Busiest relaxing day ever

Hey all,

So, I'm still trying to sort out getting photos and video off of my gizmos, and onto these internets. Meanwhile, let me tell you about today.



Today: Wake, eat breakfast. Ride in big van North of Chiang Mai. Arrive; look at elephants; feed baby elephants; get up on top of baby elephants. (Yah!) Feed banana-eating machines (technically: elephants) from atop them. Baby elephants kneel; Ashleys / Jesses climb down. Watch elephants bathe, play, get washed in the dirty brown river. Elephants love this.

Watch elephant show, in which elephants raise the flag, play soccer, even paint. Yes, a four-year-old female elephant actually painted an elephant, then clearly signed her name. Get hitched up to gigantic elephant, via this seat strapped to his back. Ride elephant several km, including crossing the river, and up and down extremely steep ledges. Feed bananas and sugarcane to elephant in prayerful self-defense. Watch as elephant is whacked hard on top of head with a stick by Thai guide, riding with feet behind elephant's ears, for reaching up for bananas when he's not supposed to. (Don't worry, everyone else's guide was nice; ours seriously had something wrong with him.)

I'd better shorten this up.

Get off elephant.
Get on oxen cart.
Ride oxen cart to other part of river.
Get off oxen cart.
Get on bamboo rafts.
Ride bamboo raft down river (4 km). Very peaceful.
Get out, get back in van, go to Tiger Kingdom.
Play with young tigers - patting them, etc.
Play with giant adult tiger/s. take picture "sleeping" on one.
Leave tigers.
Go to butterfly & orchid farm.
Check out weak-ass butterflies.
Get out of there.
Check out super awesome orchids everywhere.
Stick around a while.
Buy some stuff.
Head back to Chiang Mai.
Get settled. Get showered.
Get one hour super relaxation de-stress sports and aromatherapy massage.
Mmm. Slink around for a bit.
Catch "tuk tuk" cab outside old city to river view restaurant.
Eat one of those whole fish, red snapper, with head and tail and the whole nine.
Enjoy fish immensely.
Also lovely spicty cilantro-mint duck and soft shell crab curry.
Get made fun of for drinking fruity drink again.
Take too many pictures of girlfriend.
Look at table of German men cavorting slyly with young, willing Thai boys.
Come back.
Write this.

Tomorrow:
Wake up 6 am.
Watch monks outside our hotel room door, walking to famous temple around the corner at sunup.
Get picked up by famed guide Suwit, 8 am.
Go to Maehongson province.
New adventure begins...

Touchdown, Thailand!

This blog entry sponsored by Unisom. Don't take a 14-hour flight without it!

That said, Ashley and I have made it safely to Chiang Mai. (SFO to Taiwan = 14 hours; two hours layover, three-and-a-half to Bangkok; go through customs, and a decent hour's flight to this northern town.) If Bangkok is New York, Chiang Mai is maybe -- I've been trying to finish the sentence, but can't. I don't know enough about it yet... But -- well, it's not coastal, it's a pretty big trade center, a lot of temples and history, but also a great University town, with a lot of coffee houses and travelers. Maybe an amalgam of Boston and Seattle.

That said, it feels more... like... Thailand. Don't know much yet. Ash is napping at the hotel, though the travel (15 hours ahead, by the way -- we left Thanksgiving Thursday, 5 past midnight, and arrived early Saturday afternoon) has been kind.



Since I didn't bring the laptop -- in fact, for the price of a capuccino the cafe around the corner lets me use theirs; I'm feeling pretty guilty about turning down the apple pie (95 THB, or Thai baht, that's $3) since even the cap comes with fresh damp towell, a glass of water I'm not supposed to drink, and a tasty little cookie.

Without the immediate ability to upload photos -- I've got an awesome new camera I'm still learning my way around, but still feeling out the hardware to make a regular go of it -- I just wanted to check in and say we made it.

We're good! We're psyched. Tell your friends.

I'll add, briefly, our itinerary. If you want details, Google is available, or stay tuned...

Tonight, tomorrow: Kick it in Chiang Mai. Nothing specific. Night bazaar; monks walking past us to school/temple early am; street food.

Next 3 days -- Maehongson, a province northwest of here, toward Myanmar. Things cool down (it's low 80's farenheit here, light-moderate humidity, very comfortable) with Suwit ("sue-wheat"), the guide who took my dad and Victoria around up here. Ride elephants, bamboo boats, pretty much anything Suwit tells us with a straight face can be safely ridden.

Dec. 4 -- Early flight to Bangkok. A day-and-a-sliver in the big city. Ash doesn't know yet, but I'm set on drinks at one of the world's awesomest rooftop bars; we post up right near the Grand Palace.

Dec 5, 6 -- Ko Samui. Ko means beach, or island anyway. It's the "James Bond" island (some movie was shot there, I dunno, and helped popularize the beachy tourist and backpacker trends among westerners) and it should be kinda hot shit. You know?

Dec 7 - 11 -- Ko Phi Phi and region. (The "pee pee" islands.) Another movie, "The Beach" with Leo DeCaprio, shot and inspired here. To the west (Phuket), east (Krabi) and north, all limestone cliffed islands and outlets, super beautiful. Long tail boat the only transport to many of them.

Dec 12 - 16 -- Cross the border to Cambodia. You stay in Siem Reap (See-em Ree-ep) and bike, most likely, or cab it, to the famous and gigantic temples of Angkor Wat. I'm reading about a Frenchman captured by the Khmer Rouge, the sort of wannabe Rwandan massacre-purifiers of the late 1970s. In all ways a very historic country...

Dec 17 - 18 -- Phnom Penh, the Cambodian captial.

Dec 19 -- home. PICK UP NEW PUPPY! See Ash's facebook page for photos.

Comments accepted HERE for names. Hint: he's reddish, large, and smart...

PEACE OUT! See you after some elephants.