Elephants!!!!! and more...

Yesterday was a day I had been waiting for since we arrived in Chiang Mai.
Elephants!

We had to make a decision between white water rafting, off-roading, elephant shows, elephant conservatory, the long neck village, etc.
We decided with a smaller package and a partially full day instead of a very early wake up call and a long lasting trek.

Our choice:
Trekking
Hilltop Villages
Waterfalls
Elephant Riding (yay!)
Bamboo Rafting down the river

Turns out, that was the best choice - we heard from others that the Elephant Show is just silly and the off-roading is actually more 'pushing' the car through mud and tough spots than riding.
We got the most bang for our buck while smiling instead of sweating it out in the heat.

We took a van along with 8 other people (French and English) for 1 1/2 hours north on Chiang Mai and then started to trek through the beautiful forest. Our guide was excellent and had a great sense of humor. She explained all about rice fields, the workers and demonstrated cool tricks on the different vegetation. For example, their is a Teak Leaf that is green and beautifully patterned. But if you rub the leaf together, it gives off a beautiful RED ink. Another example is this leaf that looks very much like pine tree needles in 4 branch formations. It grows close to the ground. If you lightly touch it's needles, it closes up so the branch (stick) looks like its barren. They call it a "Shy Leaf". It takes about 13 seconds for it bloom out again. It was really cool. Open and close. We played with them a bit :)

We arrived at the first village,the Karen people, and got to see them making cotton and making different shawls. They used a loom and a weaver and it was amazing to see. The villages were simple wooden huts made of bamboo and different dried leaves. It looked straight out of National Geographic. This tribe had about 45 people in it and the woman BUYS the man if they want to marry. They have finally allowed for inter-tribal marriage. The children run up to you and say "Hello 5 baht", it's hilarious. Luckily for the California bred travelers, this was very much the same ploy as the Mexican children and their chicklets. We were able to smile at them and shake our heads.
The scarves were a beautiful design and I picked up to of the most delicate and beautiful ones I had ever seen.

We moved on and kept trekking through the forest until we reached the waterfall.
The waterfall was beautiful and much like most of Thailand, had been built and made into a tourist trap with food, drink and things to buy around the highest points of it. There were small bamboo huts around the river where you could lay in the shade and just watch the river flow.
The coolest bridge went across it. Built entirely out of the trees that surrounded the river, it was a smaller, cleverly crafted, narrow bridge that only really allowed for 1.5 fat Brits or Americans to pass each other. We managed one close call of passing. hahahah.

Then on to another village, the Monc. The Moncs were very similar to the Karens; bamboo huts, weaving looms, and dried leaf roofs. We got to go inside one of their houses to find a one room hut with hamocks for beds and all their belongings piled upon one another. A small wall seperated the parents "side" from the main quarter. They used a small oven for cooking and a table to be used while sitting and cooking atthe same time. It was hard to believe that just a 2 minute drive down the road would take them to a road and a town. Dogs, chickens and pigs ran wild and they used crossbows to hunt. Of course, they had stalls lined up to sell things.

We went from there to lunch of rice, chicken vegetables, spinach, omelette and watermelon.
We got to try the Durian fruit (but a local kind) and a Starfruit. The Durian was sweet and was not the stinky kind that airplanes and hotels don't allow. The Starfruit was sour and I loved it. Les and Melissa...not so much.

And then, and then and then and then and then AND THEN!
the Elephants!

We had already picked out names for our elephants the night before (mine = Galoshes, Les = Captain Awesome, Melissa = Jabar Dumbo Elefante) so we were all set to go.

There was this one HUGE elephant that had pink splotches on his face and ears with massive freckles! He was incredible. I named him "Peaches n' Cream" on the spot.

Melissa and Les actually ended up riding 'Peaches' so I trumped their names :)
hahah
I shared a tiny elephant with John (our British representative of the trip). He was cute and last in line a lot. "Galoshes" was an amazing animals. The skin was so rough and the hairs were long and very coarse. It's very cool to think how elephants are known for their grace and soft presence because when you touch and ride one, all you feel is strong bone, tough skin and harsh hair. They are massive beasts, and yet they aren't, all at the same time.

We laughed the whole time watching our elephants scratch themselves on trees, break trees down to eat, poop on one another, and just lumber around.

We got to ride on its neck and that's really where you feel the power in every step. Muscles and hardness, it was so cool. The ears flapped about twice every 5 seconds to protect their ears from bugs. Luckily for me, it also kept the bugs from eating up my legs!!
It was the most amazing feeling. Being up there, going through the forest, across rivers, up hills...almost a royal demeanor comes across. Well, a cross between royalty and a young girl thinking "freakin' awesome!!!!" hahaha

The ride ended too quickly and it was off to bamboo rafting.
They take these 15 ft long bamboo shoots and cinch about 8 of them together at each end.
The end.
That's it.
Add another 2 bamboo shoots (but much thinner) in the hands of the steerers and away we go!

We had a boy about 10 years old help steer our boat. Basically, he would take the bamboo stick and push it again rocks, bridges, the ground and maneauver our boat through that. Itw as great and the breeze felt wonderful. As always, every raft got in a water fight by slapping the bamboo into the river and splashing the other boat. Some got wetter than others. Guess who was steering our boat from the back? Les. Guess who's boat got in the most fights and got the most wet. Oh yes, ours. :)

The end of the rafting meant the end of our exploration day and we headed back to Chiang Mai.

We learned that the Sunday Market was going on near our hotel in Old City. We were going to ask how to get there from our guide but when we arrived at our hotel, we realized that it was actually ON our street and surrounding us. Score.

It was ENDLESS. And this is where we found the good stuff. No more Night Bazarre and tourist trap hawker crap. These were nice things that the locals came to buy and sell. We wondered for about 3 hours. Poor Les, he enjoyed himself for the first hour, and then began to see double while Melissa and I tried to barter and be "tough" in our negotiations. We found great stuff and had a nice evening. It was beautiful out. Not hot at all and just gorgeous. We ate stall food (pad thai and ckn kebobs, waffles, ice cream).

AN AMAZING DAY

and this morning, we leave for Phuket.

Whew, this was a long one!!! Sorry folks, got carried away in "Diary" form rather than for the reader. Next time will be better!