Dear Mama....I'm in Thailand, Part 1

I was determined to spend my birthday playing with elephants and I did. I went to Chiang Mai the day after I landed and stayed in a gorgeous luxury boutique. I went on a small tour of the mountain hill tribe villages and Doi Suthep Temple. It was just me, the tour guide and a Korean couple ironically. The tour guide was so nice to stay with me and keep me company since I was alone. In the village garden they were growing poppies...and according to the guide they were using it too. They were even growing marijuana. Despite those plants it was a very beautiful garden and a serene place. After the tour I just relaxed at my hotel and then I started to wish I wasn't alone so I could have someone to go to dinner and the night markets with. It may have been night time but I couldn't stew in my hotel room the whole time.

 

Plai Garden Guesthouse

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Girl in hill tribe clothes. If you want a picture you have to pay though.

These carvings depict the story of how Doi Suthep Temple was founded. A monk found a magical relic and gave a piece to a king who put it on a holy white elephant. The place where the elephant stopped (and died) is where they decided to build the temple.

My tour guide bought me a snack.

I asked the front desk for restaurant recommendations and wandered down the street. It wasn't long before I stumbled upon a night market and a popular restaurant. If I wasn't alone I would have stayed out longer for the cabaret show but I was just happy to be there and take in the sights and smells. The next day, my birthday, I woke up to a parade outside my hotel and went to the Elephant Nature Park. It's a very special place where rescued elephants and other animals can live in peace and volunteers can go to help feed and bathe them. Every elephant had their own survival story. There were some that were blind and some with broken hips and backs from the human torture they had to endure. This was also the first tour I had with other Americans since I came to Thailand so it was nice to share the experience with familiar people, even if they were strangers.

Anusarn Market

Sacred Heart College Parade

All Vegetarian Meal

The baby

Traveling, you encounter some interesting attitudes and personalities. It's almost like reality show...well it is reality. Most of the people on the tour were couples. There was one young couple I tried to make small talk with when we were on the bus on the way to the park. They gave me the impression that they did not want to be bothered so I left them alone. Later on they asked me if I was a teacher on Korea because they were too. That was pretty much the sum of our interaction. Later on the bus ride back they start talking to this older woman i front of me. Mind you, this is a very small bus so we can all hear each other. They start asking here about her travel plans and realize they are all going to Phuket the next day. Earlier I told the same lady that I was also going there the same day. I am sure that couple heard me. An older couple even heard me earlier and when they heard them say it, they tapped me on the shoulder and asked me, "won't you be there too?" I just nodded while they said "that's strange." I am not one to be like, "hey, I just overheard you. I'm going tomorrow too!" So I just continued to listen to them plan to hang out with this old lady in Phuket. I started talking to the other couple, asking them if they had been to the popular night market in town. A couple minutes later, they younger couple was asking the older woman about the night market. At least the other couple heard them too so I wasn't the only one with a puzzled look on my face. That night I went to a dinner show and was stuffed but it was still my birthday and I wanted to celebrate with some cake. The hotel cafe had a banana crepe roll so I took it to my room and wished myself a "Happy birthday!"