Elephants Elephants and More Elephants!!!

So it has been a couple of days since my last post but after reading this I am sure you will like you are reading a week's worth of information. So without further ado here it goes....


After our busy night at Muay Thai and a good breakfast we headed out to the day market in a tuk tuk! As we were getting off the Tuk Tuk a gentleman approached us and told us about the factories we should go to which were a little ways out of town.  These were the factories that had actual gems, silk, gold, silver, real Thai cotton etc.  It was amazing and it I was rich I would have bought so many things, but sadly I am not!  I did buy myself a pearl necklace - it was something that I really wanted and it was beautiful.  I decided to treat myself to something beautiful (granted being here is treating myself but still).  We spent a couple of hours out there looking around at everything and then headed back to the city to meet Nok for our final Thai massage lesson.   It was great and very relaxing she even allowed us to video her so that we could see how it was done rather than seeing pictures in the booklet she gave us.  After that my friend from TRU, Kwan, met up with us and took us to a traditional Northern Thai buffet and performance.  It was really fun and of course I went up and danced with them at the end! Our night didn't end there, we then got Kwan to drop us off at the Night Bizarre - it was here that we perfected our bartering technique.  Alyssa, played the girl who was really interested and I played the tough "no we are getting ripped off" girl!  It was great and we managed to get some great deals.   We went home around midnight and then packed our bags for our trek the next day.

7:45 am - we got up late because our alarm did not go off but we still had enough time to get ready for our big day! We packed our bathing suits, running shoes, towel, sunscreen and Bug spray and were ready for our adventure filled day!  We were picked up around 8:45 by another Kwan - she was our guide. On our tour we met two guys from Singapore ( Lionel and Tay) and Three people from France (Etinne, Elsa and Veronique).  They were all really nice and friendly.  We first headed to a butterfly and Orchid farm.  The butterflies were not really that beautiful - to me they looked like moths (there were no beautifully coloured ones) but the orchids were absolutely gorgeous.  There were flowers of every colour and every size :)  After that we went and visit the karen Hill tribe.  The Karen Hill tribe fled Burma around 20 years ago and settled in the mountains of chiang mai.  They wear coils around their neck so the Thais call them long neck.  It was really interesting to see how they lived their life (although it seems a bit touristy it was still really interesting).   After that we headed up to one of the many waterfalls in chiang mai.  It was beautiful and a great way to cool off after an hour long hike.  We headed back down the mountain to go rafting and bamboo rafting.  It was a really beautiful setting and so incredibly peaceful!  Then it was time for the GRAND FINALE!!! The ELEPHANTS.  Patricia told me that the Indian God of the elephant represents letting go of obstacles inner and outter.  Well that is exactly what I did! I let go of all of the stress and worry that I have in my body and was just HAPPY! It was an amazing experience and to top it off I ended up riding the elephant bare back and then having the elephant pick me up in its trunk and lift me off the ground.  Then on our ride we passed this tree - now normally this would be like any other tree, but before I left and when I had just gotten back from Australia I started to paint and I painted a tree just like this one.  It was twisted and tangled and dark - but somehow perfect to me and beautiful.  The sunlight was shinning from behind it just as I had painted it!  It made me realize and think a lot and since this trip supposed to be for that it made me feel so peaceful and happy!


Well that is all for now! I am back in bangkok and heading to Koah San Road (Forgive me if I cant spell)


I love and miss you all.

xo Chantelle