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| Our accommodation, the Tadkam Village Hotel |
After our visit to the eastern side of Thailand, we were now heading to the far north on an overnight train – destination, Chiang Mai.
We had purchased 2nd class sleeping berths for
16th March, leaving Ayutthaya Train Station at 7:45 pm.
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| A portion of Chiang Mai's ancient city wall |
We were a little nervous, having heard so many
negative stories about overnight trains.
However, they put us in the “Lady Car”
meaning we had a berth in a car that was only for women, with women train
conductors etc.
We had clean sheets and pillows and plenty of
space, so we were all good.
The next morning at 7:15 am, pretty well right
on time, we arrived at Chiang Mai Train Station.
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| Fresh food at Chiang Mai market |
We found a tuk tuk driver, negotiated a price,
and very soon we were at our accommodation, the Tadkam Village Hotel.
The Tadkam was really well located being only
a 5 minute walk to the main area of Chiang Mai.
As soon as we were unpacked, we headed out to
sightsee.
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| Wat Chiang Man |
Chiang Mai has an historic centre and you can
still see parts of the ancient city wall.
The whole centre is surrounded by a
moat, which has been restored and cleaned up. It now provides a lovely waterfront surrounded
by shops, trees, walkways and bridges.
One of the first places we came across inside
the wall, was a very colourful market.
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| The silver wat - Wat Sri Supham |
The fruit and veges looked really
fresh and all the produce was covered.
We felt we could eat healthily and comfortably
here.
Chiang Mai is full of, and famous for, wats
(Buddhist temples), many of which we were aiming to see.
In fact, Chiang Mai is called “the City of
Temples” as there are over 300 of them.
The oldest is Wat Chiang Man which was built
in 1297 CE and was the first temple in Chiang Mai.
The wats we saw were stunning, and we didn’t
see all them by any means as there were just too many.
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| Wat Phra Singh and its chedi |
A chofa is the decorative ornament at the end
of a temple roof.
Wat Sri Suphan, or “the Silver Wat” has good examples of
these.
Most of the wats are heavily gilded and the
ornamentation, shape of the roofline, and number of roofs all contribute to the
uniqueness of each.
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| Wat Inthakin Sadeu Muang |
One of our favourites was the 14th century Wat
Phra Singh.
It has a beautiful entry, intricate gold
patterns on red lacquer inside behind the altar, and ancient murals.
A common sight in the grounds of a wat was a
chedi.
These are a sort of bell-shaped tower also known as a pagoda or stupa.
They are used to house a relic of Buddha or a
famous monk.
We really liked the black and gold Wat
Inthakin Sadeu Muang.
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| Wat Bhuridatta Viharn |
This dark and broody 13th century wat contains a pillar
of the old city called “Inthakin” that is said to be over 1000 years old.
Most of the wats we saw had a small assembly
hall called a viharn.
These are usually locked and not accessible to
women, but the ornamentation of some of them, we thought, was more beautiful
than the main temple.
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| Elephant school |
We had another purpose in coming to Chiang
Mai, and that was to see its famous elephants.
After a lot of research on places that work
with elephants in an ethical way, we found “The Thai Elephant Home”.
Their mission is to rescue elephants from
unhealthy working conditions (e.g. logging) and provide them with a happy life.
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| Learning to feed the elephants |
We firstly had to dress in clothes that
elephants are used to, and that don’t threaten them. For our elephants, this consisted of baggy blue-denim pants with a loose matching top. They were surprisingly comfortable in the heat.
We were going to spend time with them, and
learn how to treat them properly.
So we had to learn the language that elephants
understand, giving basic instruction such as “stop” and “go”
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| Leigh riding her elephant |
We learned how to feed them……and how to ride
them. One of the things we looked at when deciding what elephant company to visit, was how you ride the elephant. We didn't want to ride on a wooden or hard saddle or bench type seat, that could damage the elephants knobby spine.
Our elephants were ridden on the neck, like a mahout. So that meant knowing how to get on and off the elephant's neck, which is no mean feat when you have short legs, and they don't use ladders!
So this is what you do...
So this is what you do...
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| In the river bathing our elephant |
The elephant kneels, and you climb up
onto her bended knee (we both had females).
Once you are standing on her knee, you try to throw your leg over her neck.
When you are on her neck, you give the instruction to stand.
When you are on her neck, you give the instruction to stand.
Then you hang on tight.
It wasn’t easy, but we got there in the end.
After receiving the correct command, these gentle giants took us for a sedate walk to the river. It's about 1 hour away at elephant walk speed.
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| Marg riding her elephant |
Slow but steady!
It was a fantastic ride up there, although not
overly comfortable.
At the river, we managed (with help from their
proper handlers), to get them to lie down in the river so that we could bath
them.
They seemed to love it.
After we all had fun getting wet (luckily, the weather was quite hot), we rode them home and returned them safe and well.
This is how they spend their days now, instead of logging and being in chains all day.
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| After the elephants had sprayed us with water |
Here, there are no chains, they are given the
freedom to roam to and from the river at will, and socialize with other
elephants in their group.
Elephants are sacred in Thailand as they are a
symbol of Buddhism.
They have contributed to the economy of
Thailand for centuries and are the national animal of Thailand.
In 1986, elephants became endangered in
Thailand. However, ethical organisations that rescue elephants
from poor treatment, have helped to restore their numbers.
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| A hill tribe person washing clothes |
Unfortunately, their natural habitats are
still shrinking and now, cannot support them. They are still brutally treated
in the logging industry, farmers continue to kill them when they inadvertently trample their crops, and they are still hunted for their ivory.
Its not a happy fate. Hopefully, the growing elephant tourism industry in Thailand, will address some of the brutality that Thai elephants face.
Our final stop in Chiang Mai was to visit some
of the hill tribes.
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| Marg with a Karen Long neck tribe woman |
This northern part of Thailand is mountainous
and there are around a dozen tribes that live in the mountain’s jungle.
While, as in many communities, outsiders are
not welcomed in many of these tribes, there are a couple that now make a living
from tourism.
We visited one of them, and it was a Karen
Long neck tribe.
It was interesting to see how the villagers
survived and thrived.
Their tourism focus mostly comes from the
women who weave beautifully ornate and colourful clothing, which they then
sell.
We had a nice time wandering around and buying some woven goods to take back home with us.
We had a nice time wandering around and buying some woven goods to take back home with us.
Then we made the long trek back to Chang Mai by jeep, and packed up ready to
leave the following day.
Our next stop is Laos. We're looking forward to travelling into a country that we have heard so much about.