February 16th- Tigers
On the 16th, a Monday, Doug and I planned to visit the "Tiger Kingdom" which was located outside of the city. We weren't completely sure what to expect, but knew we would get to see tigers up close. Doug wanted to see the big guys and I wanted to see the babies (of course). We woke up super early but not on purpose. Our bodies are so messed up from time changes and our sleep schedules are way off their norm. Regardless, we were up, so we decided to get a smoothie at a small cafe near our guesthouse called "The Bear Hug."
After that we got into the back of a make-shift truck taxi and were off to tiger kingdom. No matter what form of transportation we take in Thailand, something funny always seems to happen. We had a pretty steady driver this time. However, about half way through our drive, the driver slammed on his breaks and Doug about broke through into the front seat (smoothie in hand). Once I knew he was okay I laughed (a lot) at him.
After arriving at our location we picked the 3 sizes of tiger we wanted to see: smallest, small, and big cat.
The smallest ones were super cute and we had a fun time playing with them and scratching their bellies.
Next up were the small ones which were way more lively than the little ones. I noticed the bigger in size we approached, the more intimidated I got, but as long as Doug went in so did I (why? I'm not totally sure). The small tigers really didn't seem that small to me. They definitely could have taken me down if they wanted to. One smack of the paw and I'd probably be toast.
There were roughly five tigers in the caged in area with us at a time, along with the people who worked there. There was lots of room for them to run around so we spent a large amount of time watching them wrestle one another and playing with their trainers (I'm not sure what you call the people who take care of them, so that's the word I'll use).
I'll be perfectly honest I had a feeling the tigers were going to be on some heavy sleeping meds. Much to my relief (and not to my relief) they were up playing around and getting their exercise in. The trainer of course told us when to pet them and when to back up (a.k.a when Lydia should hide behind Doug). I mean, goodness, I didn't just go walking up to a tiger and pretend it was a house cat. The small ones were a blast to watch and then it was time for the "Big Cats!"
You know when you get yourself into a situation and right as the scenario begins you think, "hmm... This probably wasn't a smart thing to do.." Well that's not exactly how I felt. It was more like..."What the heck are we doing?! Why does Doug always get me in these situations!? Ugh, crap... I'm gonna get hurt."
Luckily we didn't get hurt. We put our lives in the trainers' hands and apparently they knew what they were doing.
When the big tigers got playful with one another I wanted out of there. They weren't as lively as the others, but were still roaming around quite a bit.
Looking back, this probably wasn't our best decision but it was an experience without a doubt!
We had fun and were pleased to see that the tigers had plenty of roaming around space and good relationships with their trainers. I felt uncomfortable, not because I thought they were going to come after me (although I do think I look more appetizing than Doug) but because they are just so HUGE! Needless to say, my dad wasn't too pleased when I sent him the pics later on...whoops!
That evening we decided to meander through the city again and were lucky to stumble across a temple conducting monk prayer. It was quite a peaceful thing to witness- the sort of thing that instantly calms your pulse. The dedication the monks possess continues to blow my mind.
It's fascinating that in a city with such frequent chaos, there can be such a state of peace. The diversity in Chiang Mai is incredible. One minute we are walking past prostitutes and the next, past monks. It may seem confusing but everyone just does there own thing here and I never notice any pointed fingers or judgement. I also don't speak Thai, so I could be missing something!
Side note on the monks: Doug and I learned during our monk chat that monks go to temple at least 3x a day and that they only eat 2x a day. They walk around the city those two times and people come from their homes to give them food. If people don't come, then they don't eat. Also once they become a novice (basically like a student monk) they can no longer live with their families.
February 17th- Cooking
The 17th consisted of Doug and I taking a Thai cooking class at the Siam Rice School of cooking. Doug and I are major foodies so this was a blast for us!
There was a group of about ten of us in total. In all, we stemmed from: The USA, London, Australia. Singapore, Canada, and Thailand. First we started at the market where our instructor educated us on the background of all the ingredients we would be cooking with.
Next we headed for the kitchen and put on our aprons. Each of us had previously chosen 7 dishes we would make individually from a menu.
My personal menu consisted of: sweet and sour stir fry, hot and creamy soup, chicken pad Thai, red curry paste, green mango salad, massaman curry with cinnamon, and warm bananas in coconut cream.
Doug's menu consisted of: chicken and coconut soup, cashew chicken stir fry, spring rolls, red curry paste, red pineapple curry, drunken noodles, and sticky rice with young coconut.
....Is your mouth watering yet?...
I'm so happy Doug and I did the class together because that meant we got to try 14 different dishes! They were nothing compared to my mom's cooking, but still super delicious!
Each dish was a different experience for my tastebuds. It got exciting when Doug had to cook his drunken noodles. Hence, the FIRE! He about lost his eyebrows! I recorded the whole thing and again could not stop laughing. I don't think he knew what he was getting into!
Our curry pastes were fun to make as well. We basically chopped a lot of ingredients into really fine pieces and then ground them up, careful not to touch our eyes due to all the chili peppers!
It was so much fun to use fresh ingredients and to smell the variety in the seasonings. It was the perfect day and we had such a great time.
Needless to say we were absolutely stuffed when the class was over and spent the remainder of the afternoon in a food coma.
Not to worry though, we got the recipe book! We are hoping to replicate some of the things we made once we get home to our own kitchens :) I'm sure our families will appreciate us taking the class.
February 18th- Elephants
On the 18th we booked a last minute adventure to go hang out with some elephants.
We originally wanted to go to "The Elephant Nature Park," but unfortunately it was completely booked through the end of February. Doug however did a bunch of research and found another elephant park that was nice as well. Sometimes elephants aren't treated well in Thailand so we didn't want to go to a park that didn't support the health and well being of the elephants. We've found that in some cases the parks are geared more towards the tourists rather than the elephants. Regardless, we ended up finding a nice park where we were able to feed, ride, bathe and learn about the elephants.
We had a great time bonding with the elephants and hearing their stories. They are amazing creatures.
The ones that we interacted with were gentle giants really and loved eating bananas! One of the mothers had just had a baby so we got to see her as well! It's unfortunate that elephants are often taken advantage of here in Thailand. If you ever do go to a park, I suggest you do your research prior too.
Moreover, we had a good experience and were completely baffled at how sweet such massive creatures can be.
We especially loved bathing our elephant (whom I named Lady).
She loved getting her back scrubbed and we enjoyed her splashing us with water from her trunk.
It was a very eye-opening day and one we were thankful to be a part of.
February 19th - Bye bye Chiang Mai
The 19th was a big-time day of travel! We were leaving Chiang Mai and making our way towards Koh Samui, one of Thailand's southern islands.
Our day started off with Doug accidentally agreeing to pay 150 baht (way more than necessary-oops!) for us to take a taxi to the airport. Again- we do not speak Thai and when I say taxi- I mean a random car with the actual word "taxi" no where to be seen on the vehicle! So there we were...in a random's car hoping for our lives that he was really taking us to the airport. It was sketchy! He did end up taking us to the airport (phew).
Next we boarded a plane to Surat Tani and left Chiang Mai!
Straight off the plane we immediately caught the last bus to the ferry docks! We had hardly any time to spare and Doug almost didn't make it on the same bus as me because he couldn't find room for our bag! Can you imagine if we had left him? Oh my goodness!
After a long sweaty bus ride we made it to the docks. We then proceeded to get through an impatient crowd of people and into the ferry! After that it was a ride in a van with a crazy driver who loved his gas pedal a little too much. We had him take us to a guesthouse that we hadn't even booked yet! Thankfully the guesthouse did have a room available so we stayed there that night. After one heck of a day we had finally arrived in Koh Samui! We were staying at a guesthouse called "The Lucky Mother" (I don't know why it's named that) and we were tired.
Despite the hectic day traveling, Koh Samui has been pretty phenomenal. The sun is hot here and we are soaking it in :)
We've currently been here 4 days and Doug has already made friends with a monkey!
I'll fill you all in about our time here in the next post.
Thanks so much for reading and have a beautiful day :)
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