Gentle Giants!

So we just got to the internet cafe, after leaving everyone at our guesthouse, watching the superbowl! Pretty funny that it is broadcast around the globe - we don't see many Thais watching the game - their big game was last night, it was Thailand v. Singapore in a soccer match. The previous game (last week) ended in a major controversy when a referee's call threatened to throw the countries into political turmoil.

Chiang Mai is bustling and coming from Nong Khai it took us a day to get accostomed to the traffic, people and all the Westerners! It sounds odd, but Julie and I were used to not seeing many Westerners, and if we did, we usually knew them by name or at least by face. Anyway, we had a slight debaucle when we arrived at our guesthouse ($9/night) around 9pm the first night and we get to our room and there were two single beds!! We checked out another hotel - but it was a dive (sort of like a hosptial, with white walls, no windows - but very dirty), so we went back to the guesthouse and pushed the single beds together (not necessarily the most comfortable night we have had!)...our guesthouse is run by two fellas from San Diego - actually they last lived in Hawaii (Auntie Kathy and Uncle Bob, they may have been your neighbors because they lived in Waimea for a year! We are experiencing the utmost hospitality from them.) They sold their place in Hawaii and moved to Thailand! Anyway, this guesthouse used to be a garage - but they spent a lot of time refurbishing the place and it is great. (at least I (Ryan) think so...the jury's still out as far as Julie is concerned - :)). After our first breakfast we had a trek and a full day of sightseeing planned.

We went on a 1 day TREK (insert Julie's comment: opted for this rather than the camping and 2 day, 1 night since Ry has a little cold, and well, I lucked out of the camping!!!) We were picked up by a mini van, a driver (Mr. Arm) and our tour guide (Tommy). The name of the tour was Mr. Whiksy Tour (insert Julie's comment: yes, that's the way they spell Whisky, we didn't want to offend them by correcting their spelling!) We then headed out to the mountains and began the trek. . .first stop, elephant trekking. We ride up to the elephant "camp" - a place on the side of the road that looks little more than a pit stop. We are then told to get on the elephants with our guide...there was an odd man out, so we offered for him (a man from Beijing) to get on our elephant - very cosy! Julie, myself, Dong and the guide got on the elephant. The elephant was enormous(a gentle giant, indeed)! It lumbered along at a very slow pace and every now and then the guide would hit it with a tool that looked like a pick axe (I continued to reassure Julie that this probably didn't hurt the elephant, but I wasn't so sure)...regardless, we continued along for about an hour, when we came back to square one and the elephant ride came to an end (we also exhausted our food supply of bananas and sugar cane, which we would feed to the elephant about every 45 seconds when it would put his trunk in our faces - without the food I don't think the elephant would have budged.)

Then it was off to trek through the national forest. We came to a Karin tribal village and were told to go "explore the village." It felt a little wierd "exploring" the village because you felt like you were intruding on their lives as you walked past people doing laundry and going the bathroom...we learned that the government provides the village with raw materials to make clothing and other souvenoirs to sell to tourists, in an effort to get the tribes to cease their opium growth and trade. We felt the village was a bit contrived and our thoughts were confirmed when our guide told us that all the villages see so many tourists per day, that there really isn't an 'authentic village'...and if a tour tells you there is - they are lying!

We continued hiking to a waterfall and onto another village (Hmong) - which was interesting. We were told that the Hmong are nmadic peoples and that every few years they pack up their bleongings and homes and move to anothe area (the government provides them with enough space to do so).

Finally we arrive at the Bamboo Rafting. We were told to expect to get wet and it not being a particularly warm day, we were a bit weary at first. Literally, these are bamboo poles tied together by what looked like a piece of string, and we were told to stand up and balance ourselves, barefoot, on the raft. This sounded a bit dangerous, but when told that one of our group members could not swim and he WAS going to do it, we kept our mouths shut! So, 4 of us and a guide began down the river...little did we know that we were a spectacle of sorts because on the banks of the river Thais sat and picknicked watching the foreignors ("farang") attempt to keep their balance and stay dry. It was good fun and no one from our raft fell in.

Last night we went to the Sunday Night Market which featured local arts, crafts and food. This Market was unbelievable and made other markets, both here and back home, look small. It encompassed about 10-12 square blocks and probably had about 100K people (Thais and foreignors, alike). It was great and Julie and I savoured the sights and smells, even indulging in some local flavors for the ridiculously cheap prices of about 30 cents.

We are having a great time and will be heading to Vietnam tomorrow! We are having a relaxing day today as I am recovering from a cold and Julie is all shopped out (yeah, right!).