We made it to Laos

Friends & Family we made it safely to Laos. 

We were on a 22 hours bus journey from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang. Along the journey we stopped at the white temple & stopped to eat at a street stand. 

The bus was normal size, but setup like bunkbeds lining both sides with a small aisle down the center. The seats were

locked in full recline mode and we were seperated. We then spooned/cuddled with strangers, Aimee in the front top bunk w/ a Laoation woman & Dusty in the back bottom bunk w/ a French Canadian chick. It sounds weird but it was only for a complete day... Acca-akward. 

Laos has it's ancient charm mixed with French influences (colonial buildings, cafe, baguettes). We are planning on checking out night markets, cruising Mekong River, Kung Si waterfall, & maybe some temples while here. 

Mekong River- riding a 2 day slow boat from Laos border to Luang Prabang was another way to get here... No thank you! 

Our French inspired guesthouse

We will update later with our upcoming adventures. Take care! 

A Day with the Elephants

3.28.2015

We were picked up from our guesthouse at 8am and taken into the jungle about an hour and a half outside of the city of Chiang Mai. The elephant training center was high up in the mountains among hilltribe villages (longneck tribe), farmland and waterfalls. Mr. Sun, the owner and instructor of the training center is a wonderful man. He talked of a past doing big business in Bangkok, making a lot of money and having a lot of nice, expensive things; yet he said he never smiled and was never happy. He gave up the success driven life that is very easy to get wrapped up in and set out to be in nature with his elephants. He searched and searched and found the land he is on now and when we asked how he found it he simply says "God brought me here."

So now; the elephants, these animals are enormous, standing over 6 ft tall even when they are laying down it takes effort to climb up. We didn't get to choose our elephants but I knew which one I wanted, the monster, the biggest of the bunch, "Somkram," and lone behold we were matched up.

We learned a series of commands in Thai: left, right, stop, go back, go forward, foot up (to climb up) and laydown. We climbed on and rode bareback, which the elephants prefer over having a chair strapped to their back, and we were off to the jungle. We did a trek for just over an hour while we rode and Somkram did what he wanted, eating and rambling through the jungle. He was literally uprooting trees and stomping them and devouring them. Each elephant was accompanied by a mahout, which is essentially a traditional Thai elephant trainer. We loved the fact they let the elephants take their time and didn't use whips like some places we heard of.

I suppose I don't need to go into great detail as the photos will give you the essence of our experience, but here are the greatest hits and feel free to ask for any specifics in the comments and we will gladly tell you more.

- Mr. Sun has a genuine love & respect for his animals & treats them exeptionally well. We learned that elephants are happy when their ears are flapping, tails wagging, kisses, and makes a high pitch squeel. It was evident the elephants are very happy there.

- The day consisted of training, a jungle trek, a delicious lunch eaten in the jungle next to a waterfall, bathing the elephants & a lifelong memory of spiritual proportions.

- Man, nature & animal living in harmony.

- During our departure speech, with Bob Marley playing in the background, Mr. Sun told us he wants to always be a friend of ours and anything we need in Thailand & SE Asia he is there to help us. A truly awesome feller.

- Elephant poo is also enormous, as Aimee put it: "those are some big nuggets."

Enjoy:

 

We love Chiang Mai!

Tuk Tuk tour around the temples.

Local market.

Is this real?

Dusty's dream come true.

Here kitty kitty

Jungle hike. We saw about 9 different waterfalls.

Dinner & a show.

Roots, Rock, Reggae Bar

Boy Blue band near Night Bazaar

1. Chiang Mai is cooler in temp with sunshine & occasional rain which makes it pleasant walking around this beautiful city.

2. The size reminds us of SF. There's a square moat surrounding the city that used to protect from Burmese invadors. It's easy to walk around & stumble into cool shops, cafes, bars & live music.

3. Locals are smiley & more plump than south Thailand. The guesthouse owners we're staying at have been awesome & so helpful.

4. Northern cruisine is a lot sweeter & pickley. Dusty loves it, Aimee kinda likes it. 

5. Vibe here is chill. You feel the ancient history here from the temples on every block & less chaos compared to Bangkok.  We noticed a lot more Americans here. It's kinda like a little Oregon in Thailand hippy feel. 

6. This is where all the jewelry is made that we have seen for sale in other areas of Thailand, we see people handmaking jewelry, bags, clothing & more & are happy to support them & their craft, bling bling yall.

7. Tigers, dude....tigers.

8. There are a lot of activities to choose from inside & out (jungle) of the city like trekking, survival trek, elephant centers, Tiger Kingdom, cooking classes, ziplining with gibbons, massage school, meditation courses, yoga, monk chats, & temples. 

9. Tigers! 🐅

10.  Very organic city; organic food, juices, cafes, handrolled cigars, market stands, farms & cooking classes.

Tomorrow we'll be playing with elephants in the jungle & also hope to find a cooking course before we leave Thailand. We can't believe we've been here for almost a month! Our visas are expiring soon (April 1) & now we need to find a way to get to Laos. On to the next country...--->