11/06/2023 From Koh Tao to Chiang Mai
Today involved lots of travelling in order to get from the islands to Northern Thailand:
- A jeepney to the port
- A boat to Surat Thani
- A bus to the airport
- A flight to Chiang Mai
- A taxi to the hotel
And “just like this” we had arrived in Chiang Mai, only 14 hours later.
12/06/2023 Chiang Mai
What to expect
Have a fresh smoothie bowl
In the morning we had a very tasty smoothie bowl, a shot of ginger and a coconut. So we felt refreshed again!
Do a free walking tour
Our walking tour was quite interesting (even though the guide’s accent was hard to understand).
Visit lots of temples in the old town
We saw three big temples inside the old town that is surrounded by a moat. However, I wasn’t allowed to enter one of the temples. There was a sign outside of one of the temples in Chiang Mai that explained why women can’t enter:
[…] It is a sacred place and worshiped by Thai people, especially those from Chiang Mai. […] Women are prohibited to enter because they menstruate. It is believed that it humiliates and ruins the sanctity of the city pillar. Besides, men who dress inappropriately are not allowed to walk in. It is believed that any disobeying of the rules will cause social instability.“
Have pad thai
The tour ended on a food and flower market, from where we walked to a local restaurant that only sold one thing: pad thai! It was really tasty and was served in a banana leaf, wrapped in an omelette and only cost 1,20€!
Visit the night bazaar
Afterwards we walked over the night market, bought some more souvenirs for our (way too full) backpacks and enjoyed a crêpe for dessert on the street food market.
Get a Thai massage
In the evening we treated ourselves to a massage, which, unfortunately, was quite bad. Next time we will go after Google reviews or local recommendations again 😉.
13/06/2023 Chiang Mai
Today has certainly been one of the best days on this entire trip for me. We got to bath a baby elephant in the mud!
Feed some elephants in the wild
When we booked this tour the previous night, we were a bit worried that it might be too touristy and commercialized. But as soon as we had to step onto the back of a truck for the last 15 minutes, since the roads weren’t wide enough for our previous minivan, we knew that this tour would be anything but commercialized.
Feeding time
The sanctuary has got five elephants including one baby elephant.
First, we fed the elephants. Elephants eat 300kg of food a day! Therefore, you can imagine how fast the elephants picked up the bananas we fed them with their trunk and then literally inhaled them.
A walk in the forest
Next we went on a walk with the elephants in the national park, where the elephants walked right beside us!
Back in 2012 I rode the elephants in Chiang Mai while sitting on a saddle on their back. I’m so glad that this is banned all over Thailand now and that the locals take better care of the elephants these days!
Let’s get muddy
After that we had lunch and then did the most amazing activity with the elephants: we bathed with them in the mud. The baby elephant seemed so happy and really jumped into the mud, while we put mud all over him and his fellows. My heart almost couldn’t take this amount of cuteness.
Wash it off
In the end we walked over to the waterfall with the elephants and washed them off in the water.
Finally, we ate some fruit, which the elephants finished eating – right at our table!
This was such an incredible and unique experience and was one of my highlights of the entire world trip!
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