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Chiang Mai - The land of elephants.

Monday, May 19, 2014 |Comment(s)

Fredfredtan says...

It's been a while since I last blog. No, I don't have plans to abandon this platform. It's just been really hard trying to squeeze time to write a blog post. And now, I am actually recuperating from my Wisdom Tooth extractions. I did 2 surgeries and 2 extractions. It was a horrifying and traumatic experience. :(

That aside. I actually took some time off work in March to have a short getaway with B. Chiang Mai - The land of elephants! We took Jetstar to Bangkok before transferring to Bangkok Airways. I really love the service on Bangkok Airways. We paid budget prices, but it was like a full carrier service, with snacks and pillows. We even went to the lounge to chill and snack before our flight back to Bangkok.

And so, upon arrival, we had a driver waiting for us. We took the cheaper airport transfer, which was a red truck.

And upon arrival, we ran to the elephants! This is the Baby Ta Mo. :)

We were staying at the Chai Lai Orchid. It was an awesome stay and we will recommend any one heading to Chiang Mai to stay there. It was situated just beside the Phutawan elephant camp, and so every morning, we woke up to elephants outside our window. The only downside is that it is situated really far from the city area, about an hour plus ride in.

The Chai Lai Orchid

http://chailaiorchid.com/

202 Moo 9 T.Mae Win,

Mae Wang Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai 50360

We were staying in one of the nature bungalows with no A/C.When night falls, it gets really chilly, so it was actually really comfortable. :)

We were given complimentary coconuts as a welcome gift, which we gave the elephants after.

Visitors bathing the elephants in the morning!

Before the trip, we did some research and found out that our eco resort offers a slew of activities to do. And we signed up for the following!

Amazing Mountain Adventure Itinerary

Wake up and find your elephant in the jungle that surrounds our eco resort
Ride them to the Mae Wang river for a morning swim and bath
Take a short break to shower and change clothes
Regroup at the Chai Lai Orchid Explorer’s Cafe
Enjoy your complimentary Thai or western breakfast and fresh fruit
Visit a hill tribe village to see the local way of life and the traditional crafts
Spend the afternoon trekking to waterfalls and local swimming holes
Take in the beautiful scenery of mountain vistas and rice paddies
Eat lunch at a local Thai restaurant
Hop on a bamboo raft and relax as you float back to the Chai Lai Orchid
Feed your elephant and and the other members of the herd
Take your elephant to the river to bathe again and cool down
In the late afternoon you have time to photograph the whole family of elephants before riding off into the sunset

We woke up too late for the early bath time as there were Chinese tour groups coming in to see the elephants so we forego the first part and went straight for our trekking session first. We went to the White Karen tribe first.

All the handmade lovely scarves. We bought a few to support. Loving my scarf! So colourful an warm!

And our treks continue. :) Loving the closeness to nature.

In the midst of a corn field. Dare not venture further as the guide said there were snakes and mice! :(

And after a long long hike, we made it to the waterfall!

Our hospitable guide offered us some mangoes with chili before our swim in the waterfall.

And he helped us to snap these shots. Haha. All the shots are made by my trusty Red Canon EOS 1100D.

And after the leisure swim, we continued to hike to the Long Neck Karen tribe.

They were selling their handmade items. And this lady even produced her own music CDs!

And B gotten me a handmade bracelet made by the tribe ladies.

While visiting the Karen tribe, our guide went to get some lunch for us. He bought Phad Thai and a Bamboo Sticky rice for us. And even some watermelon too! There were 2 other guys who had a stopover at the tribe too. They only had a packet of rice each from their guide. So we offered some of our Sticky rice with them.

And we went for the bamboo rafting down the Mae Wang river. We had lots of fun, taking turns to stir the raft. There were many others - locals and tourists alike, on board similar rafts. And everyone was just splashing water at each other.

And we ended off the day's adventure with the elephant ride! We were ecstatic because the Mahout (elephant trainers) trusted us to ride the elephant bareback!

And a bathing session for the elephants! :D We had 2 really mischievous elephants that kept sinking us into the water. But we had as much fun as them, while scrubbing their backs.

And a handsome shot of B. A promising Mahout? Tehehe

With my 30 year old Lady elephant. :D Love her. Rewarded her with lots of bamboo after the walk.

Baby Ta Mo. :D

And after the tiring day, we could just chill outside our eco bungalows in hammocks!

And the next day, we had nothing planned out. We just wanted to chill by the river in one of the bamboo huts like the locals.

And the amazing omelet rice that we had such a hard time conveying. But it was worth every effort. And was superb cheap. About 20baht?!

We ended the last night in another Hostel in the city because we wanted to check out the Art night market in Chiang Mai that would be held every Sunday night only.

3 Sis Bed and Breakfast

http://www.3sisbedandbreakfast.com/

A really comfortable stay and the night market was just right smack in the middle of the night market!

Such cute keys!

There was no pictures at the night market as most stall owners do not allow picture. :( A pity though because the items sold there were really lovely, and we bought cute owls as souvenirs.