Ellies and Elevated Tribes

I think that most people can say that the sight of an elephant is a wondrous site- and boy do I agree! My main purpose for picking Thailand as a destination for this holiday was to spend some time with elephants in the land of elephants. Their beer, cities and even a few islands are named after this wondrous creature. Unfortunately due to everyone's fascination, many elephants have been moved from their already abused lives in logging camps to elephant trekking "villages" or camps. In these areas people pay a minimal fee to get the chance ride elephants-which I admit seems like a neat idea, but is quite obviously no form of fun for the elephants. As I was riding my bike around Pai I rode by a few elephant camps and even passed an elephant touring some people around the road. My initial thought was "Neat! Not a traffic jam, but an elephant jam!" Until I got closer and could see the look on the poor creature's eye. This elephant carrying the weight of a massive stool and two people on it looked as if the life had been sucked out of it.

This broke my heart, but made me optimistic for my future endeavor at Burm and Emily's Elephant Sanctuary in the mountains tucked behind the village of Mae Chaem. Emily and Burm personally picked me and two other girls up (they ended up going home quickly after not enjoying the other adopted critters and rustic nature of the place) to make the drive out there. On our way out there we drove around Doi Inthanon (the tallest mountain in Thailand) and through the accompanying national park for a pit stop at the biggest and most beautiful waterfall I have seen yet! 

Once we arrived at the Elephant sanctuary we got a quick info session on safety and intro into mahout's customs before we headed to welcome the elephants back from wandering in the forest. The four retired Elepahants and the Mama and Baby elephants in rehabilitation spend their days wandering through the greens of the forest, doing what Elephants do best- eating. They normally travel in pairs with their best friend and they are followed by elephant trainers called mahouts. The mahouts, both Thai and Burmese, are there to make sure the ellies don't go into farms or knock down too large of trees, they act as guides and shadows.

Let me just say that seeing the Elephant's up close and feeding them was amazing! I was in awe of their size and grace. Everything about them was quite mind blowing. I mean I know I am a wee person, but WOW they are biggins in every way! I was also overjoyed to see these elephants had a twinkle in their eye that wasn't there with the elephants I passed on the road. One can easily see that elephants are emotional animals. Especially these ones that had seen and experienced some pretty harsh things before the were relocated to BEES, and now were given a chance at living more freely. I could tell that the forest life was suiting them well.

In my four night stay with BEES we spent two days alone just wandering with the elephants. When we would spot them we would just sit and watch. I would take pictures and ask all the questions that came to mind, while Emily, Burm and the intern(s) told other elephant stories. In my time I observed that elephants really like to eat all sorts of trees, and baby Elephants like to chase humans around tree roots to see if they want to play (true story and sooo much laughter.)

The wandering alone was great because I felt like I was on a field group at Nature's Classroom just watching elephants, spotting any sort of living thing, and checking out the neat tricks of the local fauna. I really couldn't have asked for a a better experience with the Elephants and mountainous region of Northern Thailand.

Something that I really like about BEES is their support for animals which is met  equally with their support for the local cummunity. The mahouts are not only given a full time job, but also a house and supplemental food on top of their salaray.

They also really focus on giving to the local youth with a mid-week children's day normally focused on teaching English. Despite my love for teaching I was happy that I got to experience a very unique children's day. We hopped into the back of a pickup truck lined with pillows, blankets, and food to head to a hill tribe village to help distribute some donations. The drive out there was absolute increadable! We were literally weaving through the mountains I had been admiring from Pai Canyon. They were so endless and grew more dense and greener as we climbed further and further. The people who saw us western folk in the truck craned their necks watching us and just kept staring. We are pretty sure that they had seen less than a handful of cacasion people in their villiages- so we were seeing the authentic them. Once arriving we had to wait for the kids to get out of school so we followed some locals and Monks to go fishing and explore their very deep cave. Emily, who has lived in Thailand for three years, even said "This is a story to tell! Blindly following monks into the forest!" 

It was totally my type of adventure. We left some people below with their intriguing fishing techniques while the rest of us hiked up the hill to a very dark and very deep cave. I could have been in Lord of the Rings with how endless the cave felt. We admired some carvings in the wall, stalagmites, stalagetites, and some bat dwellings. When I was trying to take a picture I got very excited as a bat started creeping out of hiding to the warm light, and even more excited and spooked when it flew out at my head.

                                 

As we explored deeper and deeper into the cave it got harder and harder to breathe with oxygen levels going down so we headed back and distributed the donations. The women and kids were very excited about the tins of sweets we were offering, yet I still preferred the cave exploration. The ride home was amazing to reflect on how big of a world we live in. Even being from big sky country I think I saw more stars than I have ever seen before.

As you can tell reading this I had a great time with the elephants, I wore I smile day in and day out. These elepahnts  need a the love they can get. If anyone is traveling to Thailand look them (BEES) up, and try NOT to ride and elephant. It may turn into the best adventure of your trip and worth every pretty penny. 

The Land of Smiles: BKK to the North

Asia has been enchanting me since I started day dreaming about the world. Why you may ask?

+ I have had a Buddhist prayer hanging in my room for nearly a decade always wanting to know what it said and more importantly what it meant. Learning about Hinduism, Taoism, and other Eastern religions and history only spiked my interest more. 

+I've got this thing for colors. Cultures of colors draw me in.

+ Native wildlife! Elephanta being the one of the only animals-next to humans- that can show compassion threw me into a love for the enormous animal.

As an experiential leaner I had to jump at the opportunity to cultivate the knowledge and experiences this holiday had to offer.

Upon arriving in Bangkok I was instantly reminded of past travels in Latin America: the smells, the layout, the colors... Only this time I didn't know what the signs said nor what the vendors were saying. After a short explorative run/walk outside my hostel I packed my gear onto my back to explore the temples via river boats with some Thai girls who had worked with my friend Clarence. I couldn't have asked for a better day on no sleep in such a culturally rich part of the country. Lily and Mae guided me to Wat Pho (the home of the large reclining Buddha), Wat Arun (known as the temple reaching to the sky), and a local flower market. The temples themselves were architectural and decorative feats in extremely unique ways. Beautiful and so meaningful for the Monks and Thais who were also getting just as many photo ops of the temples. Yet, what I enjoyed most was lunch and dinner. Being with two locals we found local food stands without a word in English and they ordered me what seemed good. We all shared a variety of noodle, curry, and veggie dishes. The most interesting of this was one dolloped with some brown-ish cubes that are apparently chicken butt....

My second day I was out on the metro trying to find things around the city with my guidebook as companion. After a few other Buddhist exhibitions and meeting up with Lily, we stumbled upon a parade laced with all sorts of Thai dancers outfitted in a variety of tradition dress. Although we didn't stay for the whole parade, we wove through all the groups and captured the moments prior to their smiles exhausting in the extensive crowds of other tourists lining the street

That was a perfect end to my city experience before I headed on an overnight train ride to the North.

The North is more my kind of place. The mountains, trees, and rivers stretch near and far. My first stop was the little town of Pai- nestled right along a river in a valley of mountains. Pai is well known as a little hippie town full of foreigners on motor bikes, with beer and booze flowing, and night markets with all sorts of tasty treats until the wee hours of the morning. For me it was a place to nail my handstands in yoga with a eccentric Thai Hindu, rent a bicyicle, chase sunrises, and drink an unreasonable amount of tea.

My mornings all started with a beautiful sunrise. The first of which I headed up to Wat Phra That Mae Yen- a white Buddha in the middle of the mountain. My walk up there was a bit unnerving with overhearing what I can only hope as tourist police reprimanding some English speaking man and dogs chasing me for a good 500 meters. Upon arrival I was releaved and pleased to stand alone with such an iconic symbol on a hill, only to be joined by a handful of his faithful followers all the way from Bangkok. The monks prayed and blessed the temple with me looking on. After the sun rose over the valley we all descended around the same time and they were taking photos of me. Just as I had some of them atop the temple. Deciding that their photo taking meant I could talk to them I asked them for some portraits and they even joined me in some together- very careful my to touch the lone woman, a really humbling experience for someone like me who is still star struck by any monk walking down the street.

My other mornings were spent watching the sunrise alone from the yoga studio overlooking a mini pond and big peaks and on the back of a motor bike admiring the sun with a newly made friend above waterfalls in the farm fields.

My days were spent on the back of my rented bicycle. I rode the hills by depressing elephant riding camps, past the memorial bridge built after the conflicts between Burma and Thailand, to Pai Canyon where red and white rocks trail out for a beautiful view of the ranges surrounding Pai. With my bike as my vehicle I enjoyed tea overlooking gardens and mountains, to a strawberry farm, ending at a hot springs with some British friends whom had never experienced such a wonder.

Pai was a refreshing place place to be- and somewhere I could have spent much longer having great Chai and coconut milk with the wonderful  people I met. Yet, I had to head to the city of Chang Mai as an outlet for my next travels. Chang Mai is a city full of temples- rumored to be over 300 in the old city inside the moat. I spent a few days chasing sunrises and visiting all the temples appearing at random entrances along all the streets. My favorite of these was Wat (if you haven't caught on, wat means temple) Phra That Doi Sutep- which basically translates to the temple on the hill. I convinced an Irish girl to join me at sunrise and it was the best time to go! The temple was lit in the darkness while the sun rose overlooking the city. Pretty fantastical- despite the shallow layer of smog. 

The north has treated me well and still have more to share about my experience in the jungle with some giant beasts, but that is another blog post entirely!

It is where we go, and what we do when we get there, that tells us who we are.

-Joyce Carol Oats