Last days in Chiang Mai, Thailand

The last 4 days in Thailand were well spent trying to finish the list of things to see and do before I leave.

I rented a bicycle and Dakan showed me some of his favorite places. While riding around Chiang Mai, we passed this statute in his old neighborhood…. What's better than an elephant with wings?

Afterwards, we walked through the indoor market. Quite the sight. Every thing from herbs to shoes to watches, backpacks and pirated movies. You name it, it's here…. oh yeah, and viagra if you ask the places that sell cigarettes. 

Herbs and tea

We took a ride through China town.... colorful!

China town entrance

That evening the neighbor, Paul, joined us for dinner at a popular restaurant serving traditional foods from the Northern region of Thailand. They had great food as well as ambience. Sorry, but I'm going to get carried away with the ambience part here...... It was nothing short of amazing!

Happy Valentines Day!

After a little research, I finally took a cooking class. The Chiang Mai Thai Farm Cooking School has their own organic farm and teach classes right there! 

They picked me and the 8 others up at 8 am from our guesthouses and first drove to the market to show us where the rice, coconut milk, nuts, oil, ect. come from. Gone are the days that many Thai's make it themselves. There are now machines to do the work for you. See, he's feeding it from the top and it's coming out the bottom into the pink bucket.

The coco meat is used in cooking as well...

If you don't want to make your own curry paste, you can purchase that here too! Again, most city folk in Thailand don't have the time to do it themselves, but our class will learn to make our own.

There are various rices to choose from. We will be cooking Jasmine mixed w/ a little brown, and sticky rice for the Mango & Sticky Rice dessert. 

After our tour, we took a few more minutes to walk around on our own. The most interesting thing to me was all of the friend bugs....

I tried some fried larva, tasted like Bugle Chips...

Following the market, we headed to the farm where we will also do the cooking. But first a tour to see where many of the ingredients are grown and what they look like. 

Dining hut

Kafir Lime 

Lemongrass

Sweet Eggplant

Galangal

Thai Chili Peppers

Following the tour, we each made our curry of choice. 

I chose red... with lots of Thai chilis! 

Our teacher gave us instructions on steaming rice in a bamboo basket...

She also gave us the run down on sauces...

At the beginning of class we each chose 5 dishes from a long list. The first one made was soup. I had chosen Tom Kaa Gai (chicken in coconut milk). It turned out sooooo yummy! 

After eating this, we cooked two more..... Gai Phad Met Mamuang Him Mapaan (Chicken with cashew nuts), and Red curry with shrimp...

This is way too much food to eat in one afternoon and I brought a togo container so that nothing would go to waste ;) Next, was Pad Thai, a favorite of many!

Last but not least was dessert. Kao Nio Ma Muang (Mangos and sticky rice) for me :) HEAVEN

I can't wait to cook thai food back home! And grow some of the ingredients too :) 

This was my last day in Thailand and what a wonderful way to end a trip! A month went by quickly. Now that I know a little bit about the culture and environment, I would like to come back next year and explore a bit deeper. There is so much to see and learn......

Baan Chang Elephants

One of the few things I had my heart set on doing while in Thailand was visiting an Elephant rehab  center. I researched to find one of the best ones, one that is legit and humane. I found Baan Chang Elephant park to be just that. It was started by a fella with a concern for the elephant population and abuse in Thailand. They currently have 26 elephants. The money paid for the trips goes towards the elephants food, the mahout's (elephant trainers and caretakers) salary, and anything they have left over goes towards purchasing more land and in turn, more abused elephants.

Most of them were approachable. There were a few that were new to the facility and you could still feed them but only giving it to them in their trunks and not their mouths.

Here's looking at you!

Very handsome fella

Hungry!

While not being ridden and when they are all in the camp together, they are chained up and don't seem to mind. This is done so they will not attack each other or wander over to the neighbors farm and eat their produce. They are smart and will defend each other and their Mahout if they feel another elephant is threatening. Imagine fighting elephants... not easy to break up that fight!

Baby sniffing me :)

This little one above was so animated. She would sniff you all over and then use her trunk to give you kisses. She suctioned it to my neck and I thought she was going to give me a hickey! That would be one heck of a hickey, lol ;)

Sweetheart

This girl below was so sweet. We all practiced our mount, dismount and turns with her. She was so patient and in return, we each fed her a bunch of bananas and sugar cane. Notice how she sticks the whole bunch in her mouth at once :) Then she snaps that sugar cane that I'm holding, like a toothpick.

Lunch time!

Now that is one happy elephant! :)

Bananas and sugar cane

During practice, we learned the Mahout commands for stop, go, right, left and lay down. They are said and performed with force.
Non-long : Lay down
Kwey w/ left kick behind ear: turn right
Kwey w/ right kick behind ear: turn left
Pai with kicks behind both ears: Go
How! w/ both legs squeezing neck: Stop

When I say 'kick', know that the elephant barely feels this and is not offended or hurt. The elephant's skin is 3 inches thick in most places except for behind the ears where it is an inch.

Practicing commands

Sugar cane motivator ;)

Resting after training us ;)

Below is a video of an itchy elephant who is easy distracted by food. Elephant A.D.D. ? I can relate!

After training, we sat down for lunch which was plentiful and amazing! They told us to eat a lot because we were going to need the energy for our ride in the jungle that afternoon.

It was a beautiful day and we set out up the hill into the mountains.... Each elephant was accompanied by a Mahout. Jose was my trainer for the day :)

our group

Nice behind!

Up the mountain

Bathroom Break!

Our guide was so kind. He asked for everyone's camera's and ran around the whole time taking photos and video! Here's one of his video clips..

When we came down from the mountains, we dismounted and were given a lesson on bathing them while the Mahouts guided them to the water to cool off...

After our lesson, we were let loose :) The elephants were so happy to be laying in the water. Once in awhile they stood up, sucked in water and playfully squirt it at us :) So fun!!

Bath time!

Can you tell I was in seventh heaven? Nothing like scrubbing behind the ears of an elephant! lol 

If you ever get the chance to do this, don't hesitate. It was the best experience I had in Thailand. Next time I hope to be able to contribute more of my time and funds. It is a worthy cause and an experience I will never forget!