Up North to Chiang Mai!

Well hello there!

I'm having a magnificent time in the Northern region of Thailand. My first stop was Chiang Mai. This city has a lot of charm and although it is quite large, the area is much more approachable than Bangkok. I stayed in the Old City, where there are plenty of cafés, delicious restaurants, and wide variety of nightlife. 

Monks at worship at one of the beautiful temples in the city

Chiang Mai is a wonderful place to take a course- anything from language to massage to cooking. I opted for a culinary class since I've been enjoying the local cuisine so much. My class was very very in depth and intimate (only one other student). We started early in the morning by visiting a local market and learning about local fruits, veggies, grains, and spices. Every neighborhood in Thailand has their own local market where they find their cooking essentials. After we decided what meals to create and picked out our ingredients at the market, we headed to a location to cook, cook, and cook some more (plus lots of eating)! In total I made tom yum soup, spring rolls, papaya salad, green curry, pad thai, sweet and sour stir fry, and sticki rice with mango. I hope to continue making all of these when I get home :)

Our cooking stations

We even learned how to make fruit art!

Proud chef with my pad thai, stir fry, and curry

If that wasn't enough for the day, I then decided to rent a motorbike and drive up  to the sacred Wat Phra That Doi Suthep on top of Doi Suthep (Doi translates to mountain in Northern Thailand).

Lovely view of Chiang Mai from Doi Suthep

A long staircase leads to the sacred temple

The great serpent Naga is often featured in the design of Northern Thai wats and is believed to protect the Buddha. The one above is the railing of a staircase leading to the temple. Below you can see the serpent on the rooftops of the wats.

An impressive gold chedi in the center of the temple.

The following morning I signed up for some quality time with adorable Asian elephants. I went to an elephant camp called Baanchang (baan meaning home and chang meaning elephant in Thai), a company that rescues elephants from lives of hard labor. This was an incredible experience. We had the opportunity to first feed the elephants sugarcane and bunches of bananas.... They eat an entire bunch at once including the peels!! 

Me and a teen elephant. We are making the same expression.

Next our guide told us taught us basic commands like how to get on the elephant, turn each direction, and stop.

Here I am feeding a bunch of bananas to this giant elephant after my first try getting on.

After some practice we each got assigned to our own elephant for a ride around the grounds. Riding on the elephant was neat but a seriously leg workout. At times I thought I was at the rodeo. My elephant, Kramer, was a little bit of a rebel and was constantly veering off to find food. She also loved to constantly spray muddy water all over herself (and consequently me), so by the end of the ride I could barely see through my dirty sunglasses.

The group going on a ride

After our journey through the jungle it was time to cool off. We had the opportunity to get in the water with the elephants and wash them off. Kramer also thought that I needed to be washed off and sprayed me thoroughly with her trunk.

I am currently in Chiang Mai after a stop in a small town mountain town called Pai. Read again soon to hear about my time further North!

Love to you all,

Laura