Cat Ba National Park

We caught the 11a.m. public bus to Cat Ba National Park. We were proud of ourselves fighting off local hasselers telling us the bus wasn't working today & it's better to rent a motorcycle. Keeyah! 

On the way to the park a bunch of local kids were let out of school & swarmed the streets. Soon a bunch of them were on our bus. It was LOUD & an unexpected experience:) 

It cost 80,000 dong ($3.70) for both of us to enter the park. 

It took about an hour to hike Dinh Ham Long (Peak). 

We had time to kill since the bus would come around @ 4p.m. We took in the spectacular lush views, took photos, spilt our cheese ritz crackers, did some yoga & reflection. 

We finally got to use our Keen boots which made it easier trekking up the hundreds of steep rocky steps. 

On our way back we stopped for a popsicle & Tiger Beer & made friends with 2 dogs:) 

We were waiting for a hiking adventure like this on our trip. We are glad Cat Ba delivered.  Life is good! 

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Today we took a 4hr. tour of Ha Long Bay. A van picked us up at out hotel, took us to the harbor & we loaded onto Ha Binh 38. There was about an hour of waiting time before our adventure began. This has been a common theme so far in Vietnam.

Cost of 4hr tour: $36 for 2 ppl

 

We stopped at The Fisherman Village & paid $6 each to see the "caves" ($$ trap). We hopped in a bamboo raft & a woman rowed our boat around the bay. The caves were ok & the water was not so clean, but the limestone islands were beautiful to admire. 

The last part of the tour was visiting Thien Cung Cave that was discovered in 1993. They said a fisherman was out fishing until a storm came through. He was leaving the area until he saw a monkey go into the mountain. He followed the monkey that eventually brought him to the 4km cave & the rest was history... Actually another $$$ maker was born... They amped it up by using special lighting adding more umpf to the ambiance. A pretty amazing spectacle.

We watched the sunset heading back to the harbor & were ready for dinner. 

The downtown restaurants are something else...There's a line full of them. Whenever someone walks by or they see a taxi they all swarm to them shoving menus in your face. It's crazy! Aimee had a fresh crab right out of the tank & Dusty had some sweet & sour beef with tomato sauce? 

We head to Cat Ba Island tomorrow and are hoping for some beach time & hiking.

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: