Fantastic Trip - Part III

This post has a lot of photographs, most of which are not very great as far as lighting is concerned.  It was on this portion of our trip when I realized Christopher changed the settings on my camera.  I wasn't able to fix it right away so some of these photos have a funky glare or blast of light.  Unfortunately, I am not experienced with photoshop and couldn't fix them beyond the "auto adjust" on my computer program.

On our last "full" day in Chiang Rai, we arranged to hire a guide and a car & driver to go to both Myanmar and Laos for the day.  Before we left the hotel, Christopher was able to ride one of the water buffaloes that the hotel keeps to work in its rice paddies and gardens.  You can barely see our guide, Anan, in the bright blue shirt in the photo below.

This is our driver waiting for Christopher's ride to end.  

It was about a 40 minute drive north of the hotel to Thailand's border with Myanmar near the town of Mae Sai.  The border crossing was a very narrow and short bridge over a canal.  On one side of the bridge was the Thai immigration/customs office and on the other side was Myanmar's.

In Myanmar, they drive on the "right" side of the road (like in the US) so, when crossing over the bridge, once you enter the other country, you must immediately switch over to the other lane.  The fact that you do this exactly midway across the bridge doesn't seem to faze anyone.  It looked a little crazy but everyone ended up where they were supposed to be.  

We entered Myanmar without a problem but it was a little disconcerting as the immigration office kept our passports for the time that we were in Myanmar.  They did give us a "temporary" entrance document but not having our diplomatic passports (which I consider my ticket out of any kind of trouble!) made me very uneasy.  After crossing the border, Anan took us to a "local" food market that was set up in some back streets of the village.  The ladies in the photo below are selling rice - you can see the scale and the bags of rice in the background.  

One of the stalls that sold fresh fruit.

 Bags of chili peppers for sale.

 A vendor with her fresh produce.

 A look down the street into the market.

 A vendor selling chili peppers and ginger.  

This vendor was selling different kinds of spices and herbal goods.  In the two bowls in front of him, you can see turmeric and paprika.

He also had these dried frogs (a delicacy I am sure!) for sale.

 

The  vendor in the photo below had an incredible selection of fruits and vegetables.

 A basket of lemons. 

Vendors selling fruits, vegetables and eggs.  

 

The photo below is another look from down a street into the market.  This section of the market had household goods, fabrics and clothing for sale.  

The woman in the photo below was selling dried fish, dried shrimp and I don't know what else.

Now into the meat, poultry and fish section of the market.  Try not to notice the unsanitary conditions.  Trust me, after a while, you get used to it.  

 

 

 I love the photo below!

Just in case you wanted a closer look...

We bought a coconut from the woman in the photo below and she is cutting the top of the coconut off so we could put a straw in and drink the milk.  These coconuts are first roasted in fire and the charred shell is then cut off so the coconut ends up looking like a carved wooden ball.  The roasting gives the coconut milk a creamy texture and it has a very nice sweet and smoky flavor. 

We finished at the market and then walked farther into the village to a temple.  This temple was so incredibly large that I could not get a photo of the entire building.  The temple has been under construction for many years (maybe 20?) as work is only done when money is available.  Anan told me that I could take photos of the interior but there were several monks inside and I did not want to disturb their worship.

 

Also on-site was the residence for the monks and a school for boys training to be monks.  Everyone lives in a dormitory-style building and communal meals are taken in a cafeteria.

This must be their laundry room... 

Unfortunately, Christopher and I needed to use the bathroom and were shown to a block of these...

After our bathroom break, we went to the cafeteria to have a look around.  Monks are only allowed two meals a day and are not allowed to eat anything after noon.  More devout monks will only have one meal a day.  All of the families in each village are responsible for providing the monks with their daily meals.  The responsibility for feeding the monks is allocated differently in each village but the monks always get fed.  Every morning, the monks walk through the village to collect the food for that day's meals.  

The photo below shows the lunch plates filled and ready to be served.        

As we left the temple, we noticed a truck parked across the street with a crowd around it.  Two men were removing something from the top of the truck and we could hear loud music and singing.

 

The "something" that was taken off the pickup truck turned out to be a water buffalo costume  worn by two men.  Anan told us this was a group of villagers who were going to make a presentation and bring gifts to the temple.  I am not sure what the water buffalo symbolized but it was quite an elaborate get up!

 

The group in the photo below followed the water buffalo down the street while singing and playing different kinds of instruments.  It was just like a parade.  

 

 

The photo below shows a group of village children watching the production.  Click on the photo  to enlarge it and take a closer look at the woman riding the moto on the right side of the photo.    This is a common sight here but could you ever imagine doing that in the U.S.?  

Next, Anan took us down a few streets in the village so we could see some local homes.  The photo below is from the bottom of the street looking up.

 

As soon as we started walking up the street, all of these children (about 10 -12 years old) suddenly came out of the woodwork and gathered around us, trying to sell us homemade crafts and little knick knacks.  Anan told us that, in order to make a living, the grandmothers make the crafts and the children sell them to tourists.  After hearing that and seeing their living conditions (sob sob), Caitlynne and I bought two embroidered and beaded handbags from a little girl.  However, as we continued to walk up the street, we  happened to go by a home with the front door wide open.  Being the nosy person that I am, I looked in and saw a television that was about twice the size of ours!  I guess selling crafts to tourists is a pretty good business to be in.

The women in the photo below sold us some "sticky corn".  This is a specific type of corn that is steamed inside its husk, the husk is then peeled off and the corn is eaten off the cob.  It had a sweet taste and but it was the mushy texture that I just couldn't get past.  

At the top of the street, we could look out over the village.  Kevin commented on the large number of television antennas on the homes and Anan told us this village got electricity only two years ago!  

Our next stop was at a large temple.  This temple was interesting in that there were 7 stations (one for each day of the week) set up around the exterior of temple's base.  According to Buddhist teachings, if you pray and perform a ritual at the station for the day of the week on which you were born, you will receive a special blessing from your patron spirit.  One of the guides had a book to help us figure out the days we were born on.  Christopher was born on a Tuesday, Kevin on a Thursday and Caitlynne and I both on a Saturday.  It was quite funny (well, really only to me) because the last time Kevin and I saw Jimmy Buffet in concert, it was during his  "Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays" tour.  No one else shared my excitement over this coincidence though.

Thank goodness Anan was with us to explain the process of the ritual.  Each station has a statue of your patron spirit at the highest level. There is a reclining Buddha on the level below the spirit and then, on the lowest level, a statue of your spiritual animal.  

First you pray...

 

 And then you pour holy water over the Buddha...

 And then pour holy water onto the hands of your patron spirit...

And, lastly, you pour holy water over your animal spirit on the lowest level.  Somehow, I did not get a photo of Kevin doing this last step but you can see Caitlynne, Christopher and I doing it in the photos below. 

 

 

 

 

 One of the ladies gave Christopher a bouquet of flowers to offer to his spirit.

 

 

 

 

Kevin's patron animal spirit was the lion (leadership, honor and strength), Caitlynne and I had a dragon (philosophical, understanding, prefers to work alone because we do not like depending on others to get the job done) and Christopher's was a rat (intelligence, focus and stubbornness).  It was a very interesting experience, that was for sure!

Next, we moved on to a very large market that sold every counterfeit item you could imagine.  Handbags, watches, cigarettes, shoes, sneakers, etc.  The leather, construction, hardware, stitching, etc. was of extremely high quality and it would take a very experienced shopper to be able to identify the knock offs.  In fact, Caitlynne and I practically tore a Louis Vuitton purse apart trying to find evidence of it being a fake.  

After the market, it was early afternoon and time to go back to Thailand for the second part of our trip (to Laos).

I am going to break here for today and will continue tomorrow with the Laos portion of our trip.

Have a great day everyone!

Fantastic Trip - Part II

Before I begin, in the (most unlikely) event that anyone was wondering.... yesterday's shopping expedition to locate toilet paper was a huge success and we now have 48+ rolls of toilet paper in our cupboards!  Just in case.

Back to recounting Day 2 of our trip to Chiang Rai.  

When I made our booking at the Anantara Resort, I was unaware of its significant role in the rescue and rehabilitation of Asian Elephants in Thailand.  Upon our arrival, we learned that Anantara Resort is home to the northern extension of the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre and also to The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation.  The Centre was established by the Royal Thai Government to act as a central body for the conservation of elephants (domestic and wild) and the persons and communities that depend on them for their livelihood.  The Foundation aims to give and promote ethical work for those elephants and to provide a safe sustainable income for the elephants, their mahouts and their families. 

In Thailand, raising and training elephants is traditionally passed down in families from generation to generation. A mahout is the person (typically male) who trains and drives the elephant.  Mahouts are given an elephant from their family at a very young age and stay with that elephant for life.  95% of Thailand's elephants are domesticated and working elephants that are privately owned.  Before logging was banned in Thailand, elephants were used for logging, hauling and other services in the mountains. However, as Thailand's forests were destroyed and logging banned,  there was a decline in the work that was traditionally done by elephants.  As you might imagine, keeping an elephant is very expensive.   With the lack of work for them and in order to make a living, the elephants are now forced to beg on city streets.  I have seen, right outside the gates of Nichada, a mahout who charges tourists for the chance to feed bananas and bits of sugarcane to his elephant.  He also charges tourists if they want to take a photo with or of the elephant.  These types of activities are illegal but, if arrested, the mahout and his elephant just move on to another part of the city or a different town until they are arrested there and forced to move on again.  The cycle never ends.  The Foundation rescues those elephants (and also any that are in distress or being abused) and brings the elephant, the mahout and his family to Anantara for rehabilitation, education and the opportunity to earn a legitimate income.  

With both the Centre and the Foundation being located on the resort's grounds, you would expect there to be some elephants around... and you would be absolutely correct!   I found a few good trails around the resort and went for a run before breakfast.  The trails went along the MeKong river before going into the jungle so I was able to catch sight of several elephants in the grasslands and watch their mahouts bring them pineapple leaves, bananas and sugarcane for breakfast.   

In addition to having the elephant join us for breakfast on our second day, 

We were able to go to the elephant camp and observe the mahouts working with their elephants.  The mahouts use about 70 commands with their elephants and the relationship between them is amazing.  One of the mahouts has been with his elephant since he was a little boy.  With the mahout's command, the elephants would trumpet to us a "good morning" or lift their trunks high in the air and bow their heads for "thank you".  

In the photo below, Christopher is feeding this baby elephant (18 months old) a piece of sugar cane.  This little guy was so cute! He "played" by using his trunk to toss a rag on his head and then he would try and shake it off.  As long as we kept laughing at him, he kept doing it.

After a while, he got bored with the bananas and sugar cane we were feeding him and decided to go to mom for a drink.

And then it was nap time!  He went down just as you would expect - not very gracefully!  And he snored.  Loudly.

 We moved on to visit the other elephants.

The Foundation is currently housing 30 elephants and their mahout families, the most they have ever had.  The Foundation also has a separate camp for the nine "babies" that are on-site.  These "babies" are really just younger elephants that were weaned and separated from their mothers before being rescued by the Foundation.  

Most of the mahouts and their families live in  one of the two traditional "mahout villages" on-site. Some mahouts live in villages nearby but spend the entire day with their elephant. The elephants are brought in from the jungle at about 7 am, and then fed and exercised in the camp until about 2 pm.  At 2 pm, the mahouts take their elephants in small groups down to the pond for a bath. What a riot that was to watch!

Here are some of the mahouts and their elephants going down to the pond.

I had to add the photo below.  This mahout went to get his hat from his car in the parking lot and the elephant followed right behind and stood there and waited for him. Just like the dogs do with me at home!  

Some of the guests from the hotel went into the pond with the first group of elephants and mahouts.

The elephant in the photo below was quite a character.  He quickly entered the water and then began spraying his poor rider almost immediately!  The more we laughed (from the dry shoreline), the more he sprayed.

The first group of elephants are refreshed from their swim and off to the jungle for the night while a new group arrives.

This younger elephant in the photo below was just SO cheeky!  She tried and tried to spray us but couldn't get it quite right.  

After failing to spray us, she started to harass her friend for entertainment!  The mahout had his hands full keeping her in line.

I think she is still plotting to try and spray us!

Finished with their swim and off to the jungle. 

The elephants are kept overnight in the jungle from late afternoon.  They go out after their afternoon bath and stay there until the mahouts collect them the next morning. Elephants only sleep about 4 hours a night (standing up) and the rest of the time they spend eating. An adult elephant will consume about 250 kilograms (over 550 lbs) of food a day. We met a veterinary student from Australia who was volunteering at the camp and she told us that elephants will spend about 17 hours a day eating.  And, they poop out about 60% of what they eat. Speaking of that, the kids were very keen to ride the elephants into the pond until they saw the "floaters".

After the elephants left, we hiked up to the top of the mountain that the hotel was built on.  The view was spectacular!  The photo below is looking over the Mekong river to Laos with Myanmar off to the left.  

Caitlynne and Christopher in front of the spirit house at the top of the mountain.

Food left for the spirits.  I can't believe someone climbs this mountain every day to leave food.

Below are a few random photos from around the hotel.  Instead of floral arrangements, these "aqua arrangements" are displayed throughout the hotel.

Water lilies in the water garden in the reception area.

 

A mosaic mural at the entrance to the hotel.  

Whew!  My hands are exhausted from all of this typing and it is almost time to make dinner!  I will be back tomorrow with a recap of our 3rd day which included crossing over the borders to Myanmar and Laos.

I hope everyone remembered to set their clocks back last night!

Back in Bangkok!

I apologize for going AWOL for a few days... 

Since school was cancelled for the week, a group of friends and I were thinking about taking all of our kids to the beach for a few days.  However, we were waiting until the very last minute to make our (non-refundable) bookings in case the flood waters entered Nichada and we couldn't leave.  Sunday night, we all felt comfortable with the (non) flooding situation in Nichada so we made the bookings and left for Pattaya early Tuesday morning.  Caitlynne, Christopher and I rode with a friend and her two girls and followed three other families to the resort.  There was a total of 5 moms and 12 children ranging from 4 years old to a high school senior.  The Embassy re-opened on Tuesday so all of the dads had to stay and work.  

Pattaya is about a 2 hour drive southeast of Bangkok and is located on the Eastern Coast of  the Gulf of Thailand.  We stayed at the Centara Grand Mirage Resort (http://www.centarahotelsresorts.com/cmbr/cmbr_default.asp) which was absolutely fabulous!    There were lots of swimming pools, a lazy river and several water slides for the kids.  The hotel was right on a very nice beach so the kids alternated between going in the pools and the ocean.  Pattaya is quite a dump of a town and has a very sketchy reputation in Thailand.  Pattaya was a quiet fishing village until American soldiers fighting in Vietnam arrived for some R&R.  Things changed quickly and I shall leave it at that as you can probably very easily guess the rest.  However, the resort had plenty for us to keep busy with so there was absolutely no need to venture into the town itself.   

While we were there, we were notified that school has now been cancelled until at least November 15th.  Yikes!  I was not all that surprised given that the flooding continues to worsen and more districts are being evacuated each day.  There really doesn't seem to be an end in sight (although the government would have you believe otherwise!).  Last Monday, ISB  implemented their "e-learning" system - each teacher posts the daily lessons and work on the class website.  The kids complete the lessons and the assignments and then submit everything electronically for review and grading.  Caitlynne and Christopher have spent about 4-5 hours each day working on their assignments - not much fun while at a resort on the beach!  At least they are doing something academic during this break but the "e-learning" certainly doesn't replace actual classroom time.  The "e-learning" program will allow ISB a "credit" for some of the days that school is closed so we won't have to make up all 12 days and, while the school has already identified the "make up" days, I don't know what will happen if school stays closed past November 15th.

Kevin left for Washington on Thursday so we did not get to see him before he left.  Usually, I am envious when he gets to go "home" but, after looking at the very winter-like temperatures in D.C., I am quite happy to be staying in Bangkok!  

We really don't have that much going on this weekend.  I am working on my final exam (2 essays) for my class that is due Sunday night.  I also hope to get another post or two written about the rest of our Chiang Rai trip.  I have it all in my head, I just need to write the posts!  Also, we are going on a big expedition today to try and find toilet paper!  So far, I have been to three grocery stores and no toilet paper is to be found.  In fact, all of the shelves are very close to bare.  I heard of one store (right on the edge of a very badly flooded area) that MIGHT have some so we are headed there right after breakfast.   I lead such an exciting life.  

Have a great weekend everyone!