Beth and I had a great time in phuket scootering around the island and relaxing on the beach. We even managed a day of diving (3 dives) Pictures to follow.
P.S. I added a second video below from the elephant conservation centre in Lampang
Sunday is our last day in Chiang Mai – to anyone considering a visit to Thailand I’d have to say Chiang Mai is a must see. The nature here is so beautiful and the chance to see some of the animal up close as we did with the elephants is amazing. I missed seeing the north when I was here the first time and I’m glad I made it back this time.
Off to Phuket now for some sun and recreation!!
Check out below and in the last post for some videos you can click to watch!!
More Chaing Mai pictures
Elephant video
[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-2995775964448572157]
From the 10th Beth and I went to Lampang an hour southwest of Chiang Mai to the Thailand Elephant conservation center. We had signed up for a 3 day mahout (elephant driver) training course. It was an amazing 3 days we started early learning to give about 12 of the 60 commands that the elephants understand. We also participated in 2 of the 4 daily shows for the public – demonstrating the training techniques and the logging skills of the elephants.
After a days work we when with our mahouts to take the elephants up into the mountains of the park to leave the elephants in the jungle overnight where they can sleep and forage.
At 6AM we trekked back on foot to the jungle to retrieve our elephants and bring them back for bathing.
Click Below to watch a video of me washing my elephant in the morning
[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-1438794899849154315]
[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-2995775964448572157]
Our last day in Bangkok Sunday the 7th, I started to get a little sick with travellers sickness and started hitting the drugs to keep it at bay. In the morning we went to see Jim Thompson’s house which is a beautiful house and gardens in the old Thai style – Jim Thompson himself is a bit of an enigma as he was a former OSS (CIA) agent and he disappeared mysteriously and was never found. In the evening around 7PM we left for Chiang Mai in the north aboard a night sleeper train. For me it wasn’t the most comfortable journey but I still enjoyed it.
After the Flower market we had breakfast at 6AM on Khao San Rd which is the backpacker mecca of Bangkok full of shops and guesthouses and all might restaurants. We wandered through some early morning markets and visited What Pho which has the temple of the reclining Buddha. We went back to the hotel to rest our feet and hang out by the pool (first hotel pool in all of Bangkok – and site of the first scuba training in Thailand)
So my flight was uneventfull beyond the usual minor delays and the brutal 20 odd hours sitting in the same position.
I checked into a hotel near the airport as Beth’s flight didn’t arrive until 10:30 AM the next morning (for those I didn’t tell – she booked seperatley as she was staying longer and I couldn’t get the same flight cheaply).
We spent the first day trying to stay up and checking into our hotel- The Atlanta bangkok- it’s cute little guest house with all the trappings from when it was built in the 50’s. Perfect on a budget – $25 CDN for an aircon room with ensuite – cheap and cheerful as they say. We had a bit of a wander around and some lunch/dinner. Around 3PM I was dead tired from the jet lag and we went back to the hotel for a “nap” which turned into a 12 hour sleep we got up and went out around 4AM to see the night flower market described in several guide books. This is where the whole city gets it’s fresh flowers for the day – amazing place and we where the only foreigners for miles I’m sure.
OK so I’m a moderate success at a few of things – life, career, love, etc.. But Blogging is not one of them. We’ve been haiving so much fun that we are completely knackered at the end of a day and I (Chris) don’t have the inclination to light up the laptop or even pick up a pen to wirte down my thoughts. I keep telling myself there is a time coming up which will be slow and allow for some refelction to collect my thoughts on all that we done so far – but for now I have pictures. (click on the photos at the bottom right to see the flickr site) or go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/bubblemakers/
Location Ottawa airport 12:30 PM waiting to board flight AC189 to Vancouver… Over the past few months I’ve read a few blogs – specifically travel blogs and espicially me-go.com about a girl in the US who is taking her second whack at travelling around the world. Now that I’ve started my own blog I’ve found it hard to force myself to update it with any kind of frequency. I was planning on writing witty anicdotes about the planning and packing stages – but here it is the trip has started and I’m writing this in an airport. Well, basically I have no time – and this is from someone who sits in front of a computer all day (working very hard I might add -between power failures and wiring misshaps- Hi Mike K. and Dave H.!). Maybe it’s the nature of travel that gives travelling bloggers the time to collect thier thoughts or more that likely it’s thier desire to have a connection with friends and family at home that pushes them to update. I know when I went to Thailand in 2002 pre-Blog universe I put together a Yahoo group and had friends and family subscribe to it as a way of sending a news letter out to those interested to tell them how my trip was going. I will endeavour to wirte something at least once every two days on this trip and post those entries whenever an internet connection presents itself – Although the $10 a day wireless at the ottawa airport is alittle too pricey for me right now – I’ll save up this entry to post once we have arrived or perhaps during our layover in Vancouver.
