Chiang Mai

Our second leg of the trip was Chiang Mai. We loved Bangkok, but we definately prefered the slower pace of Chiang Mai. The mountains were breautiful and the temples were a lot different than in Bangkok. The night we flew in we started right off with the Chiang Mai Zoo night safari. I thought it might be fun for the kids, but the whole night aspect of it made it really a fun adventure. They had a tiger show, a preditors show, and then the safari was riding through the animals at night. Some of them got up close and friendly. It was really fun Defintely worth the stop. And I forgot to mention we got picked up in a party van!

Day 2 in Chiang Mai we headed to Doi Suthep Temple, which is situated at the top of the big mountain next to the city. When we got up to the top and tried to see the view it was a bit smoggy, but the temple was gorgeous.

Then we headed to the Silver Temple, made entirely out of tin. It was very intricte with a lot of modern accents in it. It had Tokyo, along with many other big cities, listed on the outside and even had the Avengers on it!

After we went to a small restaurant and got Khao Soi, a delicious noodle curry dish. We also go mango sticky rice and some other curry dishes. They were all delicious and so thankful for our guides suggesting it.

We made one more stop at a temple (and unfortunately the name I have forgotten). There was dancing, that the kids enjoyed dancing along to. There were also some huge sacred trees on the property. The afternoon we just hung out at our airbnb and relaxed/watched a Christmas movie. In the evening we checked out the mall near us and ate there. Unfortunately Pace got sick so him and I headed home and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

The next morning poor Pace was still not doing well so Jake, Jane, and him stayed home and rested. The rest of us headed to Doi Inthanon National Park. Our drive included a steep curvy drive up. At the higher elevation it was much cooler. Our first stop was Waterfall Wchirathan. It was powerful and we were getting wet with all the mist from it (which made us a bit chilly), Kai hated that. But the waterfall was stunning.

Next we hiked near a village where they grew rice and coffee. It was home to the Karen people, who were friendly guides. One guide took us on a hike to see the moutains and rice fields. It wasn't the right season for rice, but it was still a beautiful hike. The waterfall at the end was beautiful, but we couldn't get as close to it as we would have liked because they were building a new bridge to view it. After they took us into town to check out their hand woven scarves, bags, and clothing. We even got to see one of the artists at work! After we went to the coffee/tea shop and drank chamomile tea.

For lunch we ate at a resteraunt in the middle of a small village with a beatiful valley all around us. They had all kinds of delacacies there so Mark and I decided to brave it and try the fried frogs. Have to say that I didn't enjoy it. They left the bones in and they really couldn't be seperated so it was like eading a bony dried thing. Not my favorite. But the other food we ordered was lovely. In fact the papya salad I had was probably one of my favorite dishes on the trip. Kai fell asleep at the table.

Then we hiked to the highest point in Thailand. It was a beautiful forest, but kind of a disappointment since there was no view. But hey, we can say we were at the highest point. Unfortunately when we got back in the car he threw up. So at the next stop we just sat and relaxed as everyone else enjoyed the temple at Doi Inthanon. It had beautiful gardens around it. Then since we weren't feeling the best we headed home. Jake took the healthy kids to the cool food truck/food stand area near ourplace and I stayed home with the sick kiddos.

The next morning everyone was acting happy and normal and all fevers were gone so we decided to keep our plans. Elephant and Sticky waterfall day! Elephant day was AMAZING! We went to an elephant sanctuary where we first came in and fed the elephants buckets of bananas. Then we fed them corn stalks. Then we took pictures with a smart elephant, who gave hugs, put hats on, gave kisses, and posed. After they showed us how to make "vitamins" for the elephants. The kids loved grinding all the ingridients together, but not so much the sticky messy job of forming the balls. After we gave the elephants the vitamins. Lastly we got to give the elephants a bath, which was so fun to brush them down (although I was a bit nervous one was going to step on my foot or sit on someone). Some of our kids were too affraid to touch the elephants, but everyone enjoyed this adventure. They cooked us a big batch of pad thai and we ate lots of yummy fruit.

After we drove to Den Sali Sri Muang Gan Temple. It was really ornate and colorful. It had dragons, elephants, peacocks, and spectacular wood work and art. It was pretty unique. But it was hot, so we were excited to move on.

Our last stop of the day was Butong Sticky Waterfall. It was SO FUN! I don't think sticky is the right word. More just not slippery and easy to climb. The spring water leaves a mineral deposite that feels like a rough cement. We had fun climbing up it several times. Some of the littles only wanted to do it once and there were perfect swimming holes for them to play in at the top. So glad we added this stop to our itinerary. After we headed home all tuckered out and enjoyed dinner at the food truck area again, yum!

The next day we said goodbye to the Erwins as the continued on to Phuket. We stayed another day in Chiang Mai. We went to the Poo Poo Paper Factory, where they make paper out of elephant poo. Yes it's a thing. And no, Elephant poo does not smell bad. The kids loved it. They helped out with the whole process. They boiled down the poo into a soup, then we saw the machine that mixed it for a long time, and then the kids got to form the paper on the trays to dry. When we were all through with the toor we decorated elephat poo paper notebooks. It sounds gross, but it was so fun. Unfortunately, around the end of our tour Grant started feeling under the weather so we decided to head back to the airbnb to relax. I snuck off to do a little shopping and then Jake picked up a yummy dinner from a resteraunt we'd passed several times that sold roast chiken and papya salad (and since I had loved the papya salad earlier we got it again). The roast chicken was amazing, but the papya salad was good (just not as good as the previous place).

The next day (Christmas Eve), we flew home. We had a little baggage snaffu so we drove home minus a carseat late on Christmas Eve. We woke up a bit under the weather and spent Christmas with some throwing up kiddos. While the illness was a douzy and lasted a good long while, our trip was still wonderful. Thailand was amazing place with friendly people and beatiful temples, landscape, and colors.