Thailand Part IV: Chiang Mai, Day 3 (Tigers!!)

After sleeping for what must have been over 14 hours, I was feeling better, although still somewhat hesitant to each much.  Still, it was on with our plans for the day--there wasn't much time to waste! Luckily we had a Starbucks not far from our hotel, so I got a muffin to test out the whole eating food thing.  Yes, I feel somewhat guilty that I was in one of the countries with the most famous cuisines in the world, yet ate at Starbucks.  But somehow I don't think jumping right back into Thai food would have been prudent.  

After a quick breakfast, we found a tuk-tuk to take us to the Tiger Kingdom.  I would say two main things come to mind for many people when they come to Chiang Mai: elephants and tigers. Having already taken care of the former the day before, it was time to see some tigers!  For those of you who haven't already seen my facebook pictures, Tiger Kingdom is a place where you can get up and personal with tigers of all ages. You can decide which size tigers you want to see, but Megan and I decided that since we will probably only get once chance in our lives to hang out with tigers, we should see all the sizes--small, medium, large, and babies.  YOLO!

The tigers at Tiger Kingdom aren't chained down at all like they are at some other similar type of destinations.  I didn't come across any incidents of tiger attacks at the Tiger Kingdom (there are instances at another place in Thailand), but the tigers definitely aren't drugged (as they also allegedly are at the other place).  The tigers are handled and trained from a very young age and given plenty of food so they aren't looking to eat any people. Before you enter the enclosures with the tigers they give you a few simple directions to approach the tigers from behind and not to touch their heads. Besides that, you're not really given a lot of other instructions. Of course, you sign your life away before you enter the park, but I guess that's to be expected. Nothing like beginning your day by crossing your fingers you don't get eaten by a big cat.

When it was out turn to enter with the small tigers, my initial reaction was "these are the small tigers?!"  They seemed huge.  And I was incredibly aware of the fact that if they wanted to, those "little" guys could demolish me.  The tiger's trainers of course had absolutely no reservations and instructed us into a number of strange poses.  As Megan said "I never thought I'd hear someone telling me to put my face on a tiger."

The more time we spent with the tigers, the more at ease I felt, but I never lost sight of the fact that I was surrounded by animals who could do some serious damage to me if they so wished.  We especially started to feel nervous when the tigers would start to play with each other or the trainers would encourage them to play. Having grown up with cats, I know that if you get them into a playful mood they get worked up and are likely to playfully attack you.  I actually found myself thinking quite a bit of my cats at home (yes, I know tigers are just a little different from domestic cats), but when they had us do things like touch their bellies or play with their tails, all I could think of was how my cats at home would have swatted me away (well, maybe Baxter wouldn't)...but still, it felt counterintuitive to all of my cat-handling habits that have been formed throughout my life.

The small tigers...that didn't seem so small at first. 

so beautiful!

I love this picture!

"OK, lay down on the tiger"  Wait...did someone really tell me to lay on a TIGER?!

Medium tiger

Nevertheless, being at the Tiger Kingdom was an amazing experience, even if at times it felt like the strangest photo shoot I'll ever have in my life.  But tigers are truly extraordinarily beautiful animals, even more so when you see them up close.  Tigers have always been my favorite animals to see at the zoo (yes, in my awkward middle school years I was really obsessed with animals and had a period where I wanted to be a vet/zookeeper.  I loved big cats so much that I spent my money on a book all about tigers.  What kind of middle schooler spends the little Christmas money they have on a book about tigers? THIS GIRL).  Anywho, clearly I never went down the vet/zookeeper road in life, but I still enjoyed all the animal interaction we got in Thailand-it fulfilled some of my long lost childhood dreams.

Love that beautiful face!

And this would be when they told us to make a mustache with the tiger's tail.

A little freaked out by the fact that my head out easily fit in his mouth...

Our time with the small, medium, and large tigers was pretty similar, but we saved the best for last--the baby tigers!  These guys (and girls) were TOO CUTE! I mean, how could you not love those little faces?  They were pure bundles of energy, but we got to feed a bottle to one of them, and then as we posed for some pictures with one, another guy jumped right up on our backs, creating some of my favorite candid pictures ever.  Just so cute.  I really wish I could have taken one home with me!

Again, not my idea. 

Oh, hey there!

I still look at the pictures from that day and can't believe that it really happened. It was really cool, and I'm glad we went and spent the extra money to see all the tigers and to get a photographer for the large and baby tigers.  Sometimes it's worth it to spend the extra money and go all out.

After we got back to our hotel, we took a little break (I was feeling fine, but I still felt really tired).  Once it got closer to evening we headed out to the night market.  Chiang Mai has a very well-known night market, so we were pumped to finally do some SHOPPING!

McDonalds, Thai-style.  Note: don't worry, we didn't actually eat in Mcdonalds while in Thailand.

Vendors, vendors everywhere!

Banana pancake.  Made with about 2 tons of butters, but I was told it was a must-try in Thailand! It was worth it!

Delicious and super cheap smoothies made with real, fresh fruit! YUM!

And shop we did.  You could buy just about anything at the market, and of course it was CHEAP!  What's not to love?  We bought plenty of souvenirs, got some banana pancakes and smoothies, caught a tuk-tuk back to the hotel, and called it a night.

Another successful day in Chaing Mai, if I do say so myself.

Thailand Part III: Chiang Mai, Day 2 (Elephants!!)

After waking up with a sickness, I was naturally immediately concerned about our plans to go to the elephant park in the morning.  Out of all the things we had planned for our trip, it was the day I was most excited for.  I couldn't be sick.

Still, anyone who travels in Southeast Asia knows that food borne illness is anything but an unlikely occurrence. I hoped that with a little more sleep I would wake up and be OK for the day.  But then Megan's alarm went off and I knew I wasn't OK.  I felt lightheaded, weak, and really not prepared to spend my day playing with elephants.  

But I wasn't about to give up and miss the day as a whole...I blame the stubborn German in me for that one (sometimes I really am my father's daughter). I was still sick to my stomach, but I somehow managed to take one of the most miserable showers of my life and get myself somewhat ready for the day.  We were getting picked up at 8:15, and at about 8:12 I was sick again.  TMI? Sorry.

I looked at Megan and didn't quite know what to do.  She suggested we ask if we could reschedule.  But we already had things we needed to do our next day, so I didn't want to try to push it back and throw the rest of our plans off schedule.  We just didn't have enough time in Chiang Mai, and who knows if they even could have accommodated us the next day.

So what did I do?  I went outside and got into the van.  Of course, out of all the people in our group, we were the first people they picked up, which meant an extra long ride for us.  I sat there continually eating mints (the only things that ever settles my stomach when I'm sick...not sure why) and praying to God to somehow miraculously get well enough for the day's activities.

I had a moment where I told Megan I didn't think I could do it.  I was contemplating my options--either get out of the van then, or wait until we got to the park and then try to get a taxi back to the hotel from there.  But I waited a few minutes, and my prayers must have been answered because somehow along the lengthy ride along Thailand's back roads, I started to feel OK.

By the time we got there I really thought I was going to be able to do it.  And I did.  I didn't feel great that day, but I wasn't sick, and for that I'm truly thankful.

The elephant park we made reservations with was Baan Chang Elephant Park.  This park takes in elephants that were previously used in other industries such as logging (I never knew this was common, but it is) or the elephant shows that are common throughout Thailand.  Elephants in these shows are often made to paint, dance, or do other gimmicky things.  At Baang Chan it's clear that the elephants are well-taken care of and live all-around comfortable lives. 

When we arrived at the park we were given clothes to change into, then we gathered with our group and got to feed the elephants.  It was pretty cool to get to be so close to the elephants--they have way more hair than I ever imagined. We also loved how they could eat a whole bunch of bananas at once.  They eat A LOT!

Feeding the elephant sugarcane

After we fed the elephants, we gathered with our group and learned how to get on the elephants.  After we all mastered that move, we learned a few of the commands to direct the elephants (straight, turn, stop).  After we all had a chance to practice, it was time for lunch.

Our group's leader called this elephant Lady Gaga because of her long eye lashes.  Too funny!

Oh hey, I'm on an elephant!

I didn't eat much at lunch, mostly because I didn't know what my body's reaction to food would be, but I ate a little rice as we chatted with some of the other members of our group.

After lunch we all met up again to get assigned to an elephant to ride for the afternoon.  After that, we got on our elephant and we were on our way! It was quite amazing to be on an elephant riding through the back woods of Thailand.  Megan and I kept asking ourselves "Is this for real?"  When we met freshman year of high school we definitely never in a million years would have guessed that we'd be riding an elephant in Thailand, but that just goes to show how awesome life's unpredictable moments can be.  

Our view as we rode the elephant...amazing!

We stopped halfway through our ride and got some elephant kisses. If you can't tell by my face, it felt really weird!

There we are! Just riding an elephant in Thailand.

After we rode for about an hour we reached our final destination for our last activity...bathing! The elephants all got into the water like it was the most refreshing thing ever.  The water was cold, but good thing we had our bathing suits on because we got soaked! The elephant's mahouts thought it was funny to target Megan and me, so just about every time we turned around the elephants were squirting water at us.  I was freezing, but seriously, when else in my life am I ever going to be squirted with water by an elephant?

Giving our awesome elephant a bath!

Notice all the elephants in the water behind us...so cool!

After we finished bathing the elephants, we headed back to the main part of the camp to get cleaned up before they brought us back to our hotel.

When we got home I was totally wiped.  I took a shower and laid down in bed and instantly fell asleep.  I slept and slept, but woke up at one point, at which I talked to Megan for a while and acknowledged that I should probably get up and eat something, but I just didn't feel like I could even move. Never mind the fact that there was nothing I could think of that even seemed appetizing to me.  

So I slept.  And I slept until at least 8 the next morning.  I actually woke up one more time and was sick again, but thankfully that was the last time.  

When I got back to Korea and told my friend I got sick he said "Yeah it's your first time traveling around Asia.  Of course you got sick!"  And actually, I should have known it was going to happen, especially given the fact that I tend to have a weak stomach anyway (ok, if you know me you know that's the understatement of the century).  But I should have been more prepared, because actually it was one of the millions of pre-travel thoughts that raced through my mind from time to time.  Needless to say, next time I travel I will be more prepared, not that I'm sure any medicine can ever really protect you from that kind of illness. All in all, I'm really just thankful that I was well enough to participate in that day because it was really an awesome experience.  

Thailand Part II: Chiang Mai, Day 1

We got to the train station in Bangkok pretty early.  Our train didn't leave until the evening, so we got lunch and spent a few hours hanging around and waiting.

Once we got on the train, we found our room for the night. We had four beds in our room, Megan and I had two, and then a couple from China had the other two.  They didn't speak a ton of English, but were friendly and of course wanted to take a picture with us the next morning before we arrived at Chiang Mai.

We had dinner on the train and ordered two beers, which we thought would be regular sized...but surprise! They were huge beers.  But it's not like we had much else to do, so we just spent the night chatting and drinking beer, which was A-okay with us.  I didn't sleep too well that night, mostly because the air conditioning was FREEZING and all we had were super thin blankets.

Our beds on the train.  People come around and make all the beds a little while into the ride. 

We weren't exactly expecting to drink THAT much beer....but you don't have to twist our arms.

There are curtains that go all the way around the beds so that you have privacy while you sleep.  

After our not-so-restful night's sleep, we finally made it to Chaing Mai and were instantly bombarded by a million taxi drivers who wanted to take us to our hotel.  I'm pretty sure we were MASSIVELY ripped off, but at that point we were just ready to get to our next hotel and take a shower. And besides, being ripped off in Thailand still doesn't equate to much money in US dollars.

Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long to check into our hotel.  After showering and catching up with all of our interneting, we headed out to do some exploring in Chiang Mai.

Our hotel in Chiang Mai was great....and so inexpensive!

During our first afternoon we made it to a few temples.  I had seen a number of temples in the distance throughout our traveling, but seeing them up close was naturally a much more powerful experience.  I've seen a number of Buddhist temples in Korea already, but the temples in Thailand are quite different in a number of ways.  The temples in Korea are beautifully and intricately painted, primarily with red and green colors. However, the temples in Thailand are full of orange colors and there is GOLD, shimmer, and shine at every turn.  

So much detail at every turn...it's amazing! 

Buddhist monks in the distance.

We saw SO MANY Buddhas over the course of our trip!

Temples. mountains, palm trees, and a setting sun.  I love Chiang Mai!

Afternoon coffee break! 

It was really interesting being in a country that's primary religion is Buddhism.  While there are Buddhists in Korea, it's by no means the main religion.  Driving around Thailand there are temples everywhere, just as there are churches everywhere in America. You also can frequently see the monks walking around town in their orange robes--at the train station in Bangkok we even saw a section of seats reserved for monks.  It's obvious that Buddhism is a huge part of Thailand's identity, and if nothing else, the amazing detail in the temples shows just how important this religion is to this country's heritage.  I can't even imagine how much time and money had to go into creating each temple.  It's really astounding.  

After walking around quite a bit, we rewarded ourselves with some coffee, and eventually headed back for some dinner.  I had some delicious Thai iced tea and curry for dinner, all for the equivalent of a few dollars.

The delicious dinner, which turned out to be a terrible mistake. 

We had an early night because the next morning we were scheduled to be picked up at 8:15 for a day at the elephant park. Of all of our plans for vacation, I was most excited for our day with the elephants. I had been eagerly awaiting that day since we scheduled it a few weeks prior, and at last the time had almost come.

Everything was great....until I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and knew something wasn't right. I was sick.