Temples, Toenails, and Elephants

The train rolled out of Bangkok 40 minutes late, but we weren’t bothered. We had booked berths in a 2nd class sleeper carriage. This meant we started in seats facing each other but once the man came around to make up the beds we had a bed above, and the two seats became a bed also. Both beds came with a thin mattress, sheet, blanket, pillow, and curtain. It was very cosy.

Neither of us got a good sleep. The train is noisy and the track was bumpy in places. But it was a train and it swayed and lurched its way north to Chiang Mai. We woke early and could enjoy the views as we approached our destination. Once in Chiang Mai, only 20 minutes late, we disembarked and negotiated with a taxi driver to get us to our guesthouse.

Having checked in we had a break before braving the heat and humidity. Our first objective upon heading out was to get some lunch, which we did. Then we wandered more or less randomly to see what we could see. We didn’t really see much of note; temples, shops, tour agencies, other tourists, locals going about their lives, and a recreated part of the city wall and part of the moat.

Then it was back to the guesthouse for a break. To be honest, we were both a bit over the heat. Kraut especially was struggling to motivate herself to venture out into the heat. This meant we were starting to reevaluate what we wanted to do next.

It was another early start on Monday. We were up at 0630 to get ready for our 0700 – 0730 pickup window. We were off to play with Elephants. They picked us up in a pick-up truck (seemed appropriate) with a covered seating area in the tray. There were already four others there and we picked up two more people who sat in the back of the double cab. Then we drove south, stopping for coffee on the way out of town. About an hour later we arrived at the elephant place. Halfway there Kiwi realised he had left his camera behind. D’oh! We figured trying to keep it clean and dry would be a distraction anyway.

The first thing we did was change into what Kiwi called clown clothes. The uniform, as they called it, consisted of bright yellow loose-fitting trousers and an equally brightly patterned shirt. But it meant our own clothes wouldn’t get dirty. Having changed we then learnt how to make a vitamin ball for the elephants. The food available to them is not quite what they get in the wild so requires supplements. The recipe calls for tamarind, cubed raw sugar, salt, unmilled rice, and banana. Mash them together with a mortar and pestle, then wrap in a banana leaf. The banana adds flavour so the elephants will eat this mixture.

We then walked to where the elephants were. They ranged in age from 18 months to 30 (and pregnant). One of the younger ones is known to be a bit naughty, something they are trying to discourage without much obvious success. In addition to the vitamin ball, we also had bananas and sugar cane for them, but they preferred the bananas over the cane.

Having disposed of those goodies we then brought them bundles of elephant grass for their further eating pleasure. Once they had finished eating we walked with them to the mud hole where we joined them to spread mud over their skin, which the elephants and tourists appeared to enjoy in equal measure. From there we went into the stream where we bathed the elephants and got wet. One of the young males has been trained to squirt people on command, which led to much mirth.

A shower for the humans followed before lunch and then we drove to a waterfall for a swim. This was nice, the water was a nice refreshing temperature. After our swim, it was back on the truck and a drive back to Chiang Mai. It was a fun morning

There are seven or eight elephant places around Chiang Mai, only a few allowing elephants to be ridden. One of them has elephants doing tricks as if they are in a circus. All these places claim to be doing the right thing for the elephants, but some are just in it for the money. But some, like the one we visited, put money back into the community. Or so they claim. The one we went to offers financial aid to the hill people in return for them giving up their working elephants. So the idea is that they look after retired elephants. Which made us wonder why they are breeding elephants. The anwser? People want to see baby elephants, so to keep the money coming in to look after the elephants they have to have baby elephants.

Once back at our guesthouse we showered, had a break, then walked down the road to get a Thai massage. Thai massage is different from a ‘normal’ massage. It is done on a mattress on the floor instead of a massage table. This allows the masseuse to get stuck in properly and to use her hands, arms, elbows, and to kneel on you as she pushes, pulls, prods, pummels, pounds, stretches, and twists your body into a state of relaxation. It is painful at times, but other times you can find yourself drifting off to sleep despite the discomfort. The feeling at the end is one of relief, but also of having all the tension in your body run off, like a melting ice-cream running down the cone. The massage lasted an hour and we fair floated back to our room. Later we had dinner in a nearby restaurant, and that was the conclusion to an enjoyable day.

The plan for Tuesday was to see Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the big temple on the hill overlooking Chiang Mai. This is one of the “must sees” and we figured we must see it. We went early to avoid the heat and the tour groups. We got there on a songthaew, which is a pick-up truck with a covered passenger area on the tray. The passengers sit facing each other on lengthwise benches, there is space for 10 comfortably. You can feel a little vulnerable sitting at the back as there isn’t much between you and falling out.

We found a songthaew heading to the university, where we would change to another going up to the temple. The fare on the songthaews is per person, assuming it is full. The driver offered to take just us two for a higher than normal fare but it wasn’t much more and we took up the offer. Once at the university, we changed to another songthaew and that driver made us the same offer, which we also accepted. Up the windy, steep hill we went, holding on so as not to fall out or onto the floor.

Once at the temple, it was cooler, but at just over 1,000 metres we half expected that. We walked up the 306 steps to the temple. Once inside there were signs asking people to remove their shoes, so we did. We left them in a locker rather than on the rack (Kiwi likes his expensive sandals). Then we walked up a few more stairs into the temple itself. It was nice but we had seen more interesting temples, like Wat Arun. The most interesting part was walking up the stairs which were flanked by two long dragons. There were a few small tour groups there when we arrived, and more arrived while we were there. And yes, most of them were Chinese.

We walked all around the temple and the grounds, before reclaiming our footwear and walking back down the stairs to where the songthaews gather like birds at a freshly sown field. We found one heading to town and waited for more passengers. This took a while, but eventually, four others showed up and our driver decided that was enough. While waiting, one of the weirder things we saw was a labrador on which someone had painted black eyebrows.

The others got off at the university but we went into the old city. Overall we thought the temple was nice, and the views of Chiang Mai were ok, but it was disappointing. There was nothing there that made us glad we hadn’t missed seeing it.

We had received an email from a friend who had been sick in Chiang Mai a few years ago and one of the staff at the guesthouse he was staying in looked after him. He asked if we could go and say hi to her, so we did. The guesthouse was still there (they come and go), and she was still working there. She wasn’t sure why we were there initially but when we showed her a photo of the toy elephant she gave him she remembered him and smiled broadly. It was a nice moment for all of us and we took a photo to share with our friend.

Walking on from there we found a nice place for lunch and then Kiwi got a long-overdue pedicure, his first and only to date. He said it was quite pleasant, especially having his feet washed for him, but a little uncomfortable at times. From there we set out to walk back to our guesthouse. We stopped to look in some shops, and as we were leaving one of them it started to rain. Just a little bit, but it soon turned into a downpour. We arrived back very wet. It was the wet season there, but the rains had been very late coming.

We spent most of the afternoon discussing where to go next, how to get there, and what to do there. We had many options to consider and a lot of information to digest. Some of the information we had was out of date and/or incomplete, which caused some frustration. However, we did make a decision. Then we changed our minds. After further discussion and research, a final decision was made.

On Wednesday we got the bus north to Chiang Rai. This was the first step in what would be a loop back to Bangkok. This would involve buses, tuk-tuks, boats, and trains.

We had hoped to get to Chiang Rai a bit earlier than we did but the early buses were full. On the upside, this meant a nice leisurely start to the day. We arrived just after 1500, walked the 100 metres to our hostel, checked in, dropped our stuff, then walked back to the bus station to get a local bus to the white temple. Officially named Wat Rong Khun, the temple is, well, white, which makes a change from the usual colourful structures. Only about 20 years old, the temple is the work of a local artist and is still a work in progress. To us, it looked like the artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat, has watched Tim Burton’s “The Corpse Bride” a few too many times. All the bones and skulls have meaning apparently.

Inside the ordination hall, where no photography is allowed, in addition to 3 Buddhas, the walls are covered by murals. Normally one would expect murals illustrating the life and teachings of Buddha, but these feature images of good and evil with pop culture references thrown in. We saw characters from movies such as Star Wars, Superman, Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as Elvis and various cartoon characters.

We only had about 45 minutes to enjoy the temple as it closed at 1700, but what we saw was impressive, and to philistines such as ourselves, more fun than most places of worship. And this is a place of worship, it is just a bit different from the norm. Taking photos was challenging due to the sun going down in almost exactly the wrong place (photographically speaking) and having to wait for the usual selfie seeking narcissists to get out of the way. These included two US of American girls who had obviously gone there with the express intention of getting photos of themselves. With all the makeup and the not-normal travel clothing, they looked like Kardashian wannabes.

The staff at the temple were equipped with megaphones and whistles to keep visitors in line, which was a bit intrusive though probably necessary. It was also a shame that large parts of the grounds were closed off, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

We thought we might get rained on as we could see the rain clouds gathering when we arrived but they seemed to evaporate. No rain. The local farmers must be going nuts, or to their local temples regularly.

We went to bed that night knowing that we would spend most of the next day in Laos.

Fun Fact ; Elephants can only sweat through their toenails

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