Guys, I'm slacking big time.
2 weeks ago we had our first vacation to Chiang Mai where we played with tigers, rode elephants, and spent way too much money at the night markets. Since then I've been trying to get back into the swing of the important things, like preparing lessons and waking up early, but let's be honest. Time always slows down after a vacation.
We rode the bus (which was much nicer than I expected) 7 hours from Phichit to Chiang Mai and arrived at the hostel just after 2 in the morning. Luckily, we had a 7 person room to ourselves and the beds were comfy. Oddly enough, I've had some of the best nights' sleep while here in Thailand. Chiang Mai was no different.
Friday morning we arrived at Tiger Kingdom just as it was opening, and what a morning it was! Since we got there so early there wasn't much of a wait and most of the tigers were still pretty playful. The tiny cubs were by far the most fun. The trainers let us get down on the floor and cuddle up next to the spirited little cats. Up til this point I've never cared for cats
much, but oh my heck, I want a pet tiger. All I could think about was how cute and irresistible those things were!
Also, even though playing with the tigers was on my list of must-do's while in Thailand, I'd never actually thought of what that moment would be like. But I guess that's good, because it was so much better than anything I could've ever imagined.
The small cubs were next on our hit list, but holy dang, those cats were big! I thought we had gotten mixed up and somehow ended up in the medium tiger cage. Apparently not, though. Big as they were, I kept forgetting that tigers are natural predators and the trainers had to remind me a few times to stay with the group and only walk toward them from behind because, and I quote:
"Stay in your group or else the tiger can grab you with his teeth and we no can help you."
So there was that, haha :D
The big tigers were massive. By the time we got to them they were mostly asleep, but we managed to snap some pretty sweet shots and lay next to them for quite awhile, so that was cool. All throughout this experience I couldn't help but think how insanely amazing my life is right now. It looks like great things do come to those who jump out of their comfort zones!
Believe it or not, this shot was taken just seconds before the tiger lunged for a quick snack. Luckily, the trainer was standing by and nobody got hurt. But talk about a close call!!
Even tigers get tired of photographs :P
My advice?
See everything. Stop everywhere you can possibly imagine, because there is nothing like being in a foreign country and realizing that you should've done something but didn't.
I remember learning about the villages where long necks are beautiful. One of these villages are right around the corner from Tiger Kingdom and, knowing this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity, we decided to stop and take a look around the village. In front of all the homes the people were trying to sell all sorts of knick knacks and fabrics. It was very cool to see, but also quite humbling.
We stopped at so many random markets on our way to the Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara (the temple at the top of the secret peak). At one of them I gave this guy my shirt and he painted on it!! Yeah. It was already one of my favorite shirts, but now I love it even more!! I was so scared to wash it, but after a quick panic attack, I realized that the paint had conquered the washing machine. Hallelujah!
As we were driving to the Baan Chang Elephant Park Saturday morning I was sure that nothing could top the tigers.. but boy was I wrong!! Aof (pronounced 'off') was our top-notch guide for the day and started by showing us all of the elephants living in the park. The name says park, but really this place was more like an elephant rescue. As Aof told it, many elephants are abused in Thailand and the surrounding countries. Not many people care, so it goes on; but he has made it his life's work to be the giants' protector. See, each elephant has one keeper and together they learn how to trust one another. After time and if treated properly (these ones were), an unbreakable bond forms. They become each other's best friends. It wasn't long before I could see the trust and friendship between the keepers and their elephants.
Anyhow. First, we fed the 30-odd elephants bananas and sugarcane from our hand. We could either hold it out and the elephants would grab it with their trunk, or we could hold the food up and they'd open their mouths so we could feed them directly. It wasn't intimidating at all .... until you walked up to the elephant with food. I let the first few elephants take the food with their trunk and oh my heck. Those things are strong!!! I bet you've never thought about how strong an elephant's trunk is, have you? I know I never had. But dang! Once I worked up the courage I started feeding the elephants directly.
Next, Aof taught us the riding commands with the help of a few other keepers. Watching the keepers interact with their elephants was probably one of my favorite things of the day. They were climbing all over the elephants!! One guy just chilled on his elephant's head and another one literally sat on his elephant's trunk while the trunk was completely horizontal. It was insane! Learning the commands was easy, but saying them in the right tone so the elephant would listen was a bit of a joke. Haha, it was pretty hilarious actually :) One at a time, as we sat atop one of the training elephants, we had a chance to command the elephant to lay down, but they wouldn't listen to any of us. One word from their trainer did the trick though.
After an amazing lunch it was finally time to ride the giants! It was a bit more uncomfortable than I had anticipated (Elephant hair is super prickly and irritating on bare skin).. but it was fun nonetheless. I doubled up with Laura and I kid you not, about every 5 to 10 minutes I'd turn to her and say
"Dude. We're riding elephants. In Thailand."
My mind was pretty much blown.
At the end we got to wash our elephants off in the water. An inevitable water fight broke out, but that just ingrained the moment deeper into my memory.
Dreaming is great.. but living those dreams is even better. :D
2 weeks ago we had our first vacation to Chiang Mai where we played with tigers, rode elephants, and spent way too much money at the night markets. Since then I've been trying to get back into the swing of the important things, like preparing lessons and waking up early, but let's be honest. Time always slows down after a vacation.
We rode the bus (which was much nicer than I expected) 7 hours from Phichit to Chiang Mai and arrived at the hostel just after 2 in the morning. Luckily, we had a 7 person room to ourselves and the beds were comfy. Oddly enough, I've had some of the best nights' sleep while here in Thailand. Chiang Mai was no different.
Friday morning we arrived at Tiger Kingdom just as it was opening, and what a morning it was! Since we got there so early there wasn't much of a wait and most of the tigers were still pretty playful. The tiny cubs were by far the most fun. The trainers let us get down on the floor and cuddle up next to the spirited little cats. Up til this point I've never cared for catsmuch, but oh my heck, I want a pet tiger. All I could think about was how cute and irresistible those things were!
Also, even though playing with the tigers was on my list of must-do's while in Thailand, I'd never actually thought of what that moment would be like. But I guess that's good, because it was so much better than anything I could've ever imagined.
The small cubs were next on our hit list, but holy dang, those cats were big! I thought we had gotten mixed up and somehow ended up in the medium tiger cage. Apparently not, though. Big as they were, I kept forgetting that tigers are natural predators and the trainers had to remind me a few times to stay with the group and only walk toward them from behind because, and I quote:
"Stay in your group or else the tiger can grab you with his teeth and we no can help you."
So there was that, haha :D
The big tigers were massive. By the time we got to them they were mostly asleep, but we managed to snap some pretty sweet shots and lay next to them for quite awhile, so that was cool. All throughout this experience I couldn't help but think how insanely amazing my life is right now. It looks like great things do come to those who jump out of their comfort zones!Believe it or not, this shot was taken just seconds before the tiger lunged for a quick snack. Luckily, the trainer was standing by and nobody got hurt. But talk about a close call!!Even tigers get tired of photographs :P
My advice?See everything. Stop everywhere you can possibly imagine, because there is nothing like being in a foreign country and realizing that you should've done something but didn't.
I remember learning about the villages where long necks are beautiful. One of these villages are right around the corner from Tiger Kingdom and, knowing this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity, we decided to stop and take a look around the village. In front of all the homes the people were trying to sell all sorts of knick knacks and fabrics. It was very cool to see, but also quite humbling.
We stopped at so many random markets on our way to the Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara (the temple at the top of the secret peak). At one of them I gave this guy my shirt and he painted on it!! Yeah. It was already one of my favorite shirts, but now I love it even more!! I was so scared to wash it, but after a quick panic attack, I realized that the paint had conquered the washing machine. Hallelujah!
The view as we were driving up the mountain was absolutely breathtaking!! The temple was pretty amazing, too. The gold-plated centerpiece was in the middle of the square, and there was a temple at both the front and back. Everything in the square was intricately designed and plated in gold. Chanting monks and fortune shakers sounded all throughout the square.
As we were driving to the Baan Chang Elephant Park Saturday morning I was sure that nothing could top the tigers.. but boy was I wrong!! Aof (pronounced 'off') was our top-notch guide for the day and started by showing us all of the elephants living in the park. The name says park, but really this place was more like an elephant rescue. As Aof told it, many elephants are abused in Thailand and the surrounding countries. Not many people care, so it goes on; but he has made it his life's work to be the giants' protector. See, each elephant has one keeper and together they learn how to trust one another. After time and if treated properly (these ones were), an unbreakable bond forms. They become each other's best friends. It wasn't long before I could see the trust and friendship between the keepers and their elephants.
Anyhow. First, we fed the 30-odd elephants bananas and sugarcane from our hand. We could either hold it out and the elephants would grab it with their trunk, or we could hold the food up and they'd open their mouths so we could feed them directly. It wasn't intimidating at all .... until you walked up to the elephant with food. I let the first few elephants take the food with their trunk and oh my heck. Those things are strong!!! I bet you've never thought about how strong an elephant's trunk is, have you? I know I never had. But dang! Once I worked up the courage I started feeding the elephants directly.Next, Aof taught us the riding commands with the help of a few other keepers. Watching the keepers interact with their elephants was probably one of my favorite things of the day. They were climbing all over the elephants!! One guy just chilled on his elephant's head and another one literally sat on his elephant's trunk while the trunk was completely horizontal. It was insane! Learning the commands was easy, but saying them in the right tone so the elephant would listen was a bit of a joke. Haha, it was pretty hilarious actually :) One at a time, as we sat atop one of the training elephants, we had a chance to command the elephant to lay down, but they wouldn't listen to any of us. One word from their trainer did the trick though.After an amazing lunch it was finally time to ride the giants! It was a bit more uncomfortable than I had anticipated (Elephant hair is super prickly and irritating on bare skin).. but it was fun nonetheless. I doubled up with Laura and I kid you not, about every 5 to 10 minutes I'd turn to her and say
"Dude. We're riding elephants. In Thailand."
My mind was pretty much blown.
At the end we got to wash our elephants off in the water. An inevitable water fight broke out, but that just ingrained the moment deeper into my memory.
Dreaming is great.. but living those dreams is even better. :D
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