Saturday, 3 November 2012

Thailand - Day 1

We decided on two cities for Thailand:  Chiang Mai and Phuket.  We skipped Bangkok because everyone who has traveled here said it really wasn't worth a stop.
We have three full days in Chiang Mai and 3 days in Phuket.  Chiang Mai is north, center and Phuket is south on the coast.  You will see why we saved Phuket for last.
Our first stop in Chiang Mai was Elephant Trekking at an Elephant Conservation Center.  This is the best elephant park in Chiang Mai.  It is small, only 23 elephants and only does two treks a day.  You must reserve far out to get a spot.  
It was great because we got there right as it opened and before it got hot.  
First, we had to cross the suspended bridge...




This was our first look at the elephants, so exciting...


Mother and baby were our first close up.


We're off!  We are heading up to a tribe in the mountains (aka, buy stuff from locals).


Caroline and Jared's mahout was very outgoing, he loved to smile for pictures.  As you can see, he has an amazing smile.
We traveled about 25 minutes up the mountain.



Caroline and Jared's elephant liked to stop and eat a lot.  We also bought bananas to feed them during the trek.


The view from Bill and my elephant.



We parked our elephant and stopped by the village.




I brought a bunch of leftover Halloween candy and brought it for the children.  (I want to note for my father that I asked permission from the parents first.)  They were really cute and happy about the candy.


Just when we thought it couldn't get better, we went trekking through the river back to the center.  Amazing.


On the way back, I rode with Patrick and Bill had a seat to himself.  He looks regal doesn't he?









Time to feed the elephants some bananas.



At 10 am, it is bath time.   You can really see the hours of training as the Mahouts tell the elephants to sit down or lay down etc.  This was really cute.  This scene was right out of a Disney movie.




This elephant is almost completely laying down under water while he gets washed.



Now it is time for the elephant show.  Here the mahouts show us all of the skills and uses the elephants have.
The show starts with one elephant raising the flag.


The show lasts about 20 minutes.  They show us how the elephant picks up and stacks log, how the pick up a fallen shoe or hat and give it back to their Mahout, they even put the hat on their mahouts head!


The finale is the famous elephant painting.  The Mahout loads the brush with paint and gives instructions to his elephant.



The painting...


After the elephant center, we had a great buffet lunch at an orchid farm.  This is just half of the buffet.  Great Thai food.  I can't tell you how nice it is after having Japanese food.  Cooked, spicy, what a relief!!



We booked a dinner show, Kantoke Dinner Show.  The show was ok and the food only ok, especially after the amazing lunch we had.  BUT, I had a surprise for Bill so in the end, it was perfect.
Here are a few shots of the evening...


Caroline with our tour guide, Nuey.  She is great.  Very smart and really is proud of her country.  She set everything up perfectly.  She even helped me with Bill's big surprise...


Jared and I had a Mai Tai, we couldn't resist the pineapple cups..who can?








So...Bill's birthday was October 29.  He was in the US at a conference.  He got back on Sunday night but has pretty much been in a coma since he returned.  Busy at work, then right to bed.  I have not seen him much at all.
So tonight, I had a big birthday surprise for him.  You may recall from earlier posts that I am famous for setting up surprise birthday parties whether it is one's birthday or not.  It is just fun.  I do it right under everyone's nose and they never have caught me yet.
This was particularly challenging because I had to work it out with our guide with just a few hours notice.  She and I would go off and talk while the everyone was paying attention to other things.
So right after an act, she calls me back to the bathroom and I grab the cake.  The staff is lighting candles and getting everything ready because we only have a few minutes.
The next thing I know the band is playing "Happy Birthday," Thai version and they shove me out the door to give Bill his cake.  It took the audience a few minutes to figure out what was going on but they all clapped when I gave Bill his cake.
---Here is the story from Bill's point of view... All of the sudden, he hears "Happy Birthday" and tells Jared and Patrick.  Patrick says "No, that is a traditional Thai song."  "No," Bill says that is definitely "Happy Birthday."  I think by then, Patrick had it figured out and was trying to throw Bill off the track.
Then he and Jared start to make fun of the poor schmuck who is celebrating their birthday there.  Bill says, "I wonder who is having their birthday here..."  Then Jared looks up and sees me.  He looks at Bill with a weird look on his face. Then Bill sees me with the cake and says, "Oh crap, it's me!"  



We laughed about it all night long and into this morning.  Bill was getting ready to unleash, his words--"a tirade of insults" at the poor sucker who was having a birthday party.  So funny.  Great memory.
At the end, they did the usual pulling up the audience for the dance.  I was the lucky one picked.  Thank God for the Mai Tai. 


Then they grabbed Caroline.


A truly perfect day!!


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