Day of the Elephant

Wow, what a day! We met up with our friends from Bishop, Tom and Nancy Hardy to take the elephant tour today. We were off at 8:15 am and arrived back at our hotel at 4:30 pm. It was a full day tour starting with a trip to a Thai market (I would say supermarket). They had everything under the sun, but primarily food! Here are a few pictures.

A big bug, hog tied and fried....mmmmmm! Only 15 Bot!

Tom and Kim check out the fresh fruit (I think!)

Toasted Silk worm larvae.

Nicely prepared chickens, and we won't go into what the
other items are. However, I am sure they are delicious
when properly cooked!

This one's for Mike and Teri!

Pickled chicken feet (with claws removed!)

We then went to the elephant camp, Chiang Dao. It was pretty far out of town and up in the jungle covered hills. It was very impressive, and I really feel it was well done and worth while. First we watched as the elephants bathed with their handlers (mahouts). It was very cool, especially for the mahouts and their mounts.

Take me to the river!!

Kim feeds the elephant some bananas. She was hungry!!

The Mahouts and their mounts begin to bathe.

Scrub brushes out!

Next we watched the elephants being put through their paces. Riding in formation, mounting and dismounting, showing different logging techniques, and finally painting a picture! The older elephants are all unemployed loggers, as logging has been prohibited in Thailand for some time. Apparently the native teak forest were being decimated, and so now the country is in restoration mode. However, from what I saw they will have to bring back some thinning operations soon as many of the plantations of teak trees I observed looked to be significantly overstocked. So its good they are maintaining a skill base in working elephants!

The elephants ride in two by two!

A tandem elephant pull for those old growth teak logs!

Decking the logs at the landing!

This pachyderm shows his/her artistic side!

The finished product!

After the show we mounted an elephant and headed of to a small village of (minority people from the mountains). I thought it might be hoakie, but it turned out not to be. The had many crafty items for sale, and the "villagers" were actually just that, only making a living as a tourist attraction. Nothing wrong with that. The round trip ride up trails and creeks through the jungle was about an hour. The last home stretch was cool (literally) as we walked the elephants up the river (water to their jaw line) and back to the camp where lunch was waiting.

Tom and Nancy lead the way!

Kim bargains with a villager.

Starting the return trip.

Heading up the river toward our lunch.

Lunch!!!

After lunch, we boarded a bamboo raft for a 50 minute float down the river. The water was very low, and we scraped bottom a few times, but our guide kept us moving with his bamboo push pole. We could see that the river was 10 to 12 feet lower than flood stage by all of the debris hung up in the tree branches along the shore. It was a very quiet and relaxing float. I was thankful for the straw sun hat they issued me (even though it was a bit small).

The fleet awaits!

Away the stern line! We're underway!

Floating through the jungle.

Captain Morgan and his first mate!!

From our take out point we were driven to an orchid farm. It was fascinating and very beautiful. It was also the most humid place we have been!! Lots of great flower photo ops though.

A couple of orchids on display. These are about 10 years old!

Our guide Winya explains orchid farming.

Pretty flowers!

Rows and rows and rows of orchids!

Spirit houses in the garden.

Our last stop was a temple outside of Chiang Mei that is dedicated to local artisans. These are silver smiths, and there is a school there to teach people this art. Some of the temple buildings are decorated with aluminium instead of the gold paint so common elsewhere. They used aluminium instead of silver because of cost, and the fact that it weathers better (doesn't tarnish). It was unique!

Notice the Aluminium structure. Currently under construction,
they began about 10 years ago.

Aluminium Buddha. 

Incredible craftsmanship.

Inside, only gold accent.

Outside is over halfway complete.

Volunteer smiths work on more temple adornments.

We rested for a bit at our little B&B then had dinner at a rotisserie chicken place up the street that the Hardy's had read about last November in the New York Times Travel section. It was simple, and delicious.

SP Chicken, right up the street from our room.

Tom and Nancy toast to a great day together with us!

The Charcoa House, our hole in the wall refuge in Chiang Mei.

Great Feng Shui, once you get off the street! 

It was another great day, with great friends!

That's All!

Our Northern Scooter Tour

We woke up in our cut little B&B ready for a day of touring. We rented a small scooter after our successful day in Hua Hin. This one was s little newer, and ran much better. We took off after our Thai breakfast and went for a familiarization cruise to make sure we could find our way home at the end of the day. It took a few circuits, and checking out the back alleys, but soon I felt confident I could find the Characoa B&B on our return.

They rent you the scooters empty of fuel, so we set out to get some gas ASAP. Of course, right next to the gas station was a wat (temple). Kim had to see the temple, so we checked it out. As are all of these temples, it was beautiful. This one seemed to be themed more on teak wood, of course the central Buddah figure was gold.

Don't remember the name of this temple, but it was
right next to our first fuel stop.

More of a wood motif in this "Assembly Hall"
with a beautiful golden Buddha.

 I was still fairly full from breakfast, but it was around noon, and Kim said she needed food, so we found a little back alley hole in the wall. It didn't look like much from the street, but after we parked the bike, and entered, it was a totally charming and cute little place. Gardens, Koi ponds, beautiful landscaping, and a huge menu. As usual, the food was delicious, and the portions too generous! So, after eating, I waddled back to the bike, and off we went. We decided to visit "our wat", that is the temple for people born in 1952, (and every 12 years before and since) the year of the dragon! Wat Phrasingh. It is a beautiful temple, and Kim and I thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

Our little lunch hole in the wall/ hideaway. The "fog"
in the background was a mister to keep things cooler.
It mostly just made things more humid!

Our lunch! These were platters, not dishes!

Inside the hall of Wat Prasingh, for those born in the
year of the dragon!

View of the hall from the temple grounds.

After the visit to the temple, we headed out on the highway. My plan was to get out and see the countryside. Get a feel for life outside of the city. We drove without a map. and eventually dead ended at what looked like a tool booth. Kim asked what the deal was and the man that was taking money at the little booth was pretty vague (because he didn't speak English), but he said something about
"zip-line". This got Kim's attention, so for 20 BOT each we went through he gate to find out what was on the  other side. Turned out it was a regional park, and all the locals were out in force picnicking, fishing at a beautiful lake, and overall just doing the same sort of "weekend" stuff that we would do here in the states. There was no English to be seen or heard anywhere. A beautiful park, with people having a great time. After a lap around the lake we headed back out on the road.

Covered bamboo rafts moored to the shore provide a picnic
spot in the park for weekend urbanites from the Chiang Mei. 

Many small shrines and statues provide areas for rest, and
meditation in the park. 

Speaking of rest and meditation!

We took off again, determined to find the "countryside" and get a feel how the rural folks live! We just kept taking turns in the direction that seemed to lead to the least populated place. It got prettier, and prettier, beautiful fields of rice, lots of fruit trees, fewer buildings, but still the ubiquitous little stands and markets along the road, only more spaced out. We finally got tired (mainly my rear was starting to rebel!) and pulled over at a little roadside mini mart. We ordered a couple of Chang beers, some potato chips (Lays) and relaxed for a bit in the shade. While we were sitting there, a factory of some sort (actually probably some sort of plant to box up farm produce it looked like) shut down across the street, and several of the workers (young men) came across the street and bought a round of beers and water and took a break there before heading home. It was very refreshing getting a little insight into Thai life away from the tourist stuff, and Kim and I both thoroughly enjoyed sitting there and listening to the locals chat and laugh together before heading home.

We felt more at home in the countryside.
That yellow flowering tree is the national flower.

Kim and I enjoyed our "cervecita" at this little
roadside mini-mart.

The guys are having a brewski after work! That's my trusty
red Honda in the background.

One of the remaining gates as viewed from outside the old city.

Here is part of the old wall, and the moat. The moat is fully intact
and surrounds the entire old city. essentially a square that is
about 2 kilometers by 2 kilometers.

 Finally, we were rested enough to tackle the trip back to the hotel. I was a little surprised at how far we had come, but we finally made it back to the City. We stopped to take a few pictures of the old city wall and moat (built about 700 years ago, the wall was reconstructed out of brick in the early 1700's, and remnants have been preserved). By the time we got back on the bike, it was dark, and I got a little turned around. After a few laps around the old city, we finally made it back to our cozy little room. We had a late dinner, and a nice bottle of wine, and finally hit the rack. What a great day!

That's All!