Chiang Mai was great! We arrived Thursday night, and checked-in to our hotel...which is brand new! We were the first to sleep there, and it was very nice (except for the fact that didn't have things such as a soap dish, or hand towels...)
We then went to dinner at the Night Market..and of course shopped at the Night Market afterwards! Their night markets are a lot better and less expensive.
Chiang Mai is very different from Bangkok. It's colder, quieter, and the tourists that go there we have seen are mostly Thai.
The next day, Friday, was the best!!! We started with an elephant ride..which is what I have been waiting for this whole time! It was definetely worth it. Before the ride they put on a show. Elephants have the greatest personalities, but I don't know if they were trained to look like that, or if they were really enjoying themselves (I'm hoping they were enjoying themselves).
They also played the harmonica, played soccer, showed us how they slept, and stacked logs (I don't know). It was pretty hilarious.
After the show we went on an hour long elephant ride...through the jungle and the mountains. It was great! Our chaperone got off the elephant at one point and took a picture of us:
After the elephant ride, we all went and had a 2-hour Thai massage. Thai massages are a little different than American massages. They hurt. A lot. They also sit on you, and focus a lot on pushing down, mostly on your legs. It hurt, but at the end, it was quite relaxing.
We went home for awhile, and then went to a Classical Dance and Music dinner. We sat on the floor, and ate authentic Chiang Mai food with our hands. During and after dinner they had dancing in the center of the floor. They also had dancing and people playing music on a stage in the front. P. Lek, one of our hosts who owns the Co-Op on Wittaya's campus, was a former dancer and dance coach. She taught us how to dance with our hands. It was a lot of fun. Here is a picture of a "fish" chasing and wooeing a girl (I think):
Some lady came up to me and asked if I can take a picture with this guy. Supposedly I look like Miss Universe (she has been in the news here for dating a Thai Tennis Player). I don't know, she's Puerto Rican with bright blue eyes. However, it was a nice compliment!
After the dinner, we went back to the Night Market for more shopping!
Saturday:Saturday was an interestind day. SermSri, who usually takes us everywhere, decided to hang out with P.Bo, her friend that lives in Chiang Mai and owns a law and accounting office (if you ever want to find a job here Dad, I can find one for you). Our host for the day was P. Lek...who barely speaks English! She took us to the top of a mountain, in which I already forgot the name (I'll look it up later). The ride there was the craziest, and I definetely wasn't feeling well by the time we got to the top. When we got there, we headed to the Temple, which had 306 steps...that was a blast. The temple looked like most temples we have seen, with a pagoda, and Buddhas everywhere. It was pretty neat to see the view from up there, but the pictures that I took didn't really turn out because it was foggy. Here is a picture from inside the Temple area:
After the Mountain, we went to Royal Flora 2006. Royal Flora is this huge garden place that was made to commemorate the King. There were sections of this area such as an Herbal section, Mushrooms, Orchids, and a lot more! However, there was no English at all. Us girls were basically the only white people in the whole place..and people, of course, were taking pictures of us (this happened a lot in Chiang Mai). It was pretty frustrating but funny at the same time. I think we spent most of the time staring at the map. Here is a picture from the top of the Monument for the King, I think it was called the Grand Pavilion:
Later that night we went to a new Night Market that was way better and less crowded. It was a lot cheaper too. They had more handmade goods there, and there was really no point to barter with them either. It was quite nice. Oh yeah, and it was walking distance from our hotel!!
Sunday:On Sunday we went to Church which was an interesting experience in itself. Definetely not as traditional as the Catholic Church!
After lunch we went to an Umbrella Factory. We saw how they made and watched them paint umbrellas. These umbrellas are quite beautiful. Here is a lady painting one:
Later that night we went back to the awesome night market by our hotel. I can honestly say that I'm shopped out now.
Monday we headed back home. I didn't realize how hot Bangkok was until we arrived here. It was a lot colder in Chiang Mai. When I say colder, I mean it was low to mid-70s and most of us were wearing long sleeved shirts.
I forgot to mention that Chiang Mai is a lot more calmer than Bangkok, and the traffic is not nearly as bad. I hope that Jaime will someday move to Chiang Mai so I can visit her (hint, hint!)
Well, I think I will wait to write about my last day teaching tomorrow, since this is the longest blog ever! I hope everyone is doing well and I will see some of you in a few days!!
I miss you Keija (haha)!
