Our second day in Chaing Mai had been arranged by Johnny at TAT so again we were picked up in a van and hosted by a fella named Bot. It was such an exhilarating day. We started at the Elephant Camp an hour out of town. We rode into the jungle, 2 of us in a seat and a driver(mahout) sitting on the beasts head. We LOVED it. Had to keep shoving bananas in their trunk to keep them happy. We laughed when Jamie had to ride a baby 6 year old and the rest of us were towering above him on our 25-35 year old elephants. After we finished they met us at the finish with photos of us on them, sold for only 100 baht ($3) - big difference from Canadian tourist traps.
From there we proceeded to a Hill Tribe village where the children ran to the van to meet us begging for 5 baht for their home made necklaces. We also bought silk scarves from the women making them. No English here. Bot did explain the issues and history of these migrant families to us. We saw a woman who had the blackest teeth ever. She had chewed beetle nut for years. We got pictures!! Jamie was offered to try some beetle nut -- he did not refuse the offer!!! We had fun watching his face turn green as he said it tasted like dirt. He also said he got an instant "head rush".
Next - the million dollar swim! Worth the whole trip. We climbed down a very steep hill (and back up after) about a thousand steps and had a swim in a waterfall. We were amazed that the force is too strong to get close to it.The current makes you swim in one spot like on a treadmill. We had to swim very hard to make it to the waterfall but we ALL did it. Jamie was helping Esther come back from the waterfall and he stepped into a deep hole. This scared Esther into thinking she was going down and going to die. (Esther is not a good swimmer) She ended up on top of Jamie almost drowning him. Our "near miss" was that Norrie just about died climbing back up those stairs. To be fair- she had major surgery only 6 weeks ago, and it was HOT and STEEP.
From there another thrill. Rafting down the river on bamboo rafts. 2 people sat in the middle and one stands on the back with a pole to help steer, then a local uses a pole in front to guide us. Raft is a very strong word for these floating apparatas, there are 5-7 bamboo poles held together with strips of old tires - And not all that securely at that. The water was peaceful and then bouts of small rapids to keep it exciting. We even saw elephants at the edge, stationed by the water by their camp. There were lots of Thai tourists spending a day at the river parked along the riverside too. The really amazing thing was at the end of our one hour ride they take the rafts apart and transport them back to the start as separate bamboo poles. Labour intensive!
The day had come to an end and we rode back with Some Aussie trekkers. We later found an Internet cafe near our guest house and did some blogging. This is when we got separated and Jamie abandoned the women. Actually Jamie's story is that he was bored with the computer stuff, so was drinking a beer at a table beside the internet cafe, and he didn't see us leave. Thinking Jamie had already left, the women went and got a hour massage and then a wonderful Italian supper (for about $6 each). Arlene and Esther still had energy left and went back to empty the night market of their goods. If nothing else they know how to shop!!
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