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The last 4 weeks has taken us thru the northeast...where supposedly only 1% of farangs visit, and landed us in Chiang Mai. I will be staying here for 5 weeks for a Thai Massage Course. I'm definitely enjoying having somewhat of a routine and many new people to hang out with. We sorted our new visas after a short visit to Cambodia, had many exciting food experiences and did our first homestay.
Autthaya and Lopburi areas are covered with ancient ruins with robbed tombs, hidden burial sights and monkeys...
Yes monkeys...now, so far our monkey experience has consisted of the odd one trying to steal our ropes while rock climbing or playing a decoy while their brother grabs the last cold one from the home made eskie. But now, I see monkeys thru a different light. Our short stay in Lopburi changed my opinion on these "sweet, friendly" animals! It may be a "you had to be there" moment...but it was entertaining AS, cause I was there! As we casually stroll the 2 streets of "old Lopburi" one evening, looking for the lone night club, we step around the corner and find ourselves faced with a cute and cuddly monkey. It only deceived us for a moment. Susy tossed her bottle cap at it to deter it from blocking our path(...we were told to throw rocks at them to scare them away, so figured a bottle cap should do the trick)! Oh were we wrong! This monkey stared us down after the bottle cap ricoshayed off its belly onto the ground. And just as I saw my rabies free life flash before my eyes, it lunged at us, hissing with its claws drawn. It was a fast sprint across the street, where an elderly Thai lady had her bamboo stick already drawn to save us! After a short thai-english deliberation we realized the only thing the monkey was interested in were the M&Ms in Susies hand!
Our next wildlife encounter came in the city of Surin. Before I go on, I'll tell you that I've had a lot of luck with predicting when we would see random animals...but I've had no luck in predicting our encounter with Wild Elephants! I just want to see a wild elephant already!
After arriving in Surin, and realizing our hotel is only blocks away from the night market, we were set to find some authentic Isan (northern thailand) cuisine. Other than fried insects, we didn't find much difference from the food in the rest of Thailand. On our walk home we saw something some might say is an unusual sighting. Amongst the evening rush hour traffic was an elephant, standing tall and following all the regular road rules. "Thats cool" we thought, he's just going home from a long days work. It wasn't until we were a bit closer, when we saw the flashing red light attached to its tail! Gives a whole new meaning to "tail light".
Just one more elephant encounter happened while pedal biking around Autthaya. We came across the part of the park where the elephants "earn their keep" by offering rides to tourists. Some how we got caught in the parade of elephants making their loop around the park with Asian tourists on their backs. (tourists who were snapping photos of the 2 girls riding bikes, not the scenery) I wish these elephants had signal lights because it was slow going for a few minutes as it was 2 way elephant traffic on a one way sidewalk, and we were in the middle of it! Head to bum elephants everywhere!!!!
With much research into what we should try to cram in for the last week before school...we decide we should go to the most northeastern part of Thailand and do a homestay in the town of Ban Kham Pia. Knowing there was no direct route to this "out of the way" place, we planned to have a long day of bus riding and transfers to make it to Nakhom Phanom in one day. It started out to be an interesting day as we were entertained on the local Karaoke bus for the first 2 hour leg. On the second bus, the music only got louder. And finally for the third leg, we were looking forward to a quiet bus to enjoy the drive through the mountains. Our dreams didn't quite come true. We were herded onto the last bus to find that there was standing room only, and it was going to be a balancing act on the windy mountain roads to not bump into the gear stick. With our noses plastered agains the front windscreen we were set for the 4 hour drive.
The run in the morning overlooking the Mekong river onto a Laos mountain range, made the whole trip worth while.
Later that day we were back on the bus and off to the homestay. Bunleod was a great host and took us to one of the most incredible temples I've seen yet. Wat Phu Tok is built in, on and around a massive sandstone outcrop. The views were absolutely incredible overlooking the surrounding farming villages and mountains on the horizon. After climbing the numerous stairs to the 7 levels of the temple, we took a nice drive to a waterfall. A short hike in and crossing the river to get to the best tier of the falls, we found ourselves to be celebrities again. I took another tumble trying to get a bit too close, so decided I'd swim Thai style...fully clothed.
I wish we had more time to stay at the homestay, with herds of wild elephants to be seen from tree top platforms, I think I will try and make it back there someday. But with it pouring rain outside the next day our trekking would have to be postponed and we just didn't have an extra day to spare. So we decided to move on. Next stop, Udon Thani.
Now, we did see some of the sights in this small city, but my fondest memories here were watching Thai movies at the cinema while polishing off a pint (or so) of whiskey, glow bowling, and get out danced by a 7 year old boy on DDR at the arcade.
We are now in Chiang Mai, and I am half way thru my 5 week Thai Massage course already! I can't believe how fast time is going.
It's been a great experience thus far. There are 11 amazing people in my class from all walks of life, and every corner of the world. It's really neat to hear peoples stories as to how they got to this point, and to hear what has motivated them to take the course.
I've rather enjoyed our weekend outing with the group, and we have organized a minibus to take 12 of us to Pai for a weekend getaway on Friday.
Susy has had some freedom riding her scooter thru the mountains, and taking Thai cooking classes! I don't mind her practicing her cooking, and she doesn't mind my need to practice my new massage skills..seems like a win win situation.
We've made some new connections for our future travel destinations, and are looking forward to visiting another 5 counties in the next 4 months!
Stay tuned
lots of love
Beth
- comments
Mom Such lifetime experiences. I enjoy the stories. Ttyl
Andrea C Hey Beth, I'm so glad you are having such an amazing time. I would love to see a wild elephant!! :D Talk to you later, watch out for crazy monkeys and say hi to susy for me!!
marlen awesome, kick a monkey in the nuts for me, take pics of before and after though!! have fun, luv ya!
Steph Haha too funny Beth! Sounds like you are having an awesome time! Treetop Platforms sound sooo cool! Love ya lots!