Golden Triangle Tour.

As we only had a short amount of time in Chiang Rai and several things we wanted to see north of Chiang Rai we decided an organised tour would be best.  We hadn't expected it to be a personal organised tour as our very own tour guide called Nok turned up at 9am in her own car!

Mark and I jumped in the back ready to be chauffeur driven lol!

The first stop was to visit the hill tribe village, they have migrated from different countries such as Burma & China.

The stars of the show were the long neck tribe.  They originate from eastern Burma and legend claims the brass rings protect the women from tiger bites whilst the men are away hunting. The rings are worn from about the age of 5 and are added to every 3 years until they reach 25.  They weigh a massive 4.5 kg as you can see on the scale.  This is an actual neck ring worn by the ladies and they never remove them hence the name long neck tribe!

This lady is weaving a scarf by hand in the village and they make all their own clothes.

It also doubles as her home.

This is the view as we turned the corner into the village, huts on either side & still living as a community with chickens, pigs, goats and children wandering- the livestock is marked with cotton through their ears! Ow!

Another example of weaving!

The rings don't actually make the neck longer, the weight forces the collar bones to drop and the ribs to crush.  They continue to wear them as they believe its makes them look swan like and the longer the neck the prettier you are!  They also wear them on their legs as a fashion statement!

We bought a scarf from this family, its hard to pick which family to buy from as the tribe doesn't share the money.  The little girl was too cute to resist, she even blew us a kiss- good tactics!!

These ladies are from a neighbouring tribe and are from the Palong tribe.

The tribes are self sufficient and grow their own food, this looks like hard work!

We spotted this chameleon on route,his tail is starting to change colour to blend in with the bark, Mark was fascinated.

We thoroughly enjoyed visiting the hill tribes and Nok was very informative with excellent English.

Next stop was Monkey Mountain - Mark found this hilarious!  Say no more!

We continued on to the Myanmar (Burma) border which is Thailand's northern most point.  You can go across to the border for the extra passport stamp but we decided to have dinner instead!

Lastly we visited the Golden Triangle. Historically the Golden Triangle has been an area well-known for the growing of opium, and the name comes from a US State Department memo on the practice.  The opium was swapped for Golden Nuggets!

The landscape is hilly, divided by the Ruak River that flows into the Mekong River. These rivers form a natural boundary between the three countries Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

We thoroughly enjoyed our private tour, we learnt so much and did so much more than the pictures!



Chiang Rai

Heading north from Chiang Mai we get too Chaing Rai!  Not too much too write about here but a base for the tour we wished to do.

This is the clock tower which lights up every night on the hour, we stood to watch the show and a local man chatted to Mark.  He soon scarpered after dropping his bottle of whiskey out of his coat - bad times!

We ate at the night market which is common throughout Thailand, the difference with this one was the nightly show which we later learned was a ladyboy show!  We had no idea!!

The temperature had dropped several degrees so we had this hot pot for tea.  There are hot coals underneath and the food is given to you raw so its a DIY dinner!!

What fabulous photos of the elephants you two, really amazing. Mark seemed to be accepted as one of their own - what's that all about? Love to you both.

Elephant Nature Park - Chiang Mai.

The first thing we see when we arrive at the elephants park is the volunteers preparing breakfast for the elephants.  Each elephant has a big tub of food for each feed as they eat 10% of their body weight every day! 

The park tries to create as natural environment as possible, the elephants are free to roam amongst the water buffalo and 70+ dogs!  They all seem to get along just fine.  The elephants have all been rescued from logging or begging, most have physical and emotional problems.  'Lily' was an ex-drug addict who had been given amphetamine to make her work longer hours logging :-(

Our first task was to help with the morning feed.  Mark was right in there with no fear as usual, Kate took her time as the trunks were a little scary.  This elephant is called Jan Peng.

 A little elephant chat maybe Mark lol!

Seems there leaving Mark out of this mothers meeting ;-)

Each elephant has its own Mahout which they become very attached to.  They look after them all day and respond to their command.  Elephants are very loyal and will do anything to please their mahouts.  They do however get a little miffed if the other mahouts give orders to them  lol!!

These 2 are some of the oldest residents, the elephant on the left is 80 years old!

After  our lunch it was time for baths!!

The elephants go into the river and we help by throwing buckets of water over them.

You have to watch your back as they really do creep up behind you and move quite fast.

It was great fun and refreshing too!

Kate still keeping her distance but getting braver :-)

After the 'family' of elephants go down to the river for bathing.  We watch from a platform as they are very protective over the baby elephants.  The babies are  21 & 23 months.  They are gorgeous and have a great time rolling around in the water. 

After their wash they have a good old scratch before spraying themselves with mud again- a natural sunscreen.

We couldn't stop laughing at this baby scratching, he was getting himself into all sorts of positions!

Lastly for cuddles with the babies!  Soo cute!!

The afternoon continued with some more feeding and bathing.

We watched a video about the park and the future hopes  of the lady called Lek who had devoted her life to helping the elephants. 

It was the most amazing day and we really did not want to leave :-(

Chiang Mai

We (Kate) decided we should follow the lonely planets suggested temple walk around Chiang Mai-

so off we go- book in hand :-)

It soon turned into Kate's temple tour as  we did take a few detours- on purpose ( honest ;-0)

The problem being we spotted more VW's than temples and well couldn't resist them ;-)

Its a good job we can't drive them  home that's all I can say lol!

Eventually we found some temples.

There are a lot more monks in Chaing Mai.  To go into the temples, you must cover shoulders and knees.  Also if a monk is on the pavement, Kate has to go onto the road so there is no danger of the monk brushing past her.

This is Wat Chedi Luang dating 1441 believed to be one of the tallest structures in ancient Chiang Mai.

It was damaged by an earthquake or cannon fire?

Okay so its moved onto Vespa's, temples and VW's.

After a few circles of the old city we retired for some well earned rest.

Great photos

Great photos you two. Glad to see you haven't forgotten how to shop Kate. Glad to hear you are safe even though you are destroying the world country by country.

Dad / Clive

xxx

Sunday Walking Market - Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai, our next stop, is the largest city in Northern Thailand. 

It has always been a significant trading town where ancient caravan traders dealt in opium, silk and timber.

Traders still travel for miles for the popular Sunday market.

We purposely  booked our accommodation in the Old City

of Chiang Mai for the Sunday walking market.

Turn right at the end of the road  and you are at the beginning of the Sunday market.

They close a kilometre stretch of road.

The market has souvenirs, clothes and lots of entertainment.

Most importantly is has yummy food, Kate tried these quail eggs for 20 baht they were delicious!

The market is really busy with locals and tourists alike all bartering to get a bargain.

The never ending market, after several hours walking we were shopped out!

Thankfully amidst the chaos we managed to find a little sanctuary ;-)

Sukhothai

After a 7 hour bus journey we arrived in Sukhothai, north of Bangkok.

The plan  is to visit one of Thailand's most impressive world heritage sights.

We were told there was a local bus to the ruins for just 20 baht.

We found the local bus, the seats were a bit hard but it had air-con lol!

The best way to get around is by bike which was fun.

This is Wat Mahathat. This is the largest Wat and we thought the most impressive.

The ruins date back to the 13th Century.   

I came  across these ancient Buddhas, can't quite tell which is older!

The  ruins were very beautiful and we had a great day on the bikes.

On the way home Mark was tempted to hijack the wagon as it was full of Leo beer :-)

Grand Palace- Bangkok

We took a boat along the river to get too the Grand Palace.

This is a Thai house boat!

The Grand Palace is a collection of small temples each house different Buddha's.

This is the impressive reclining Buddha in Wat Pho, 46m long and 15m high.

It illustrate the passing of  the Buddha into Nirvana (Buddha's death).

Check out the winkle pickers!

When we left the Palace it was impossible to find a Tuk-tuk lol!