Chiang Mai

Despite my hesitancy to like it, I’ve enjoyed the stay in Chiang Mai thus far.  It’s a lot bigger than I’d hoped, and it has all of the same tourist stuff as the other towns, but the weather has been pleasant, the food good, and there’s a nice river walk and night market that we’ve enjoyed.  

Doi Inthanon National Park was supposed to be our opportunity to get out in nature for a day while in Chiang Mai.  We hired a driver for $55 to drive us the 1 ½ to the park and were anxiously awaiting the beauty to unfold.  And it did, it just wasn’t what we were expecting.   We first stopped at a waterfall that was stunning, but it provided no hiking opportunity.  Then we went to the king and queen shrine that was enshrouded in clouds, mist and rain.  The grounds and view were probably beautiful, but we were unable to enjoy them because of the weather…and again no hiking was available.  On the way back to town, we stopped at park headquarters in the hopes of finding a short trail, but all we found were nice cabins, pretty streams, and a coppersmith barbet.  Finally, we stopped at another waterfall, which provided a short walking trail through developed gardens, but no serious hiking.  So our nature adventure was definitely filled with beauty, but not the outdoor experience we were hoping for.

 The following day we headed to an Elephant Sanctuary...a must while in Thailand.  Going to the elephant park is one of those things that you just have to do when you’re in Thailand, so we went to "Save the Elephants" and it lived up to the hype.  It’s a bit hokey, but when 10 giant freely roaming elephants fight and play with each other, and could charge at any moment there is a bit of exhilaration that is sure to accompany.  After an hour and ½ drive we arrived at the park and quickly began to feed the giants.  They picked watermelon, bananas, and rice balls right out of our hands with their powerful and dexterous trunks.  I’m not going to lie, I was a bit nervous at first, but soon settled in and felt comfortable handing the food to our new friends.  Despite all of our preemptive talk, Rosemary chose not to feed the elephants, and I don’t blame her.  I can’t imagine how overwhelming it must have been for her staring at the huge elephants.  After the feeding, we walked the grounds and met a few of the elephants.  We were able to pet them, and learn a bit about their history.  Most of the elephants have some sort of disability (blindness, broken leg, digestive issues, land mine wounds) and many were old logging elephants.  Touching the gentle giants and feeling their course skin was pretty special and something I never though that I’d do.  We proceeded to have our own delicious lunch full of all the Thai favorite dishes.  

After lunch, we walked in the rain to the river where our elephant was waiting for us to give her a bath.  It was pretty fun splashing water all over the elephant and she seemed to really enjoy it.  Rosemary on the other hand was more interested with playing in the river than the elephants around her, but oh well.  At one point, an elephant snuck up behind me and as a stepped out of the way, I left Rosemary stranded between two huge elephants.  Luckily, Andrew and Priscilla were there to pull her out of the way.  We concluded the day with another tour of the grounds where we watched a herd of about 10 elephants play, fight, eat, and protect their young.  This is where we had to be on full alert, as you were never quite sure when a giant would turn and run towards you.   

There were many heavy eyelids and light hearts as we drove back to Chiang Mai after our day with the elephants.