Thailand Map

I made this today to show everyone where we've been in Thailand.

Key:
House: Home
Triangle: National Park camped
Hikers: National Park visited
Marker: City
Marker: Historical Park
Line: Bus
Line: Train
Line: Motorbike


View Thailand in a larger map

Birthday Bliss at Si Nan National Park

Last weekend was our friend Tristan's birthday and what better way to spend it than exploring another one of Nan Province's national parks?? We didn't have school on Friday, so Thursday after our classes were done Ethan and I took off for Nan city. The park we were headed to was about an hour from there, so we decided we would leave Friday to do some recon at the park and meet everyone there on Saturday.

Sometime during the day Thursday Ethan spoke to a Thai friend of ours about getting a bamboo tattoo from a monk. The friend told Ethan where to go and even said he would go with us if Ethan wanted to go that night. This seems pretty impulsive of him, but trust me...he has been thinking about it for a while now. Anyway, he decided he wanted to do it, so after we got to our guesthouse our Thai friend, Benz and another friend Katie met up with us to go to the temple. Getting a bamboo tattoo is the traditional way to get a tattoo in Thailand. Instead of a tattoo gun, which is a set of very fine needles, to push the ink into the skin, they use a piece of bamboo (1-2 feet long) with a needle at the end. It seems like it wouldn't look good and that it would be hard to get really detailed tattoos with just a piece of bamboo, but that is definitely not the case. Obviously, the detail depends on how skilled the person doing the tattooing is and what the tattoo is supposed to look like. Ethan got his tattoo by a monk, but you can get them in normal tattoo shops too. Anyway, we had to wait around a while at the temple for the monk to return from whatever he was doing, but once he got back and Ethan decided what he wanted the tattoo process only took about 20 minutes. The inscription says "good luck" "prosperity" and "protection from evil spirits" - at least that is what we were told it says. Let's hope it's true!

Wat Chiang Rai just south of Nan. Thanks, Benz.

After we were done we went out for dinner and I finally got one of the things I've wanted since we got here - a stuffed Stitch (from the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch). I had one in high school, but it was tragically taken from me (a story I'd rather not recall) and when I saw that they had them here we made it our goal to find a small one for relatively cheap. I can't take any credit for finding it though because Ethan went out while I was napping and found it for me. (E- Skye is extremely picky when it comes to her stuffed animals and I think I failed on her birthday present stuffed animal (sorry Sanook) so I scoped out the little bugger, but waited to buy it until it got Skye's approval.) So Ethan got a tattoo and I got a stuffed animal - Happy Early Valentines Day to us!

Friday morning we got breakfast and headed out to Na Noi - the town at the base of Si Nan National Park. It didn't take very long to get there for which we were both thankful - our butts appreciated it the most. We got some lunch in town then headed up to the park. The park was also not very far away, which was good and bad. I was kind of hoping it would be higher up in the mountains because in the last two weeks the temperature here has soared into the 100s. So I was looking forward to some relief from the stifling heat, but it wasn't to be! The good thing about it being so close was that we could go back into town for food quite easily.

When we got into the park we headed straight for one of the viewpoints. Unfortunately, this view point wasn't one you could drive up or one that was a quick and easy hike. It was a short hike on land and then a short hike over jagged rocks. I was not at all prepared for how scary it would be or how hard it would be. I was sweating like crazy and got stuck a few times because I got scared. I seem to forget that I am scared of heights until I'm on top of something really high. There were a couple times where we were on rocks that had nothing under them or there was a hole and I would get so scared that they were going to cave in that I wouldn't go any farther. Fortunately, Ethan wasn't scared of these holes and was able to talk me through these situations. I didn't end up crying and I know you were waiting for me to say that I lost it! When we finally got to the top of this cliff I was shaking and couldn't stand up, but the view was stunning. Well worth the struggle... and the sweat. Then we had to go back down.... much less terrifying, but still not very fun. (E- I'm pretty sure there were some tears forming at one point. Maybe they didn't make it onto her cheeks, but they were definitely there. I also had to straddle these "holes" so Skye wasn't scared of falling into them. That's fun for me though so it was a win-win.)

Pictures from two climbs up to Pha Hua Sing from Doi Samer Dao

After we were back on solid ground we went to the park headquarters to see how much tents/cabin were so we could weigh our options when everyone else got there the next day. Once we had done our reconnaissance work we headed back into town to find a place to stay. This proved to be more difficult than expected and we ended up at the first place we checked out, which was quite a bit more than we are used to paying, but there was air conditioning and free wifi! We added the stay to our Valentines Day gifts to ourselves. We got dinner and checked out the teeny tiny market nearby. We spent the rest of the night enjoying the a/c and taking full advantage of the wifi.

Saturday morning we laid around until the rest of the group got to Na Noi around 11:30. We all got lunch then headed to the park together. We decided that a cabin would be the best place to stay at the park because we tend to be very loud when we're together and each one came with its own fire pit. (E- the cabin had 6 twins and a double so it worked out perfectly for our group of 8.) Once we had all that figured out and paid for we checked into our little house where we sat and chatted for quite some time. Once we felt sufficiently caught up with each others lives Ethan led the group up to the view point we did the day before, while Kristin and I enjoyed the view from down below. I was not about to put myself through that again! After the climb we went back into town for food and beverages, which took a bit longer than we expected so it was dark when we got back. But we did get a chance to check out the stars on the way back, which was awesome! Ethan and I even saw a shooting star! No, we won't tell you what we wished for! :] We spent the rest of the night chatting around the fire about life and all sorts of things including, but not limited to, stuffed animals, love, marriage, the universe, traveling, religion, being adopted (E- the Illuminati, Kanye West, how terrible cigarettes are)...the list could go one, but I'm sure you get the point.

Pha Chu cliff - highest flag pole raising in the country

Sunday morning it took us a while to get it together, but we eventually checked out of the cabin and headed for Pha Chu, the other viewpoint. This hike would have been a lot easier than the first if we had had more water and had eaten a decent breakfast (E- and hadn't celebrated a birthday the night before.) Unfortunately, none of us were in the proper mindset that morning so we journeyed to the top fairly unprepared. (E- I'm always in the proper mindset for a hike.) There was a lot less rock climbing on this one, but it was almost just as scary...for me. We made it to another really awesome view though and I didn't cry! We stayed up there until everyone was too hungry and thirsty to stand it. On the way back Kristin and I brought up the rear and had a wonderful discussion about the culinary expertise of Panera Bread Co. and how much we missed it. Mouths watering, we headed back to Na Noi for lunch and then back to our respective places of residence to prepare for the last two weeks of teaching.

It is currently Wednesday evening and we are as excited as ever to finish teaching. Right now the students are preparing for their final exams, which means several of our co-teachers are teaching in Thai leaving us with lots of time to think about our travel plans. Ethan's sister Emily has decided to join us for our first month of travel and will be here in a little over a week! We'll be going to Bangkok next weekend to pick her up! It is very surreal having this experience come to a close and to think that in a little over two months we'll be back in the US of A. :]

Road Trip!

Two weekends ago (Feb 2-3.....Geez! I'm really falling behind here! I wish I could say it was because I'm so busy doing important things, but that would be a lie!) we decided to take the motorbike to Chiang Rai, a popular tourist destination about 3 hours (we were told you can get there in 3 hours in a car) northwest of where we live.

Ethan had looked up cool things to do/see near there and (surprise, surprise) found a national park (Phu Chi Fah) with an awesome view point. Ethan loves planning anything that involves the great outdoors and great sunrises (in case you couldn't tell). We were going to leave Friday afternoon, but after finding out that all his classes had been cancelled and that I only had class first period, we decided to leave after first period. It was good a decision since it ended up taking us 5 whole hours to get to Phu Chi Fah. We stopped for lunch and a couple other times very briefly, but it was a very, very long ride. Our butts were almost as sore as they are after a day of actual biking - that's pretty sore. Painfulness aside, the motorbike didn't get a flat tire and was only making slightly weird noises - WIN!

When we got there we decided to head straight to the view point to check it out. Other than having to walk up there, which was a lot harder than it looked, it was really awesome. The mountain comes to a point (sort of) at the top and looks very similar to pride rock in the Lion King, but with a 360 degree view. The surrounding mountains were incredible and there is a village below the cliff that was very picturesque. Ethan decided it was one of his favorite places in the world after being up there for about 5 minutes. We still needed to find a place to sleep that night, so we had to leave the wonderful view. (E- You are basically right at the Thai/Laos border so "everything the light touches" below the cliff is Laos. The Mekong River is also in view, which is where we will be starting our adventures into Laos.)

I'm not sure that the town there is actually a town or if its just a collection of bungalows on the side of a hill. Either way it was pretty neat. Every guest house (there were several) had detached bungalow rooms and most of them had a great view of the hills below. There were a few restaurants, which also had great views, convenience stores and several souvenir shops all selling almost the exact same stuff. Anyway, we found a place to stay (wasn't the nicest/cleanest, but it was supposedly cheaper than all the others), got dinner and went to bed early so we could get up before the ass crack of dawn to watch the sunrise.

Ethan's alarm rang promptly at 4:45 and we were out the door by 5. It was very, very cold and it had just rained so everything was damp. Despite the cold we made it back up to the top - very slowly. On the way up there were a few Thai kids singing with little donation boxes. We felt bad that they were out in the cold at 5am so we gave them all money. They were so cute! When we reached the top we set ourselves up on a rock and watched a layer of fog on the ground below swirl around over the little town and around the hills. It was just like we had read about - a sea of clouds. So we waited until the sun was supposed to come up, but it never showed. The clouds were too thick. We were bummed, but it was still a great experience. (E- Phu Chi Fah is famous for the "sea of clouds." Even though we missed out on a sunrise, we were still treated to the main attraction.)

Once we were back at our room we decided to pack up and head out. (E- We had to wait until Zetterberg was done scoring 3 goals and assisting on 2 others in Detroit's 5-3 win over St Louis. It is weird having to watch the games at 7:30 am. My mood for the rest of the day is greatly affected by the outcome. Good thing this one was a W!) We stopped for breakfast on the way to Chiang Rai and got there around 11. We had planned on getting in touch with Jeff from Canada (went camping with us the previous weekend), who was visiting Chiang Rai, but we did not plan on running into him the minute we stopped in Chiang Rai. We randomly pulled over at a Pizza Company to check the map and find a place to stay when Jeff comes strolling up from the cafe next door. Chiang Rai's not a small town! Anyway, we decided to drop our stuff at a guesthouse then meet back up with him for lunch. We got a bit lost finding the place, so we left him hanging for a bit (sorry Jeff!), but eventually made our way back into town. We got some American food and chatted with Jeff about what to do in the city. After lunch,  he took off for Chiang Mai and we headed back to our room to change. By the time we were ready to go though a torrential downpour had started so we stayed put for a while until it let up.

It didn't exactly stop raining, but we had a few places we wanted to see before they closed so we headed out in the drizzle. It was quite the miserable afternoon in northern Thailand - cold and wet. Felt like we were in Michigan! The first place we went was a place called The Black House. Its a temple-like house with a bunch of smaller buildings that all house a bunch of really old and rather strange things. The main building had 5 tables in it - one that ran the length of the house and 4 smaller ones on the sides. Each was decorated with snake skins, huge chairs with horns and fur and random animal skulls. It was very weird. The rest of the grounds had a bunch of small buildings with more random artifacts....most of them were closed though. We walked around the grounds and eventually spotted an owl in a cage. We were looking at the owl when I noticed another cage. I looked over and saw something huge lurking in the corner of it. I stared at it for a while before I realized it was a giant snake. I pointed it out to Ethan who quickly rushed over to get a look at the monster. We soon realized that the gigantic python was actually two snakes, each about 10 feet long. We walked around their rather small enclosure and saw that there was a little door that we assumed they used to get the snakes food. Then Ethan realized that the padlock on the door that was keeping it closed wasn't actually locked. Hmmmmm. That's not right. Two giant snakes capable of taking down a grown man in an unlocked cage. We looked around for a worker to ask if this was normal or if it should be locked. We saw someone, but he didn't speak English so Ethan showed him the lock. He just kept saying no... soooo we didn't really know what that meant, but we left it unlocked. We hope that no one gets any crazy ideas about letting those snakes out because things could get really awkward for that worker.

We left the snakes and the black house behind and headed for a rather famous temple just outside the city. The temple was really tall and unlike any we had seen in Thailand. Inside the temple was circular and had stairs leading up nine floors. Of course Ethan had to see every single floor so we went all the way to the top. The first floor had a massive wood-carved Buddha and all the other floors had different wood-carved Buddha images. It was actually pretty cool if you don't mind walking up 9 flights of stairs. After I took a picture of Ethan hanging out of the window of almost every floor we headed back into the city for dinner. We, of course, ate dinner at the Pizza Company and strolled around the night market afterward. Didn't buy anything though.

The next morning we packed up and headed out to see the famous White Temple of Chiang Rai. We had heard many things about this temple and were really excited to see it. When we got there, though, it was not at all what we were expecting. It was more of a tourist attraction than a temple and they ran the place like an amusement park. The temple itself and the landscaping were really pretty, but it really did not feel like an authentic Buddhist temple at all. The inside of the temple had been painted with murals and the mural on the back wall is (quite famously) painted with pictures of action heroes like Batman and oddly the World Trade Center towers burning. A couple of trees had plaster heads of people from scary movies in them. The whole place was just weird. Really the only thing that impressed me was how everything was white. Normally temples are very colorful and flashy, but everything at this one is white.

We left the temple feeling a bit disappointed, but glad that we had the chance to see it. We headed back to Thawangpha after we left the temple. It took us 5 hours to get back and our butts hurt pretty bad, but the bike held up the whole way!

Birthday Weekend Camping

This past weekend was Ethan's birthday (now two weekends ago.) Yay! Happy birthday Ethan!! 25 years young! (E- My Darren McCarty birthday!!) We decided it would be a great weekend to FINALLY camp at the national park near us - Nanthaburi National Park. If you recall, we had been briefly once and the second time we tried to go we got a flat tire. We were determined to go there and actually spend the night!

it was a tough trek to the waterfall

Friday night almost everyone who was going hung out by the river in Thawangpha to start Ethan's birthday celebration. We didn't stay out too late though so we could get up and get going to the park in the morning. Ethan and Jeff (the guy from Canada that we met last weekend. He decided to come check out what Nan province had to offer) got up early to watch the Red Wings game. The Wings won and as soon as it was over we headed out. Before we left TWP we were joined by our friends from Pua, Tristan and Kelly and Caitlin C from Nan city. We stopped at the market for lunch and snacks before we left, which was supposed to be a short trip. It ended up taking over an hour, but eventually we headed west toward the park. It took us a long time to get up there because we took two long breaks to wait for people to catch up and to eat.

the waterfall was well worth it

Right before the second break Jeff and Josie (teaches in Wiang Sa near Nan), who were on the same bike, ended up doing a wheely somehow and Caitlin C saw a huge snake that snapped at her bike. She is pretty sure it was a king cobra....YIKES!! (E- King Cobras can kill elephants with one bite. Not too shabby! I'm super jealous we missed it!) Luckily, no one was injured or bitten and we made it to the park (and we didn't get a flat tire!!). We rented three huts for the night and dropped our stuff in them before heading out for the waterfall that was about a 2km walk away. The walk didn't feel very far, but it was actually kind of hard and really steep. Toward the end we ended up using a vine to help ourselves down a particularly steep portion. Amateur repelling if you will. We made it down to the waterfall, but dreaded having to go back up. The fall was really pretty, but the water was really cold and the area was shaded, which added to the coldness so I didn't swim. All the girls, except brave Caitlin C, chatted on the rocks, while Ethan and Jeff explored the jungle. It was very relaxing and B.E.A-utiful! As expected, the climb back up was torture and my legs still hurt from it - out of shape? YES. When we got back we put warm clothes on and chilled in the beautiful camping area to watch the sunset. The camping area is a large flat grassy area on the very top of a hill. You have an amazing almost-360 degree view of the surrounding area. The sunset was phenomenally picturesque and we snapped plenty of artsy, Instagram worthy shots.

interesting night with locals

After the sun went to bed, Ethan, Jeff, Caitlin and Kristin went into the tiny little village nearby for some grub, while the rest of us stayed back and tried to tend to the weak campfire the rangers had started. Our efforts were to no avail though, even with Josie's expert camp fire building skills. We also didn't try very hard to find smaller sticks to get it going with, but we're girls...what'd ya expect? It was dark. The others returned with soup and som tam (papaya salad) and the lady even gave us bowls, plates and utensils to borrow! We ate and then the boys (with Josie's help) built a glorious fire, which lasted until we went to bed. Great fire building on their part. We spent the night chatting about Thailand, teaching, life and all sorts of things. Ethan and Jeff made friends with the head park ranger and a few other Thai folks. A couple a rangers joined our camp fire and we attempted to have conversations with them all night, but it usually just ended awkwardly because we couldn't understand them. They did show us how to roast sticky rice like a marshmallow though, but I didn't really care for it. Eventually we were told we were being to loud and we tried for a while to stay quiet, but when you put a bunch of good friends at a fire who have had a little "liquid encouragement".... you end up with loud voices. We decided we'd better get to bed before people got mad and so that ended our night. We had to whisper the happy birthday song to Ethan at midnight - not nearly as fun as belting it out obnoxiously.

tired after a less than stellar sleep

When we rented the huts we were thinking that they would be warmer than a tent, but what we didn't think about was how what we'd be sleeping on. The huts came with blankets, pillows and paper thin mats to sleep on and I don't think anyone slept well - except Cait C. I was sleeping on top of two comforters and still wasn't comfy - it was rough. We really wanted to watch the sun rise in the morning, but 6am came a bit too fast. Fortunately (& unfortunately), it was cloudy so we couldn't actually watch the sunrise. This is unfortunate because we want to bike to the top of the mountain, but decided against it because there wouldn't be a good view with all the clouds. So we ended up having chatting over coffee and hot chocolate in the "kitchen" area. The way back down the mountain was much easier - no wheelies and no snakes! We all got lunch together and parted ways.

a beautiful sunset and a gorgeous moonrise behind us

I don't think we'll ever be able to say that we celebrated our birthdays swimming at waterfalls or camping on top of mountains again. So, even though having a birthday abroad is bittersweet without our families and friends, I am certainly glad we got to spend ours with the good friends we've made exploring the great outdoors in the lovely land of Thai!

Reunited and it feels so good!

We had to crouch so we wouldn't be showing Buddha our bums

When we got back to Ayutthaya, we checked into our room and met up with Alexis and Shannon. We'd been talking about meeting up with them for months and we were finally able to do it - even with our last minute change of plans. Luckily, Ayutthaya isn't very far from where they live/teach so it was a short trip for them.

We chatted about our different situations and it was great to hear how they were doing and the different experiences they were having. After we caught up for a bit, we rented two motorbikes to get around town for the weekend. I didn't tell Shannon, who rode on the back of mine, but I was very nervous! I handled that thing like a boss though... didn't hit a single person or vehicle! :] Anyway, after we got some food we went out to one of the more famous temples in Ayutthaya that has a giant reclining Buddha and went to one of the ruins to watch the sunset (the same one we'd been to on the boat tour, but Shannon and Alexis hadn't been there yet so we gladly went again). We missed the sunset, but it was still really pretty. After sunset the ruins are lit up with orange lights and it looks really cool. We would have stayed longer, but the mosquitoes were outrageous so we headed out to find a market for dinner. It ended up being in unconventional but delicious meal including guava, chicken on a stick, sticky rice, a waffle with raisins, and ice cream. It was a very random mix of foods, but it was cheap and when it's cheap, we'll take what we can get! We got some drinks from 7-eleven on the way back and spent the rest of the night chatting about living in Thailand and where we planned to go when teaching was over.

The next day we motorbiked around to more temples and ruins and got real sweaty - well I got really sweaty. For lunch we ate at one of the guesthouses that had a restaurant. I had a delicious bacon cheeseburger and french fries to satisfy my American food craving and Ethan had a club sandwich. We really miss American food if you couldn't tell. After lunch was more temples and attempting to find our way around the confusing streets of Ayutthaya. At one point Ethan took us over a tiny bridge that was about 3 feet wide because we were on a one way street with a canal in the middle and had to turn around. Shannon and I made it over, although in a considerably less graceful manner than Ethan and Alexis. Then he took us down a dead end ally, where Shannon and I were chased by a dog. Then on the way to take the motorbikes back Ethan took us the long way, which meant crossing over 4 lanes of traffic twice. I could have killed him. But it made for some really good motorbiking practice and I feel much more confident driving one. And most importantly no one got hurt!

At the Chedi for Queen Suriyothai

The Temple of the Reclining Buddha

After we dropped the motorbikes off we went to DQ for some much needed dessert. The girls caught a bus back to Bangkok a little while later, but we waited 'til 7 to get a ride to the bus station. Our bus left at 8:30 and got to Thawangpha at 6:30am. Another night spent sleeping in extremely awkward positions didn't make for good sleep, but we both have a long break on Mondays so we got to take a nap. Overall, it was a really great mini-vacation and we're really glad we asked for it off. We're even more glad that Alexis and Shannon could join us and we hope to meet up with them again after school is done. :]

Playing some footie with locals at a temple

As of now, our plans after school include Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bali, Singapore, Malaysia, & southern Thailand - in that order. We are still working out the details, but are very excited to begin this adventure through south east Asia. Shannon and Alexis will be our travel buddies through Bali and Singapore for sure (flights are booked), Vietnam and Cambodia most likely and possibly Laos as well!

When I see an elephant fly...

Last weekend ended up being a bit longer than we expected. Last week, we knew we had Wednesday off for teachers day. We also didn't have school Friday because of the province-wide sport day that lasted until Saturday. So, over the prior weekend we decided to ask for that Thursday off and if we could skip sport day to go to two of the most famous places in Thailand - Ayutthaya and Khao Yai. Ayutthaya is one of the old capitals of Thailand and has many temples and ruins to see. Khao Yai is a very popular national park about 2 hours from Ayutthaya. (E- They are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites.) Ethan asked on Monday and we really didn't think this plan had any chance of actually working out. But, Tuesday afternoon we got the news that we had been cleared by the director to go!

We had about an hour and a half to pack and get to the bus station because we wanted to take the overnight bus to Ayutthaya. We got to the bus station at 5:15 and the bus left at 5:30. Surprisingly, the bus was pretty empty, which was awesome because we ended up sleeping stretched across the aisle. At 3:30 am we were woken abruptly by the driver telling us we were in Ayutthaya. So we hopped off the bus only to realize we weren't at a bus station, but on the side of the highway. We wondered if this was some cruel joke, but apparently it wasn't because several buses dropped more people off there. We stood around for a while trying to get our bearings and figure out how to get into town. After some thinking and trying to get information from the motorbike taxi drivers, we decided it would be best to get a ride. Unfortunately, our usual cheap forms of transport were not available so we paid a little over $5 for two motorbike taxis.
The taxis dropped us off at a guesthouse that had no vacancy, so we walked to another one nearby. We were let in by an older woman who spoke a little bit of English. She told us to wait 2 hours until they opened and then we could get a room. So we slept on the couch until 7ish when another woman came in, who promptly told us they were full. So we got up to leave and somehow in that 5 minutes she was able to come up with a room - don't ask me how. We slept for a while, then spent the majority of the afternoon figuring out how to get to Khao Yai and buying bus tickets back to Thawangpha. After we had all that figured out we took a sunset boat tour to some of the temples in Ayutthaya.

This was the last of 3 temples on the sunset tour

The next day our train left for Pak Chong- one of the cities on the outskirts of the park. When we got to Pak Chong we were picked up by the owner of the guesthouse/tour we were taking and had a few hours to get lunch and wander around until the half day portion of the tour started. At 3, we hopped into the tour truck with a couple from Germany, a guy from Toronto (E- It was good to chat with a Leafs fan.)  and a girl from Indonesia - quite the multicultural mix if you ask me. Our first stop was a fresh water spring that had been turned into a swimming hole for tourists. It was pretty neat because the water was crystal clear and came up out of the ground. I didn't swim, but Ethan did. We were there for about 30 minutes then we headed out to visit a cave. The cave was huge and stinky. And there were bats. They were itty bitty ones though so it wasn't scary. After that, we went to the bottom of this hill that contained another cave for the highlight of the tour. At dusk, the bats in this cave all leave at the same time to go hunt for food. We really didn't know what to expect from these bats, but as soon as the the sun went down, as promised, the bats took off out of the cave. It was one of the coolest things we have ever seen. They came out in one steady stream that looked like a giant snake. They were also being hunted by hawks and with the binoculars you could watch the hawks dive bomb the bats and I even saw one catch a meal. The stream of bats lasted for what seemed like forever (it was really more like 40 minutes). It just kept going and going. The tour group claims that there are somewhere between 1 and 4 million bats - we kept getting different numbers so who knows how many bats there really are?! It was crazy. The sound was cool too, but hard to describe. After watching the bats we headed back to the guesthouse, where we ate dinner with the guy from Toronto. We went to bed early because we had signed up for the full day tour the next day, which started at 7am.

Millions of bats and a Buddhist cave

The full day tour was long, but definitely worth it. As we were driving into the park the guide spotted a Great Hornbill bird. This bird is infamous around here and really hard to spot. We didn't have great vantage point because we were right underneath it, but we could see that it was a colorful and very large bird. We continued driving and stopped at a view point that overlooked a lot of the park. As we continued driving into the park the guide spotted Gibbons (monkeys) way up in the trees next to the road. We decided that having a guide was worth it right there because we never would have spotted those on our own. We watched a group of about 5 gibbons swing around in the trees for a few minutes then continued into the park. Up the road ways we didn't have to look hard to spot a large group of pig-tailed macaques (another kind of monkey) walking down the road. They looked like mini baboons. We took pictures as they went past and continued on. After a short break at the visitor center, we drove past some places where wild elephants can usually be seen, but we didn't see any. Elephants are so sneaky! After that, we hiked one of the nature trails with the guide to one of the wildlife viewing stations in the park. It was positioned near a salt lick, which the park replenishes for the animals. The idea is that the salt is good for the animals, it brings them out into the open for people to see, and it also helps keep the numbers of animals in check by providing an easy target for predators. (E- It helps to keep the animal population strong as well because the carnivores, such as wild dogs in the park, will go after the weaker herbivores and the strong will survive.)

We had lunch following the hike and after that we visited the waterfall that was used in the movie "The Beach." The fall wasn't quite as spectacular as it looked in the movie, but it was still really pretty. We spent an hour taking pictures and exploring around the falls. After that we drove up to the highest point in the park to take in the amazing view. That was followed by a crazy elephant "hunt", which I thought was the best part of the trip. The guide was on his walkie talkie trying to find out where we could see elephants and after a few minutes of driving the truck started flying down the road. The guide stuck half his body out of the window to tell us that he received a signal that there were elephants down the road. So the guy driving continued to floor it to the spot, but no elephants. We were disappointed and turned around to head back when he got another call on the walkie that there really were elephants up the road - we had passed them somehow. We sped back at a dizzying speed and were at last rewarded with a group of elephants attempting to cross the road. We pulled off the road and were watching a mother and baby survey us when we looked to the right where a big male elephant had come into view in the trees. He was clearly annoyed that we had blocked his path, but he just turned around. (E- He could have easily just ran right through us. The Leafs fan and I decided that had nobody been injured, we wouldn't have minded him trying to.) The mother and baby got onto the road and ended up coming really close to the trucks. It was so cool. We watched the elephants for a while, but eventually they went back into hiding in the trees. It's pretty amazing that an animal so large is so good at hiding. (E- There was something far more majestic about seeing these animals in the wild. It was incredible.)

Haew Suwat Waterfall from "The Beach"

Mommy protecting her child from the tourists

That night we ate dinner at the guesthouse again and went to a country western bar for a drink with the guy from Canada and a girl that had been on our tour from Germany. Listening to a Thai sing country western was strange. The whole city of Pak Chong was country western themed. It was really strange, but also kind of neat. The guy that runs the guesthouse said it's that way because the whole town is on one street, just like in the old west. The next day our train back to Ayutthaya left at 10. We were really excited to get back there because our friends from orientation, Alexis and Shannon were meeting us there. :]

How We Did It - Chiang Mai

Ethan here,

Warning: This is an informational post aimed at helping our fellow CIEE / OEG friends that might want to travel to a place that we have already visited. I'll be including how we got to our destination, what we did there / how we did it and any advice that I would have liked to have before going.

How we got there - We took a bus from Tha Wang Pha to Chiang Mai. The bus leaves at 9:25 pm every night from Tha Wang Pha and gets in to Chiang Mai around 3:30 am. It cost 341 baht or approximately $11.37. Getting to Chiang Mai is pretty easy from wherever you are because it is a top destination in Thailand and has a bus station, train station and an airport. We rode on a bus with both VIP and 1st class seats. We chose the cheaper 1st class seats, but handpicked the front row right behind the VIP section which added a little more room than the rest of 1st class. Just ask the ticket booth to show you the computer screen and you can pick out what seat you want.

Where we stayed - We stayed at Paocome Guesthouse and would recommend it to anyone going to Chiang Mai. It is located just outside of the eastern part of the moat near the top. If your tuktuk from the bus station doesn't know of it, Wat Chompu and Eagle House Guesthouse are in the same area. Some information on the guesthouse can be found HERE. It was 300 baht/night for two people in a double, fan room. We were able to check in at 6:30 am after waiting in their lobby for two hours and weren't charged for early check-in. The rooms are basic, clean and you have your own private bathroom with shower heater. The guesthouse also has WiFi. We stayed for two nights (three sleeps (-:) and checked out to go to Doi Int and then came back the following day and stayed for another night. They held on to all of our stuff that we didn't need for Doi Int and locked it in a room. When we returned, they had the key in the door to the same room waiting for us. They were very friendly and made sure to tell us to be safe and wear our helmets going up the mountain.

Rent a motorbike - Maybe Chiang Mai isn't the best place to learn to ride a motorbike, but if you are comfortable on one, rent one here! WEAR THE HELMET AND LATCH THE NECK STRAP! It doesn't do you any good to wear the helmet and not latch the neck strap as the helmet will be well off your head if you need it. If safety isn't a concern, the police can also fine you for not wearing a helmet. You shouldn't pay any more than 150 baht for a manual and 200 baht for an automatic. If you are rolling two deep on a motorbike (like we do), it's definitely cheaper than taking songtaews, tuktuks and taxis everywhere and you have complete freedom to go where ever you want all the time. We rent a manual because that's what we have in Tha Wang Pha and it's cheaper. Also, if you are going up mountains, a manual is better so you can have it in 1st or 2nd gear working your way up. They also have larger wheels which are better for the tight turns on the mountains.

Doi Suthep - This is a very easy ride with the exception of one very tight turn near the top where we were cut off by a song taew and were forced into the curb a little. No harm, no foul though. The park headquarters at the bottom is relatively useless except to take a picture at. There is a nice viewpoint of the city halfway up, but it was cloudy when we were heading up. I would suggest going early in the morning if you can to beat the clouds and the crowds. At the viewpoint, there are some hill tribe women selling bracelets for 10 baht and they will try and steal each others sales and look like they really need the money. There are also hill tribe women at Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep selling the same bracelets for 5 baht. Again, they will try and steal each others sales and look like they really need the money. If you are with a group, try and buy from different people to spread the sales. Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep doesn't even try and hide that they charge more for foreigners as there is a sign that says so. Foreigners have to pay 30 baht to get in and Thais don't have to pay at all. I know it's only 30 baht, but we were able to use our work permits to get in for free. The sign is at the top of 300+ steps right before you enter the temple. Have a look around inside the temple if you are dressed appropriately and check out the viewpoint of the city.

Chiang Mai Zoo - The zoo is located just outside of the Doi Suthep - Pui National Park so it is easy to do Doi Suthep in the morning followed by the zoo after lunch. (We ate at Amazing Sandwich for lunch and it was aroi mak mak!) It is a must to bring your work permit to the zoo because you can get multiple discounts. The zoo tries to hide dual pricing for foreigners and Thais by using Thai numerals, which I was told are very rarely used throughout Thailand. The initial entrance fee for foreigners is 100 baht/person and we paid 70 baht/person with our work permits. It also costs 10 baht to park your motorbike. We recommend the panda exhibit, which is 100 baht/person for foreigners, but we paid 50 baht/person with our work permit. We fed an elephant for 10 baht. Why not? And other than that, we just walked around to the different animals. We liked the white tiger, the lions and the hippos the most. One thing we noticed about the animals that differs from zoos in the States is that most of the animals were actually up and about rather than just lying down/hiding like they do back home. I'm not sure why this is, but it made for an overall better zoo experience. There's also an aquarium, shuttle and skytram that are extra, but we didn't do any. I'm going to venture a guess that you can use your work permits to get those costs cut in half as well.

Doi Inthanon - This is also known as Doi Int and is the highest mountain in Thailand. It isn't as adventurous as it sounds because you drive all the way to the top. We followed the moat around from the northeast corner south then west until we saw a sign for 108, which you take almost to Chom Thong. I'd suggest filling up the motorbike after you get on 108 and filling it up again when you see the Doi Inthanon sign to turn on road 1009. There's a gas station on the left. This will be good to take you up to the top and probably back down again, but there is a small gas pump near the park headquarters too that we used to fill up just to be safe. Don't wait until you are on empty to try and look for gas in a remote area of Thailand even though you can usually find gas in whiskey bottles anywhere you go. It should take about an hour to get to the base and 45 ish minutes to get to the top, but it took us a lot longer. If you read Skye's post, HERE, about our unfortunate luck with the motorbike, you'll know why and that it was important for us to find the mechanics. You shouldn't need them (it's not a difficult drive) unless your motorbike is rocking a rear tire from the 70s / just too old. There's a mechanic right before you start ascending about 1 km before the park headquarters. There's another mechanic about 1 km before that on the other side as well. We had to use both. And had to get lucky with a random guy on a motorbike helping us. If you feel stranded on the side of the mountain with motorbike issues (like we were), there are a lot of pickup trucks and one of them will stop and help you back down the mountain if you need.

The first place to see is Mae Klang waterfall just before the park entrance. They wouldn't accept our work permits without a Thai driver's license and were going to charge us 200 baht/person so we kindly turned away. We then went to the park entrance hopeful that our work permits would work. They did. We were charged 40 baht/person and 20 baht/motorbike. We then used that ticket to visit Mae Klang Waterfall the next day for free! Hold on to the ticket as you will need it for another checkpoint before the summit. We drove to the park headquarters where they have bungalows and tents for rent. The bungalows were full so we were undecided if we were going to stay the night, but the front desk held on to our stuff so we could continue to the summit unimpeded. We did put on a few extra warm clothes because it's cold up there! Not Thai cold, but American cold! You'll need a few layers and I even wore a winter hat. We went through a checkpoint (have your tickets and work permits ready) to get to the summit and then to the chedis dedicated to the King and Queen. After our series of unfortunate events, it was pretty late in the day and very cloudy so the views were less than impressive. Staying overnight and then heading up first thing in the morning might be a better decision.

We returned to the park headquarters and decided to rent a tent. It was 225 baht/tent, 30 baht/sleeping bag, 20 baht/sleeping pad, and 10 baht/pillow. I'd recommend getting two pillows for yourself or stuffing clothes in the one because they are thin. The tents are pretty spacious, you could probably fit 4 people in and you might want to for the warmth. They are already set up for you at the campground, which is a short drive away, but you'll need to carry the sleeping bags/pads/pillows on your motorbike. There is also a nice little restaurant and convenience store at the park headquarters.

It's very cold at that altitude so Skye and I bundled up for the night and it seemed like everyone else in the campground didn't sleep that night, but as Skye says, "It's a lot easier to fall asleep to loud Thais because you don't know what they're saying." Siriphum waterfall is located very close to the campground and you can see it right as you pull out of the campground. Go back towards the main road and turn right by the gas pumps before the main road. The view is a lot better from far away than it is up close.

On our way down the mountain, we went to Sirithan and Wachirathan waterfalls. Both are clearly marked and very easy to get to from the main road. We accidentally stopped early for Wachirathan at an unmarked parking lot and found our way to the top of the waterfall. The view wasn't too great (and apparently there have been deaths up there from people trying to get too close to the edge for a picture) so we went back to the main road and found the better viewpoint at the bottom of the waterfall.

We then went back to Mae Klang waterfall with our 40 baht tickets from the day before and proudly presented them to get in to the waterfall for free. If you remember, they tried to charge us 200 baht a head the day before. Boom.

Our experience was drastically altered by the four flat tires and we had planned on seeing a lot more than we actually did. Spending the better part of five hours fixing flat tires took it's toll on us. There's a cave near the entrance and some more waterfalls, viewpoints, a karen hill tribe village and hot springs on a turn off after the checkpoint that we wanted to visit as well. Oh well, it was still quite an experience dealing with the flat tires, seeing some awesome waterfalls, finding and camping in cold weather in Thailand and getting to the highest point of land in the entire country.

I got most of my information before we left from THIS WEBSITE!

Tiger Kingdom - Recommended! Recommended! Recommended! There is a lot of talk about them drugging / tranquilizing the big cuddly cats, but we didn't get that feeling. Yes, there were quite a few laying around. However, there were also a number that were quite active. At one point, we were sure we were going to video the next "When Animals Attack" because one of the tigers was very active, crouching everywhere it went, pacing, staring at the human snacks, running to the other side and back, crouching some more, pacing. That's not meant to scare anyone. We felt completely safe the entire time. Another tiger even showed how it feels about the electric fence by just walking into and over it. You could hear the shock. There is an outer, regular fence and then some small, one wire electric fences to keep the tigers away from corners and the trees so again, still safe.

To get there, get on the northern section of the moat and take 107 north toward Mae Rim. You'll see signs from there, but you turn left on 1096 and then your first right to Tiger Kingdom. It's only about five minutes from 107.

Go early! It opens at 9 am and get there at 9 am if you can. We got there around 9:30 and were very thankful we did. By 11 am, the place was packed so we were able to enjoy a rather intimate experience with the tigers with very few other people in the cage.

We chose to see the big cats for 420 baht not because it's the cheapest option (even though it is,) but because we thought that would be the best experience. We were glad that we did. The smallest tigers had way too many people shuffled in and out of the enclosure and you could tell the tigers were irritated by it. Their website is HERE. The prices are slightly different than what are listed on their website, but we can't remember exactly what they were. They range from 420 baht - 620 baht and since the difference isn't even $7 from the big cats to the smallest, don't let price be the deciding factor.

We forgot to try and use our work permits here, but it seemed like it wouldn't have made a difference. It's worth a try though. We didn't expect the work permits to work at the zoo and they did so give it a shot.

Okay, hope this helps you plan your trip to Chiang Mai. Feel free to ask me any questions on here or message me on Facebook.