For some reason when
I think “Chiang Mai,” the thought is followed with “the science guy” and the
tune changes to Bill Nye the Science Guy. I don’t know why. But, it happens
every time, hence the title of this post.
This past weekend the girls and I
went to Chiang Mai and it was such an adventure! We were scheduled to get on
the train at 10:37 p.m. Friday night (Yes, this post will contain detail, that
may not be needed.) We found out that trains are always late in Phichit, and we
boarded closer to 11:20 p.m., which had me a wee bit nervous because our tour
guide was supposed to pick us up at our hostel at 7:30 a.m. which only gave us
an hour of leeway room. Anyways, the train was rather comfy to our surprise.
Reclining seats, and a complimentary blanket made for a sleepless yet comfy
night. The train stopped before we made it to Chiang Mai and we were told
through very broken English that the Chiang Mai train station was flooded and
we’d be getting on a bus. At this point I’m really nervous that we’re going to
miss our tour. Some man, who is not a railway worker, decided this was his moment
to take control and he became the leader of our large group. It was rather
funny actually. About 50 of us were sitting on benches at a train station (not
Chiang Mai) half asleep waiting for a bus to come get us. Our leader was
standing in front of us all and running back and forth giving up updates. He
would speak lots of Thai, and then look at us and motion us to wait saying “you
go with me.” He was really helpful actually. About 40 minutes later a bus came
for us and we hopped on. We took the bus another hour and a half or so and
finally arrived in Chiang Mai. It’s about 8:45 A.M. at this point and luckily
Natalie was able to call our tour people and hostel. The tour guide was so
accommodating and said he’d be to the train station to pick us up in 10
minutes. Yes the tour is a go! Our tour guide, Bob, showed up right when he
said he would with a driver and a really nice van. The seats were comfy, the AC
was great, and all in all we were pretty surprised. First stop, Elephants! We
arrived basically in the jungle and Bob took us across a long rickety bridge.
Imagine Emperors New Groove status bridge. We then watched a quick elephant
show. The show was just the elephant trainers showing how the elephants used to
be used for working and moving logs, but isn’t used for that anymore. It wasn’t
circus like at all, which made me feel better. Upon arriving, I started feeling
a little uncomfortable and thinking about the poor elephants, and the
possibility they were mistreated. Bob talked to us about it and said the
elephants there actually live much longer than most because of how well treated
they are. They have one trainer who really bonds with them, and they develop a
strong connection. The elephants are also very well fed. They “work” for 1-4
hours on the weekend days, and then they just roam through the jungle grounds,
which we did witness, and relax. I also looked over my elephant pretty closely,
and noted there were no markings or scars or things like that. On a happier
note, the elephant ride was amazing! Elephants are my favorite animals, and
riding on one was a dream come true. Our ride was about an hour and a half
through the jungle of Chiang Mai. Our elephant would randomly veer off course
and try and eat some leaves or fruit. He was a rebel, which I appreciated. The
feeling of being on an elephant was so liberating. I’ve never felt anything
like it. Simply amazing.
After our elephant ride we went to lunch.
Again we were expecting, a little bowl of noodles or some small traditional
Thai dish. Surprised again. We went to a beautiful restaurant and sat on the
second balcony outside. Our view was of the green mountainside. It seriously
reminded me something you’d see on pinterest. They brought us lots of delicious
dishes, and had a complete vegetarian menu with lots of tofu dishes. I loved
it. When our delicious meal had come to an end, we got back in our van and
headed to a temple. This temple was deep in the green mountainside and
supposedly a 500-step climb. I counted. There were actually 553 steps total. I was
surprised at the lack of people there, but apparently this temple is more
hidden, much appreciated. At the top of our climb we arrived at the top of the
temple. The view was again amazing. It was basically lunchtime, except that we
were in the middle of the jungle. The pretties view I’ve ever seen. Hands down.
We then climbed back into the van and onto the caves! These caves were inside
the mountainside, and huge. We climbed through them for about an hour. They are
all natural, and we had to climb through tight spaces. It was really exciting!
After caving we were dropped off at our hostel-, which let me tell you was
awesome! We played cards in a jungle tree house, our room had A/C, and the best
part was we didn’t even have to share with strangers. That is a successful
hostel if I ever heard of one.
This post is now
long, long overdue so I’m going to sum up the rest of that weekend. We went to
an amazing marketplace, got 2 dollar foot massages..multiple times, had
chocolate waffles, went to church, and took the train back home!
