Monday morning we were on our way to Chiang Mai. The airports in Thailand are very modern, and it is amazing to see all the American fast-food places represented here. When we arrived in Chiang Mai, Will spotted a Dairy Queen, as you can see by the cup he is holding, and a chocolate milkshake was in order - to eat with his Subway we had purchased in Bangkok.
At the airport we met Mr. Jerdsak, a cabbie, and amazingly, he spoke English. What a bonanza for us!
Sister Hutchings, in Cebu Mission, has friends who
were recently in Thailand. We had spoken to them for ideas of where to stay,
and they recommended Tanita House, a small, welcoming bed and breakfast in Chiang Mai.
We walked down this quiet lane,
seeing the individual cabins,
to this one where we are staying.
Small, but very clean and comfortable.
Not only is Tanita House charming, it is set back on
the property to provide privacy and a relaxing atmosphere. The cottages are
individual, the breakfast delicious, and the antiques delightful.
I love interesting paintings!
Aor – the
owner - is a sweetheart.
(Her real name is Sopawan - she is single - she cares for her 86 year-old father -
Tanita House was originally a shop where novelties were sold -
it has been in the family for three generations -
our cabin was a storage shed -
the larger cabin was a rice granary.)
She has done a wonderful job in changing it over to meet her needs now.
A fun bonus is that this very busy street has several
boutiques
and other interesting places close by to explore.
One of the things we wanted to do while here in Chiang Mai was visit a highland village, and specifically the village of Karen, where the long-necked women reside. These tribal members are refuges from Burma.
Very close to Tanita House is a shop:
Sop Moei Art Shop, that has been established to sell products from the highlanders. Here I am with a woman who is from the Karen tribe. The pillow is representative of the fabric used for a traditional wedding dress.
This says: Karen goes to Chiang Mai. The first 3 letters are the Karen part.
A purse made of the traditional Karen material.
Also on the same street as Tanita House, is Wat Kate Temple!
This is all in the same Buddist complex.
This temple said: Women are not allowed on the temple steps outside.
This was inside one of the other buildings.
We had asked Joey (our cabbie) about a possible
cultural evening show. And that is exactly what we ended up attending Monday
evening.
It was a dinner show, so we also tasted several dishes
from Thailand. Our appetizer was chicken soup, which looked like the chicken
had flown through it really fast – it basically looked like water – but to our
surprise, was very tasty. The meal was comprised of sticky rice, white rice, fried
chicken, tender pork with a kick, and various vegetable dishes (one like chow
mien and one was sweet and crunchy). Dessert was pineapple, watermelon and rice
cakes.
The cultural show was certainly a different type of both music and dancing than we expected, with authentic Thai costumes, and slow, rhythmic choreography.
Notice the long fingernails - reminiscent of "The King and I"
Joey was there to pick us up after the show, and again
on Tuesday morning to chauffeur us to several sites on our agenda.
On the way to the Maesa Elephant Camp, we discussed Joey's Buddist religion. This is a Spirit House - and similar small houses are outside many of the houses here.
I have never been in a country that had so many blooming trees - in many different colors. Purple, orange, red, yellow, white, pink, etc. This red tree is a Yehloro flower tree.
This yellow-flowered tree is called a Royal Foria. In more ancient times, only Royality grew these trees. Now they are everywhere to enjoy.
When we heard they had an
Orchid Farm, of couse we needed to make a stop there. The orchids are amazing, with their roots hanging down - not in any kind of soil whatsoever. This type of orchid receives it's nutrients from the air.
Then, on the the
Maesa Elephant Camp. First we watched the elephant show.
Not knowing what we would see, we were actually delighted with the fun show put on by the elephants and their trainers. They played basketball, kicked a soccer ball (they were amazing at this - and we will want to show you videos when we get home), and threw darts at balloons to pop them. Some of the elephants were quite the show-offs after they had done well.
Then we were told the elephants would paint pictures! Yeah! Right!
The trainer would load the brush and put it in the elephant's trunk. The elephant did ALL the painting.
It was totally amazing and fun to watch. I think I need to take a painting lesson from them. It didn't take them a long time. They just got the job done!
After the show, it was off to riding the elephants up over the mountain to the highland village.
Riding up the hill was slow, but steady. We decided to each ride a separate elephant so that we could take pictures of one another. The elephant trainers sat on the elephant's head and let their feet dangle down over their face.
Will's elephant's name was Poo Kamnoi, and he was 57 years old.
Karen's elephant's name was Poo Pae, and he was 18 years old.
Here the trainers slid down and took a picture of us together on our elephants. We rode for a while without the trainer on the elephant at all.
Several places along the trail, we were going downhill. Now that was a challenge to stay on the seat.
After about an hour, we arrived at the highland tribal village.
It was a great ride, but we didn't need even another minute of riding.
The first highland village we came to was a different tribe of people.
Of course, the little girls all wanted their pictures taken with you.
I had to try on a "local hat."
Then we walked to the
village of Karen.
The shops were set up in front of the houses, and lined both sides of the street. The church was at the end of the road.
The
long-necked women were glad to have their pictures taken. Most of them were in traditional dress.
They had some partial neck rings for us to hold up to our necks for pictures, and we discovered that they are very heavy. My neck ring was only 12 rings high, and only went around the front of my neck, and it was still extremely heavy.
29 rings was the most we saw anyone wearing.
It was amazing to us that some of the smaller girls are already beginning to wear the rings around their necks - not all of them, but some.
We had supposed that this was all we would do and see on Tuesday, but Joey said we had time to visit the Tiger Kingdom. However, on the way there, we detoured to the
Cobra Snake Farm.
After we paid our entrance fee and walked inside, we were both thinking, "Oh boy, we really got took on this one." The grounds and snake enclosures were really scary looking - a lot of cages were empty of snakes - and some had quite small snakes that you could hardly see through the wire screens.
At the end of the outdoor cages, one of the snake wranglers pulled a six-foot cobra out of it's cage and started teasing it. At first it looked like a regular snake, but as it was provoked, it immediately raised it's head and the neck flared out.
On our way back to the snake show arena, the man in the red shirt asked Will if he wanted to hold a rat snake. He told us they were not poisonous but they have a bad bite. Will DID NOT want to hold a snake or even touch it for that matter. So, the man hooked the snake around a water bottle sticking out of Will's back pocket.
Will could feel the snake on the back of him, but didn't know how to get it off.
Finally, he got the snake off his back, and then the man handed him two rat snakes. Yikes!
When we finally went into the arena - the "Anytime Show" was about to begin. We were the only two in the audience. This man was also working with cobras.
At the end of his part of the show, he milked the cobra of venom.
Finally, the original red-shirted man worked with a python. It was huge! After showing it off in several ways, he allowed the snake to drop down into this pool of water - then he dove into the water himself.
He dove down several times to try and locate the snake, and finally came up with it over his shoulder.
Of course, he had to kiss the snake at the end, and hold it by the neck so the mouth would stay closed.
Really kind of disgusting and amazing at the same time.
All in all, it ended up being quite an entertaining and informative stop.
PS: remember the dead cobra we saw in Siquijor.
Off to pet the tigers! The Tiger Kingdom
First the youngsters! These tiger cubs were about three months old.
Rules for petting tigers: don't touch their heads or paws, don't make loud noises or move around quickly, wash your hands before you go into the cages (and when you come out again), wear the slippers provided, and don't take anything into the cage with you except a camera.
Since the small tigers were playing on the floor, you had to get down to their level, so you also sat on the floor.
This little guy wasn't so happy, and he let you know it!
Will also petted the small cubs, but his best pictures were with the big cats.
It was well into the afternoon by the time we arrived at the Tiger Kingdom, and some of the tigers were just wanting a nap. But they definitely were not sleeping. The trainers kept them moving about.
This was so amazing to be inside the cages with these spectacular beasts.
Nice kitty! You didn't take for granted that they wouldn't mind being touched.
This big cat was just coming up out of the pool of water.
It's easier to be brave when their mouth is facing away from you.
But then, he decides he wants to check you out too.
We got some fun video clips of the large tigers playing in the water afterwards. That was their reward.
This mango shake was our reward.
This was definitely a full, exciting day!
Our second day in Chiang Mai was much more relaxing.
In the morning we went to the Central Plaza Mall.
We got there a few minutes before it opened - at 11:00 a.m.
Can't you just see how excited Will is to go shopping?
In the afternoon, we found a neighborhood swimming pool at the Eco Resort.
Not far from Tanita House!
There was quite a party going on there.
These young adults were smoking - maybe opium - you can see if you look close.
It was about 37 degrees C. out so the pool felt good for our swim.
On our way home, we stopped for a Thai massage.
My flower for the day!
They are the same flower - the front one in bud form and the back one in bloom.
Today, Thursday, we visited with Aor for quite some time. She introduced us to her father and showed us some very old family pictures upstairs in her home.
She had several novels there by the eating area, and I asked her if I could buy one from her. She said, "Absolutely not!" "Oh, okay, I just wanted something to read on my way back to the States." "You are welcome to take one with you," she said, "but you cannot buy it . . . it is just yours. These are books that people have left here for others to enjoy."
Later as we sat in our room, Will suggested that I take my soft-cover Book of Mormon, write my testimony in the front, and put it back on the shelf in place of the one I took. That is exactly what I did! And that's why we're a great team!
