tanned, and had dinner. A cool place indeed! Manley beach was about the same, but the rain pretty much wrecked that day on the beach for us, so we went for a beer instead at a nearby bar.
Bondi Beach, December 30th. Packed!
New years eve was amazing! We started out early by taking a ferry from Circular Quay by the bridge to Balmain, which is west of the bridge and the opera house and settled down on blanket & foldout chairs, with food, drinks, beer, snacks, music and good friends. We managed to find a great spot in the shade overlooking the bridge. We basically sat there for more than 12 hours, which might sound a bit much, but the great company and nice weather really made it a memorable day! The fireworks at midnight were amazing! It lit up the city and the whole sky, leaving everyone stunned and amazed, cheering and laughing. After the fireworks we hung out for a while and then took the ferry back to the city, and walked back on crowded streets to the hotel.
The awesome gang on new years! And yes, our dutch friend Tim insisted on hanging the dutch flag by our camp, even though there were only two dutch people among us...
The sky exploded at midnight!
The following days we stayed in two new hotels/hostels, trying to figure out where to go next. Our last two nights we stayed in a hostel in Kings Cross in Sydney, which basically is the red light district. All the noisy drunks outside the bars and strip clubs didn't really help you fall asleep at night... We decided on going to Adelaide to find the sun, and spent the last day in Sydney with Mike, Tommy and Jocke at Mike's mom's place, having a barbeque and playing water volleyball in the pool! It was a good day :) (Marcus and Tommy beat the crap out of Chris and Mike at volleyball. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Chris and Mike couldn't reach the bottom of the pool in the deeper end, on one side of the volleyball net).
Volleyball @ Mikes! We all felt really pool! ...I mean cool.
Adelaide is a quiet, mellow and cozy city, as far as we know. On friday we went to the beach, in 34 degree heat and sun (got burnt - we had it coming. Australian sun really is a lot stronger than anywhere else we've been so far). It was still a great day though! Yesterday was an even better day, since we went to the world famous Jacob's Creek, in the Barossa Valley, about an hour drive from Adelaide. It's the home of yellow hills with crops swaying in the wind in the distance, green vineyards as far as the eye can see, and of course - wine tasting! Since we arrived a bit early, we had a nice lunch with good wine, and while the rain poured outside we enjoyed cheesecake, kaluha creme brulee, coffe and tea. The sky then cleared up, and the sun was shining on us while a guide showed us the vineyard and the many different kind of grapes they grow. We then did some wine tasting. The list was long, and we tried many different kinds! After this, we made our way to a look-out point, giving us a breathtaking view of the beautiful valley!
A fine selection @ Jacob's Creek Visitor Centre!
In front of the vineyard at Jacob's Creek.
The amazing view from one of the look-out points in Barossa Valley.
From here, we all want to go to Alice Springs to see Ayers Rock. If we can find a cheap enough way to get there, that is. We'll keep you updated on how it goes. Hopefully ;)
/M, C & L
Koalas!
More posts are on the way, but first we thought we would share with you a clip from the Healesville Sanctuary, a kind of zoo with only Australian animals - Koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, platypuses, reptiles...
We shot this film at the koala enclosure. For once, we actually got to see the koalas move, make sounds and interact. They usually just sleep during most of the day (they spend 16-18 hours per day sleeping - ah, the good life), like the ones we saw in the Chiang Mai zoo.
Apparently this Koala thought it would be a good idea to play king of the hill (tree) and just claim the other koala's tree as its own. May seem a bit rude, but we liked the show they gave us! And obviously koalas grunt like wild boars when upset - otippat, as we say in swedish! :P
/M, C & L
We shot this film at the koala enclosure. For once, we actually got to see the koalas move, make sounds and interact. They usually just sleep during most of the day (they spend 16-18 hours per day sleeping - ah, the good life), like the ones we saw in the Chiang Mai zoo.
Apparently this Koala thought it would be a good idea to play king of the hill (tree) and just claim the other koala's tree as its own. May seem a bit rude, but we liked the show they gave us! And obviously koalas grunt like wild boars when upset - otippat, as we say in swedish! :P
/M, C & L
Last days in Asia
Yeah, we haven't been very good with the whole blogg part. Sorry, but really, one of the last things we want is to sit down and write for an hour on the computer. We have so many other things going on! But is was a long time ago now, so we'll try to be a little better.
Now we'll tell you about our last days in Thailand, Malaysia & Asia! It so happens that we're in Melbourne now. Oh yeah. But since you don't know what happened between Chiang Mai and Australia, we thought we might fill you in.
After Chiang Mai, we went to Koh Tao again. This is the island where Chris & Marcus got their diving certificates. The reason to go back? Cheap dives & Liz also wanted to get a diving certificate. We went to the same resort we stayed at the first time and got a sweet deal. We got free accomodation since Liz was doing her diving course. So while Liz started with her course, Chris & Marcus rented motorbikes and drove around the island in search of beatiful beaches.
We ended up staying in Koh Tao for 6 days. The diving course for Liz was supposed to take 4 days, but she first had problems to adapt to the whole underwater-breathing thing, but she did manage. However, right after that she got sick and couldn't finish the course. But she got a referral, so she can finish the rest somewhere else within a year. Chris, Marcus and Liz a few times went to a total of five different beaches. All of them with crystal clear, warm (29 degrees) water and many with beatiful white sand. We swam and snorkeled there for many hours and really enjoyed life in Koh Tao. Though Chris & Marcus were a bit slow with the diving thing. They ended up doing two fun dives, which was really great. Chris also did a Deep Dive the day after. Went down to 30m and loved it! Did get an ear infection for that, but still worth it!
One of the beautiful refuges we found.
The awesome beach by Shark Bay.
Shark bay, a sunbather's and snorkeler's paradise!
It really doesn't get much better than this! :D
Team Sweden, featuring Oz!
Chris on his way into the deep!
On saturday it was, however, time to leave Koh Tao. The time had come to say goodbye to Thailand. We had a flight from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) the 22nd, so we left Koh Tao on the 18th for Phuket. We had a flight from there to Kuala Lumpur early the 19th. It was (as usual) a dull bus ride, we arrived to Phuket around 9pm. Didn't have that much time to see anything at all, we just went for dinner and then to bed. The flight to Kuala Lumpur went well, we landed around 11am and quickly found a hostel. We stayed in Chinatown in KL and spend most of our time there. Walked around the markets, had some food and just chilled. We were supposed to go to Petronas Towers on monday (the 20th), but apparently, it is closed on mondays!
In our depression, we went to a shopping mall and spend a whopping 9 hours in there!!! It's not as bad as it sounds though. That time included both lunch and dinner plus a movie at the cinema in the shopping centre. We tried to go to Petronas early on tuesday, the same day we were leaving for Melbourne. We got there around 9am and the tickets were already sold out! Disappointed, we at least snapped some photos outside and then went to the airport.
Bros @ the Petronas Twin Towers.
The indoor rollercoaster @ the Times Square Mall, Kuala Lumpur. Insane!
That flight went well too. We're now in Melbourne. Today we're going to IKEA to buy swedish christmas food! We'll give you more updates of what we've been doing here in a couple of days. So to all of you, from all of us, a very merry christmas!
GOD JUL!!!
Chris, Liz and Marcus wishes you all a merry christmas!
/C, M & L
Now we'll tell you about our last days in Thailand, Malaysia & Asia! It so happens that we're in Melbourne now. Oh yeah. But since you don't know what happened between Chiang Mai and Australia, we thought we might fill you in.
After Chiang Mai, we went to Koh Tao again. This is the island where Chris & Marcus got their diving certificates. The reason to go back? Cheap dives & Liz also wanted to get a diving certificate. We went to the same resort we stayed at the first time and got a sweet deal. We got free accomodation since Liz was doing her diving course. So while Liz started with her course, Chris & Marcus rented motorbikes and drove around the island in search of beatiful beaches.
We ended up staying in Koh Tao for 6 days. The diving course for Liz was supposed to take 4 days, but she first had problems to adapt to the whole underwater-breathing thing, but she did manage. However, right after that she got sick and couldn't finish the course. But she got a referral, so she can finish the rest somewhere else within a year. Chris, Marcus and Liz a few times went to a total of five different beaches. All of them with crystal clear, warm (29 degrees) water and many with beatiful white sand. We swam and snorkeled there for many hours and really enjoyed life in Koh Tao. Though Chris & Marcus were a bit slow with the diving thing. They ended up doing two fun dives, which was really great. Chris also did a Deep Dive the day after. Went down to 30m and loved it! Did get an ear infection for that, but still worth it!
One of the beautiful refuges we found.
The awesome beach by Shark Bay.
Shark bay, a sunbather's and snorkeler's paradise!
It really doesn't get much better than this! :D
Team Sweden, featuring Oz!
Chris on his way into the deep!
On saturday it was, however, time to leave Koh Tao. The time had come to say goodbye to Thailand. We had a flight from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) the 22nd, so we left Koh Tao on the 18th for Phuket. We had a flight from there to Kuala Lumpur early the 19th. It was (as usual) a dull bus ride, we arrived to Phuket around 9pm. Didn't have that much time to see anything at all, we just went for dinner and then to bed. The flight to Kuala Lumpur went well, we landed around 11am and quickly found a hostel. We stayed in Chinatown in KL and spend most of our time there. Walked around the markets, had some food and just chilled. We were supposed to go to Petronas Towers on monday (the 20th), but apparently, it is closed on mondays!
In our depression, we went to a shopping mall and spend a whopping 9 hours in there!!! It's not as bad as it sounds though. That time included both lunch and dinner plus a movie at the cinema in the shopping centre. We tried to go to Petronas early on tuesday, the same day we were leaving for Melbourne. We got there around 9am and the tickets were already sold out! Disappointed, we at least snapped some photos outside and then went to the airport.
Bros @ the Petronas Twin Towers.
The indoor rollercoaster @ the Times Square Mall, Kuala Lumpur. Insane!
That flight went well too. We're now in Melbourne. Today we're going to IKEA to buy swedish christmas food! We'll give you more updates of what we've been doing here in a couple of days. So to all of you, from all of us, a very merry christmas!
GOD JUL!!!
Chris, Liz and Marcus wishes you all a merry christmas!
/C, M & L
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
151 ½ timma kvar!
Då var det dags...blogg-oskulden är tagen. Tänkte att jag får börja lära mig att klottra ner lite saker här. Kommer ju göra det dem kommande 4-6 månaderna :)
Snart åker vi! 6 dagar! 6 dagar! 6 dagar!
Har dessvärre fortfarande en del skit att köpa - reselakan, apotek, regnkläder m.m
Tråkigt mkt skit vi har behövt köpa inför resan....kommer ju fan göra av med mer pengar innan resan än under....nästan iaf....
Men men, har lite att se fram emot under sista veckan här också:
Tisdag - Robert Gustafssons Jubileumsshow
Torsdag morgon - Slutar jobbet! Woho!
Torsdag kväll - Sista Babarquizen :P
Lördag - Våran epic avskedsfest!
....och
Måndag - Åker vi!!!!!
Orkar inte skriva mer nu....
/C
Snart åker vi! 6 dagar! 6 dagar! 6 dagar!
Har dessvärre fortfarande en del skit att köpa - reselakan, apotek, regnkläder m.m
Tråkigt mkt skit vi har behövt köpa inför resan....kommer ju fan göra av med mer pengar innan resan än under....nästan iaf....
Men men, har lite att se fram emot under sista veckan här också:
Tisdag - Robert Gustafssons Jubileumsshow
Torsdag morgon - Slutar jobbet! Woho!
Torsdag kväll - Sista Babarquizen :P
Lördag - Våran epic avskedsfest!
....och
Måndag - Åker vi!!!!!
Orkar inte skriva mer nu....
/C
