Chiang Mai

I still can’t believe how cheap flights in Southeast Asia are. We flew from Krabi to Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) for less than $50 each. It would have taken 2 days and cost the same amount on a train. Instead, we were there in 2 hours.

Chiang Mai is in the mountainous region of northern Thailand; no beaches here. It’s often considered the laid back alternative to Bangkok. We stayed in the Old City, which is one square mile surrounded by a partial old city wall and a moat. Temples!! There are beautiful Buddhist temples (wats) at every turn and they aren’t just for show. They are functioning, monks chanting, used everyday, wats. So, guess what we did on our first day? We toured the temples. We didn’t want to get wat burn out, so we chose a few of the best ones and hit those up. At our last wat stop Mark noticed a monk with an English school book open. He struck up a conversation and we ended up hanging out with him for about 45 minutes. We were able to ask him anything we wanted about life as a monk and Buddhism in general, in exchange we helped him study for an English test he had the next day.

Good timing had us able to see the famous Sunday Walking Market. At this point in the trip we’d been to many a market (Sunday markets, Saturday markets, night markets, day markets), but this one was one of the biggest busiest ones we’d seen. The girls and I got separated from Mark and we almost got to a point where we thought we may have to just wait for him back at the hotel. Then we caught a glimpse of a shiny, bald head above the crowd and waited, hoping it was him. It was…….he was stuffing his face with grilled meat. Guts rule with Mark around.

We met a really nice family from France also trying to navigate the market. They were on a two year travelling adventure and just finishing up in Asia, heading to Australia. They gave us some great tips about places to see along the way and the girls are getting some French reading practice by following their blog.

Once again we found ourselves wanting to see/do some things that would require more than our feet or a cheap tuk tuk. Cheap-O-Cars to the rescue. We rented a small car for a couple of days and I wish I had kept the pictures I took of it. It was so banged up I literally had to take photos of every part so we wouldn’t get blamed for doing any damage. But, it was cheap and got us to some cool places.

Doi Inthanon is the highest point in Thailand and is about 90km from Chiang Mai. We headed there first because it was the furthest away of the things we wanted to see. The temperature in Chiang Mai was very nice, about 25 degrees dueing the day, 19 degrees at night. But, at the top of Doi Inthanon it was 12 degrees. We were freezing!! A quick trip on the trail to the summit and a zip through the visitors centre and we headed back down. The top is covered in a cloud forest which they haven’t chopped down to make a viewing platform (yay Thailand) so there isn’t any kind of majestic view up there. But the forest and vegetation surrounding us at the top was beautiful in itself. About 5 minutes down there are two stupas with open areas around that people use to look out over the land below.

On the way back down there was also a waterfall to stop and see. It makes the top 10 list for waterfalls in Thailand and we were right there so we decided to take a peek. Bear in mind that we were in Thailand during dry season, but this waterfall was still huge. Oh, and we ran into a bright green friend on the way there……SNAKE!! He was definitely not happy to have people around.

On our drive back into Chiang Mai all of us were hungry. This doesn’t happen very often, usually it’s just Mark, trying to convince the rest of us that we’re hungry. The town of Hang Dong (if only we could have found a t-shirt) brought us one of the best meals of the trip. This town has zero tourists, it’s basically a suburb of Chiang Mai. But, like every Thai town, it has a street food market that gets bustling as night falls. We just happened to be driving by and saw a place to pull over easily. Four plastic stools and a metal table called our names and the next thing we knew we were filling up on Morning Glory and Pad Thai.

Our hotel, Manee House, was in the old city, conveniently located, breakfast included and a decent price ($80ish/night for a family room). Another bonus, there was a laundromat with good machines about 30m down the street. No sink/bathtub laundry to do!!

At our hotel we were lucky to meet Will and Autumn, a father and daughter who were on a 5 week adventure exploring Thailand on a motorbike. Will is an American who has lived in Korea for 15 years and Autumn was his 10 year old daughter. They joined us for the 6:30am Patriots vs Kansas City semi-final and on day two of our car rental, out of Chiang Mai, adventures.

The Sticky Waterfalls were about an hour outside of Chiang Mai to the north. Will and Autumn beat us there; motorcycles are so much better in traffic!! The Sticky Waterfalls are just like they sound. The rocks are sticky. The waterfall is supplied with fresh spring water containing a high amount of calcium carbonate. As the water cascades over the rocks calcium is deposited, which adds a non-slip surface to the rocks, meaning that you can literally walk up the fast flowing waterfall with your bare feet. It’s like walking up huge, cartoon boulders while water splashes down on you. It is one of the most bizarre experiences; you really do feel as though you have super powers! The best part…..it was FREE!!

On the way back to Chiang Mai we had to stop at the Elephant Poo Poo Paper Park (how could we resist with a name like that). But that was one of the two best things Molly and Grace loved in Chiang Mai (the other was visiting an elephant sanctuary), and they are going to tell you all about it.

Elephant Poo Poo Paper Park – By Grace Robertson

We went to the Elephant Poo Poo Paper Park because one day we were walking to our hotel and dad saw a pamphlet and the word poo caught his eye. We got back to the hotel and dad did some research and it was on Atlas Obscura and so we decided to go.

When we arrived we where greeted with piles of dried elephant poo that said things like “two bums up” and “we are number one at number two”. We got a English tour with two friends of ours Will and his daughter Autumn .

During the tour we followed piles of dried elephant poo to all of the different stages. First we followed the dry poo piles to where all the dry poo is stored. They also have horse poo and cow poo but there is not enough fibre to make paper so they use it for fertilizing or they mix it with recycled paper to make new paper. Then we followed more dry piles of poo to where there are  six big tubs of water. First they have two tubs with poo in it. They soak it  for twelve hours in water. Then they scoop it up in a net and they  rinse it but not all of the bacteria is killed. So they have two big pots with the poo in it and they boil it for two hours. The water they boil it in does not go to waste, they use it for fertilizing.

Then we walked up a short hill to where they dye the poo different colours. It is the only machine they have. They put the poo in the machine and put some dye in it then start it. The machine goes in circles for five hours. Then they roll it in to balls.

Then we followed the dried poo to where there were big shallow tubs of water. We got mesh trays and placed them in the water against the edge and placed a brick to hold it in place. We all got a ball of dyed poo and ripped it in two. We placed one part at the top of the tray and one at the bottom and spread it around in till the tray was covered. Then we lifted it up and put it in the sun to dry. To take it out they put one side of the tray on the ground and push down on it.  Then they push on the two top corners and peel it back.

Then we went down a small hill to where they make the note books and other things you can buy in the gift shop. We got to pick one thing out and decorate it. I got a passport holder and Molly got a note book. We got to glue elephants and letters on it by spreading glue on the table.  You place a letter in the glue and you get a pair of chopstick type things but they where attached you pick up your letters and stick them on.

When the tour was finished Autumn, Molly and I and played hot potato but with a piece of dry poo.

When I think back on the day we went to the Elephant Poo Poo Paper Park I think of it as one of the best days of my life. Because where else in the world can you play hot potato with poo. Grace Robertson – 10 years old.

There was one place on our list for the day that we still wanted to see before we had to return the car. Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the buddhist temple overlooking Chiang Mai. Legend has it that half of Gautama Buddha’s shoulder bone is there. It’s topped with a beautiful, golden stupa and has a panoramic view of the city. We were there just as the monks began to do their daily prayers (chanting).

We had planned to have dinner with Will and Autumn, but Mark started feeling sick and by the time we dropped off the rental car we knew he had to get back to the room and lay down. He ended up being so sick he missed out on visiting the elephant sanctuary, the highlight of our time in Chiang Mai and maybe the trip!!

Elephants at Home – by Molly Robertson

We chose Elephants at Home because we had met some people in a shared taxi and they had said it was awesome. Once they recommended it we did some research and it had great reviews. We wanted to go to an elephant sanctuary where the elephants were treated nicely and there was no riding. So we chose Elephants at Home.

We woke up at 6:40 so that we were ready for a van to pick us up. Dad had eaten some chicken that was bad and woke up sick. When the van came dad stayed in bed.

In the back of the van there was a couple that lived in Boston.  He was a police officer and she was a nurse. Most of the way we were on a main highway. After about and hour we turned onto a dirt road for the rest. We had gotten pretty high so it was a little bit chilly. Ahead of us we still had about an hour left. We stopped at a little village to pick up cooler with our lunch in it. After the village it was super mega bumpy for half an hour. There was a jeep ahead of us with two other Canadians. In total there were seven of us.

When we were driving up to the sanctuary we saw the elephants were coming out of the jungle from sleeping. First we fed the elephants some giant fern grass. It kind of looked like a palm tree leaf. Right away we found out smart they were. If the branch was too big to eat they would snap it over their feet or tusks. If it was too sandy they would dust it off on their body.

There were three elephants total.  The mom age 39, daughter age 11, son age 7. The mom’s name was Maemo. The daughter’s name was Chabra and the son’s was Boonmee. After we had gotten to know the elephants, the workers put me in the middle of two of them and that’s when Chabra wrapped her trunk around me. Her  trunk was so strong. We learned that the elephants were only trained by using food as a reward. One of the tribe people had put bananas behind my back and the elephant was looking for them.

After we fed them we put on Karen tribe clothing (this was the tribe that the elephants belonged to), we got a shirt and a headband each. We then flattened some tree fibre by pounding it with a big stick. We used it to wash the elephants. It helps protect their skin from bugs and the sun.

We also made food for the elephants. We mixed sticky rice with salt, sugar cane, and a stem of a thick leaf then it was put in a homemade mortar and pestle. It ended up turning a pink colour. We rolled it up into balls the let then dry so the elephants could eat it later.

Then we all headed to the river. First we rinsed them off, then we used the tree fibre stuff to wash them. When you put the fibre in the water it becomes soapy.  It feels like washing a huge car or truck except they were super hairy. After they were clean we played with them. They would suck up water in their trunks and Grace and I could point the trunk at mom and spray her. It was like a huge water gun. The elephants will also give you kisses. I feels like if you put a vacuum up to your cheek. Very sucky. Super fun.

After washing we walked about 800m to the waterfall and ate lunch. For lunch we had sticky rice, chicken, watermelon, mango, passion fruit, and pineapple. We ate so much food. And the sticky rice is very fillng. Very yummy.

Once the elephants came from playing in the bush we put the leftovers into a bucket and fed it to them. Boonmee, the son, was sneaky and came up behind us to stick his trunk in the bucket to feast. It scared us so bad that we dropped some of the food on the ground. Once the elephants were full (again) we got into swim suits and swam in the waterfall with them. I got the opportunity to lay on top of the daughter then she sprayed me to get me off like I was a bug. The water felt like ice so I got out while Grace went up into the waterfall.

Once we got back from the waterfall everyone changed back into clothes then we fed the elephants MORE food and the pink food from earlier. When it was time to go we said goodbye to the elephants the Karen tribe people shoed us some homemade crafts they had. I bought a bracelet, mom got a ring made from an elephant tail hair, and Grace got a keychain.  The monry they make helps support them and their village. They have no running water and no electricity. They also grow most of their own food. The prices for the experience were cheaper than most places. In total it was 4800 Thai baht which is about $192 Canadian dollars. Other places were like 100$/person. So we got a good deal for a great experience with elephants in their home, the jungle.

I am super glad we went to Elephants at Home because they treat the elephants so nicely and take awesome care of them. I wish Dad could have come, but it just means we will have to do it again. Molly Robertson – age 11.

Chiang Rai

Our end goal was to head north to the border of Thailand and Laos where we’d cross the border and start our next stage in Laos. The next logical stop on this journey was Chiang Rai.

Famous for the White Temple and coffee plantations, Chiang Rai left an unremarkable impression on us. We stopped and toured the White Temple on the way into town. It’s very new and the artist who designed it incorporated modern symbolism into the design. I think I’m partial to historical wats myself.

We did arrive during the Flower Festival which made up a few points in our books. The flower displays were nice and there were tons of food stalls set up for the celebration, so there was no lack of eating options. Molly actually bought a pack of fried crickets just to munch on as a snack. Such a change in a partially picky eater!!

My choice of accommodations may have also contributed to our crap view of Chiang Rai. The “Take Me Home” hostel totally brought the confidence in my bookings down a notch; my first big error. It was cheap, central and had good ratings, but you have to take the ratings (good and bad) with a grain of salt. Someone on an accommodation budget of $10/day would think it was fabulous, therefore, a good rating. Well, I imagine those are the only people who have ever stayed and rated the place……lesson learned. I found a good replacement for our second night and gained back the lost faith, I think.

After a good nights sleep the second night we got up bright and early and headed for the Laos border. Chiang Khong is about a 2 hour drive from Chiang Rai. We were picked up by at 6am and brought to the Thai Immigration/Border checkpoint. We filled out the application for our Laos visas, got our exit stamp for Thailand (our Thai visas expired that day) and got on a shuttle bus to take us across the Mekong River into Laos…….

Just like that our month was over. Thailand was our introduction to southeast Asia, our cure for holiday emotion hangover, our palate expanding, dollar stretching, sunny, snorkel-y, sandy, animal loving, monk chatting, temple appreciating month. Khob-Khun-Ka Thailand.