ສະບາຍດີ sába̖ai-di̖i (this is how to say hello in Laos and how it would be written)

We are currently in Laos but we had troubles with our blog up until now so we are backtracking and catching up with our blog posts. I am now going to try and summarise our time spent in Chiang Mai for you guys..

There were 3 main things we got up to whilst in Chiang Mai, the first was the day at the Chang Siam Elephant Mahout school, Tiger Temple and then a days worth of trekking which included bamboo rafting, another elephant trek and a hike to this very pretty natural waterfall and some..

The day spent with the elephants was probably our most treasured moment that we took away with us from our time spent in Chiang Mai and I'm pretty sure Keli will back me up on this one, riding our elephant bare back through the jungle was just the most surreal experience! We left the Baan Elephant that morning around half 8 and got picked up by a mini van which was our form of transport to and from the sanctuary! Our guide for the day was hilarious, he was constantly doing word associations to all these relevant songs to go with what he was saying.. He really did have a big contribution when it came to making the day so fun. On arrival we were handed these mc hammer looking trousers and what resembled a burgundy coloured potato sack to get changed into to and then we were delivered a brief on how to pet the elephants, how to behave around them and a set of Thai commands so that we could navigate the elephant whilst trekking. The morning was spent getting associated with the elephants by feeding them bucket loads of bananas, stroking them and also having them show off their intelligence. A kiss of the head was given to each of us (felt like being sucked up by a Dyson) and then a hat that had already been placed on the floor in front of us was grasped by the elephants trunk and placed on our head, it was so clever! We then got to put our newly learnt commands to the test and climbed on board the elephants.. We both did pretty well to be fair and didn't have too much trouble getting on and off the this beautiful creature. Lunch was cooked by our guide, Thai yellow curry with rice and a crispy chicken leg! Fresh fruit was served also and it was delicious.. Tops marks to the chief! The whole afternoon was spent trekking through the jungle, one elephant to two people.. So I hopped on just behind the elephants ears as was voted designated driver whilst Keli took the back seat and was basically doing the splits the elephant was that wide! We decided to give our elephant a name, we named her Edna.. She was a cheeky thing, kept flinging her trunk up to she if I was going to give her any fruit and then at one point she had a branch with a load of leaves coming out it from a tree she ripped it off and I asked her to move forward "hooh!" then the next thing you know she's gone wiped me this branch as if she was rebelling like "Shut up!" Haha. The best part of the trek was the very end where we got to cool Edna down in the river that runs right through the sanctuary, we spent ages splashing around in the water and Ednas's keeper stitched us by chucking a pan of freezing cold river water over us whilst we had our backs turned. It was awesome moment and we were even getting showered by elephants, they were withdrawing water from the river by their trunks and spraying it at us like water being fired out of a hose. All in all this day brought us so much joy and we were in awe of what was going on around us from start to finish!

The Tiger Temple was SO cool! Once again we were picked up by a taxi from our Guesthouse at 10 o'clock and then we were taken half hour away to where it is located, on arrival we had a choice of packages (size of Tiger) to pick from.. We both agreed on going into the enclosure with the small tigers, the smallest tigers and the biggest ones! First off was the small tiger enclosure and we were asked to read a set of rules so that we were fully aware of how to be around the Tigers whilst within their company. It was very nerve racking being around these very powerful predators at first, but once we sat a stroke them for a while and come to terms with the fact they enjoy being firmly petted we began to relax. So much so I even had one of the Tigers chasing me around trying to grab this blade of grass out of the hand I had it in, nearly had the fingers off me! Haha. At one point I was even giving one of the biggest tigers a foot massage.. He was lapping it right up! The smallest ones were so cute and so playful, darting about all over the place playing with their fellow Cubs and keepers. All in all we spent about 2 hours within the enclosure and it was worth every baht that we payed, we managed to get ton's of great snaps which will be shared with you all once we get to an Internet cafe.

The day worths of trekking as Keli said was just something else to do to make the most of our time in Chiang Mai. The 3 day trek was the most popular excursion to go and do whilst in Thailand's Northern territory. Whilst being away last year, spending over a week camping at a festival out in Croatia where the whole place became a wash out we didn't think we could stomach 2 nights in the jungle after such a bad previous experience. It's a shame because it was all the hype out there! The day trek started off with a 8:30am pick up from a mini van which drove all the way to the south of Chiang Mai. Bamboo rafting was the first thing we got to go and do, 4 people to one raft plus the "driver". It was so soothing and peaceful to just glide down this beautiful river, sitting and listening to all the wildlife around us. I must admit a bamboo rafting isn't the most comfiest form of transport and expect to get very wet as the weight of all the people does make the raft skink a little bit but that was nothing compared to the surprises we had coming up. Let's just say the bamboo rafting turn into white water rafting and we were clinging onto the bamboo praying for our lives! It was such an adrenalin rush and we were shocked at how sturdy the raft was seeing as none of us capsized. All in all another fantastic experience! We also had another ride through the jungle by elephant, we were so lucky as we had a baby elephant (the tinniest one out of the whole pack) lead the whole way as we were on her mother back. She was adorable. You will never believe the smallest of gaps the elephants can squeeze themselves through, one foot angelically placed in front of the other. I reckon they could easily tight rope.. These are few observations we made about the elephants which we found fascinating. The day ended on a hike which stopped off at this beautiful waterfall, I couldn't resist having a dip and it was a great way to cool down.

Our evenings and free days were spent exploring the local area, night markets, a day by a pool we found, great food and we had a few wicked night outs spent with our "Bangkok besties" Katy and Kara (we were so sad to have to say goodbye to them). To round things up as I've done a terrible job of summarising we both really loved Chiang Mai and all its stunning temples, my favourite being this one with huge Buddhas inside which were draped in sequins. We renamed the temple - The vajazled Buddhas. Haha! We defiantly felt happy to move on after 5 nights of being there, next stop... Laos!

I hope you enjoyed my blog entry,
Will update you all again soon!

Lots of love
Orla x