Weak and tired, we make our way back to the Banger. We pay twice as much to take a “VIP” bus overnight- this way we get bigger seats and a bathroom on board. It is worth it! We had planned to head to Angkor Wat (Cambodia) from here...we gathered information from several travel agencies and began planning. We have concluded that we have nothing left. No more drive. No energy. We are tired after walking short distances, our bowels remain completely unpredictable. We write off Angkor, the hassle of the visa, the 12 hour ride on a mud road, the landmines...we just aren’t up for the challenge and use our better judgement not to go. We will get there someday!!
I can let go of Angkor, but I hold tight to Chiang Mai! We take a 14 hour overnight train ride (equipped with bathrooms) and arrive to Thailands second largest city. Chiang Mai doesn’t feel like a city of 2 million, there are no skyscrapers and few modern buildings. We quickly find a hotel and across the street is a little cafe with a wide selection of international food. I find french toast with the option of ‘maple syrup’ or honey. I was soooo excited!! Although the syrup wasn’t the real deal, it was a taste of home :)
I really wanted to see some wildlife here in Thailand- I mean the cockroaches are really cute and all but I wanted elephants! So, we hired a car and driver for a day and headed out to see wildlife, but not in the wild. Chiang Mai has a bunch of “camps” or “schools” for animals. I don’t know where the “reserves” or “sanctuaries” are- I’m sure they must exist somewhere, but with limited time we are driven to the camps. First stop: Elephants. I think elephants are one of the neatest creatures! The size is unreal and the dexterity with the trunk is fascinating! You can’t even hear them coming- they are able to walk silently! The only thing I don’t like are the eyes, they have these beady yellow jungle eyes. There are over 70 elephants at the camp. They used to be used as working animals in Thailand but that industry has diminished. Now, its all about tourism. At home we would never feed animals (only squirrels and whiskey jacks) but this is Thailand and there are signs encouraging visitors to “please feed the elephants” and little stands selling bunches of banana’s and sugar cane. I guess it helps with the upkeep? So of course I’m going to feed them and Steve buys us some snacks for them. Steve is a logical thinker and prepares the food away from the corral of hungry elephants. This is smart, during the visit we watch as elephants steal entire bunches of banana’s out of the hands of unsuspecting feeders! They just shove a whole bunch right in their mouths! Its crazy! The bananas are smaller here, but the bunches are made up of at least a dozen bananas! We watch the trainers wash the elephants in a river and then there is an elephant parade/performance. This is where the elephant visit gets weird. Eating and bathing are natural kinds of things, but seeing elephants do trained things is strange. They play soccer and throw darts, they paint abstract art, they bow and wave...its neat to see how intelligent and trainable they are, but at the same time so completely unnatural. We get photos with the elephants- they smell like wet rags- and we say good bye.
Next stop: Monkey School. Although we’ve seen many monkeys during our trip we choose this stop because the other option was the snake center. Steve absolutely hates snakes so we went to see the “tree rats”. I saw some tiny monkeys in Ko Samui that looked like little stuffed animals and I hoped to see some of them here. But the only ones of this breed I saw were adults in a cage, I hadn’t realized the ones in the south were babies and that made me sad to wonder what happened with the mothers...I thought the elephants were trained to be unnatural but the monkeys were far more out there! They put on a show where the monkeys do human things like lift weights, ride bikes, play basket ball...all the while on a leash. These monkeys looked like little tiny people dressed in monkey suits. They ask for a volunteer from the audience, so I go. They tie ropes on my wrists and the monkey comes to untie me. They say “don’t make eye contact, he doesn’t like that” so then I was nervous. The monkey had soft wet fingers and was quick to untie me. Later he sat on my lap for a photo- they say “don’t touch him, he might pee on you” so then I was nervous. There were at least a dozen other monkeys at the school, sadly they were chained to posts in the ground and just ran in circles. There were signs explaining “monkeys can be dangerous and therefore must be chained, we untie them at 5pm” but I think it was a poor set up. I bought banana’s and tossed one to each monkey. Although the monkeys appeared ready to catch bananas three of them were so out of sorts or lacking hand and eye coordination that the tossed banana smacked them right on their heads. We saw some three week old babies in a small cage- no mothers in site...we didn’t like this place. Although monkeys can be brats and jump into your rooftop cafe and steal stuff off the table and run away, I would prefer to see them anywhere but in this school.
Final stop: Tiger Kingdom. The tiger kingdom seems like a nice place. We have lunch on a patio that overlooks a tiger den housing 5 large tigers. The tigers are playing in a pond, sleeping in the grass, and posing with tourists. Thats right, you can hang out in a tiger den here. Apparently the health and safety regulations regarding predatory animals are different here- or maybe non-existent. Either way, I am ready to take advantage of this rare opportunity while Steve watches from the safety of the balcony. I’m not ready to visit the rather super sized kitties, and Steve doesn’t want me going anywhere near them, so I head for the little ones. The ‘kittens’ are 5 months old and are already around the 200lbs mark. Its mid afternoon and the baby tigers are sleepy from the heat -phew! I was feeling confident before going in the den, but when I was actually in a fenced area with a pack of 5 brother tigers I began to feel a little vulnerable. There were tiger keepers in there with me of course, but we all know kitties like to play- and play can be quick and unpredictable! Anyway, there was an Aussie working there, I asked how he got a job here (ie: qualifications?) and he said “oh I just showed up and they hired me- do you want some work?” Yikes. The tigers were amazing! They are beautiful! The fur was coarse and their paws were bigger than my hands. The sleepiest tiger in the bunch was named Oliver! The Aussie grabbed Oliver by the front paws and slid him into my lap. Apparently a tiger’s body temperature is 2 degrees higher than humans- so little Oliver was one heck of a heating pad! This experience was awesome and absolutely unforgettable!
Later that night I enjoy some lemon meringue pie and Steve has a peanut butter cookie at the cafe, then we wander around the night market. I buy a couple necklaces and a teak elephant- which doesn’t have beady yellow eyes :) Our time here was short, tiring, and wonderful! Only three days in Chaing Mai and we are back on the train for Bangkok.
No comments:
Post a Comment