I am now on the sleeper train leaving Chaing Mai for Bangkok. The train takes 14 hours and cost 650 Bhat, which is roughly 20 dollars. Although it is a very long trip, I am actually pretty excited about it. So far (unless we make any other stops to pick other people up) I have two seats to myself! Taking the train instead of the bus has many perks. There is much more room and each person gets a bed. It is also really nice to get lost in the beautiful scenery as it passes. It's mesmerizing, not to mention a great way to see some more of Thailand I wouldn't be able to see otherwise. Thailand is truly a beautiful country full of lush green jungles and mountainous landscapes.
It am pretty sad to leave Chaing Mai. It was such a cute city and it was filled with really wonderful people. So far I have nothing but great things to say about the Thai people and culture. They are friendly, happy, beautiful, and loving. Everyone I have met (besides the tuk tuk drivers who want to rip off the foreang...what Thai call foreigners) has been extreamely helpful and from what I can tell, very genuine.
Because it is Dani and Morgan's final days of their three month vacation, they are going out with a "bang". I have, in turn, started my trip with one! It is actually a great thing, although I have already spent more than I had planned, to be able to have people that I know to do some of these awesome activities with.
My second day in Chaing Mai, we went to a place called the tiger kingdom. Although I know that the tigers have been sedated and that there are probably a ton of reasons why it is not a good place; being next to, hugging, and petting a tiger was CRAZY! My favorite part by far was playing with the baby tigers. They were not sedated at all and they were like little playful kitties. They sat on my lap, bit my belt and pants and just had a great time. They were sooooo cute, I just wanted to take one home!
The next day, we went ziplining and bungee jumping. The thrill and endorphins that were running through my body were unexplainable. Ziplining high above the ground was incredible, but bungee jumping was breathtaking...literally. I was really going to chicken out and just watch Dani and Morgan do it. I am so so glad I went through with it. I am now going to take it with me the rest of my trip and never miss out on any opportunities as a result of fear. In Thailand they have a saying "why not?" I only live once, why not! As a result of that saying, I faced my fear and had one of the most amazing experiences of my life!
Our last day in Chaing Mai we had elephant day. This was definitely my FAVORITE thing that I have done so far. We went to an elephant sanctuary, which is actually a very good place for the elephaants. In Thailand, the elephants were used for logging, but when the king outlawed that, they had no work and no where to go. There are over 5000 elephants in Thailand and if they were all allowed to be wild, there would be no forrests left. so to prevent this problem, the Thai people set up elephant camps. They allow people to come in and see, bathe, train, and ride the elephants and in turn they have the money to feed the elephants so the forrests are able to stay in tact. It was an amazing experience although at one point the elephant I was riding wanted bananas so bad that I was almost falling off of it and hanging from a thatched roof!
Elephant training words in Thai:
go- bye
stop- how
left or right- chucke, chucke
back- pai
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