We were up and at em early for the flight to Chiang Mai. I guess we slept decent but it was one of those nights where you don’t want to oversleep so you wake up a few times. We hopped right out of bed, got ready real quick, checked out and got into the taxi for the ride to the airport. Everything went smoothly and we were business class on the flight to Chiang Mai. I thought something was a little weird when we got our boarding passes and we were in row 17. Turns out we were on a 747 for the one hr flight. Definitely unusual but I guess they were going somewhere far from Chiang Mai. We were upstairs which was pretty cool only because we had never been upstairs before on a 747. We had breakfast on the plane….something like rice soup with pork in it and some fruit on the side, etc. It wasn’t that bad, wasn’t the best. On arrival, our ride wasn’t there but within 5 minutes of getting our bags our ride was there and we were off. We waited curbside while our driver went to get the car and it was interesting once we got to it. It was a songtheaw (sp?) which is a pickup truck with a roof and 2 rows of seats running down the side. Then there is a back door with no door, just a spot to get in and out. I knew our ride wasn’t air conditioned but had no idea that is what we would have. It was a fine ride to Chiang Dao nest but much longer than anticipated…1 ½ hrs and we thought an hr max. Once we arrived, we were happy to be there and loved the place. We got checked in, had some lunch and decided what to do while we were there. I went with the Thai lunch and Rhonda had a BLT. Both were tasty…mine was pretty spicy but not too much. We decided to do the elephant ride and bamboo raft that afternoon and get a massage the next morning and see the rest of the stuff around the nest before heading back to the airport. We decided it would be too much of a whirlwind to try and do Chiang Mai as well so we just bagged it. The elephant ride was an adventure, that is for sure. Totally not what we expected. They have different tours and the ones with the pics is not what we got! We ride out into the jungle and after a while, Rhonda sees and elephant. She points it out to me and is thinking it is just some guy on his elephant just riding it. Very shortly after, the car stops, the guy comes over and we are out of the car. This, my friends, is our elephant! Next thing we know he is on the ground, Rhonda is climbing on and I’m trying to take a quick pic before I have to get on. There is no group or other elephants around; it is us and the jungle. Once we are on and ready to roll, the car drives away and we are off. Rhonda is a little freaked out at this as its nothing like she imagined or pictured at all. Early on, it is mostly up hill and the big guy is not going very fast, stops frequently and our little elephant trainer dude is yelling at him a lot to go (I assume that’s what he was saying, pretty confident I’m right!). After about 5 minutes, he turns around, says hello (to me only, one of 2 English words we heard from him all day) and points to the front where he is riding. He was offering for me to ride up front. Now, at this moment, Rhonda and I are sitting on a little platform with bars around it and able to hold on and stretch out. Our trainer is riding way up on the elephant’s neck, almost on his head with nothing to hold onto. In his hand he has a bamboo switch and a little hook thing. So, after the offer, I look at Rhonda and ask what she thinks and she says go for it. So we switch places. Wow, this is weird. The first few steps I almost fall off b/c of his back coming up with each step. I solve this problem by moving a little more forward and its fine. The elephant is a little hairy bur not real hairy…feels kinda weird with different hairs everywhere and just the feel of his skin. He seems to stop a lot going up hill, seems to get irritated sometimes and one time snaps off about a 4 inch tree with his trunk without any effort. This is one powerful, powerful animal. At times it is difficult to stay on and I work up a sweat just riding (it is hot and humid so that doesn’t help at all!). Initially, I thought I would be up there only for a short time but I’m up there the rest of our time on the elephant which is another hour or so. Wow! We both had a great experience but I know Rhonda spent half the time praying for the elephant to behave! We ended the ride in a little village in the middle of the mountains in the middle of nowhere in Northern Thailand. It was so cool just to be there and so cool to have a ride like that. After disembarking from the elephant, we get back in the car and head for the ping river and the bamboo raft. Another really cool experience. Now, the raft is just a raft made from bamboo poles and is basically just a float down the river. The water does not run fast and the guide just stands in front and pushes us along with a long bamboo pole. We do this ride for an hr and its very peaceful and a great enjoyment. We see some interesting houses along the way (that look nice like they don’t belong), some total shacks and dumps where you can’t believe people live, a lady doing laundry in the river and every kid we pass knows hello and goodbye. Rhonda and I have a good chat about lots of things and it’s so peaceful just to look around at the mountains and know where you are and take it all in. It really is surreal seeing how different these people are, how they live and how it is so different from what we know as home. It makes you thankful to have the opportunity to see and experience it and thankful for what you have at home. The ride came to an end and it was back to the nest for some relaxing and getting ready for dinner. Rhonda wasn’t feeling that great so she took a nap and I did a little stuff on the computer and relaxed. I woke her up probably around 7pm and we walked over to Chiang Dao nest 2 for dinner. Nest 1 where we were staying serves western food and nest 2, Thai food. We wanted to go for the Thai food and we were glad we did. We ordered a set menu and it was a lot of food and it was tasty. We both really enjoyed it and were glad we made the walk over. Rhonda had her sights on dessert at nest 1 (the crème Brule in particular) but when we got back that was sold out so back to the room it was. We got ready for bed and about 9:30 or 10 I called and go a hold of the bank. Matt Adams had just received my email from the day before (I guess the bank was closed) and said he would get back to me. Within the next 30 mins I had an email explaining they block all ATM transactions in Thailand b/c of high fraud and we can only use our card for cash advance at banks. Ugh, but at least now we know. It’s late and we are ready for bed so lights out it is.
