Chiang Mai

This is Chiang Mai, Lisa's last stop in South East Asia before returning home. Chiang Mai is in the north of Thailand, up in the hill country. Of all the places we visited it seemed like it would be the easiest to live in. . . . lots of good food, book stores, coffee shops, etc. . . . It wasn't all that big, which made it easy to get around, but it was big enough to have a mall and a cinema. The cities greatest asset is what is around it. . . . awesome countryside complete with jungle and hill tribe villages

On our first day there we took a nice long hike from a Buddhist temple on top of a mountain, through the jungle, past several waterfalls, until we finally came upon a road and got a ride back to town. When we started, we weren't really sure where we were going. We just took some local guys advice. While we were having lunch I noticed a path leading into the jungle. I asked this guy where it went. Surprisingly, his English was good enough to tell me that he had heard that it was a two hour hike to a series of waterfalls, and that if we continued on past them, we would eventually hit a road and wave down a ride back to town. . . . he stressed that he had never actually been that way, only that he had been told that it could be done. We immediately set out and were not disappointed. The trail led us exactly where he said that it would. Even better, we had a companion/guide. A very friendly dog followed us the entire way from beginning to end, a distance of several miles. He was obviously well taken care of. We were concerned that he would have to find his way back home, but we figured he probably goes off on adventures with strangers all the time. Whatever the case, he stuck by us like glue for several hours.
The next day was spent hanging around town. . . . For Lisa's last day, we decided that we wanted to make the most of it so we made arrangements to go out into the countryside, visit some hill tribe villages, check out another waterfall, go bamboo rafting, and, best of all, ride elephants.

Entering an unknown wilderness:


Our guide:





Lisa:

Back in Chiang Mai:

Hill Tribe Karen Village:

Trekking to waterfall:

Hill Tribe Hmong Village:
Outside:
Inside:
Elephant camp:
Our Ride: Riding an elephant might seem like a relaxing way to spend an afternoon, but it was in fact one of the scariest things I've ever done in my life. . . . elephants are very big animals and when your riding on one's back, you are completely at its mercy. . . . not to mention that the trail was up and down crazy mudslide hills. . . . I thought for sure the elephant was going to slip and fall over. . . . I had to trust that these guys knew what they were doing. . . . it will not be forgotten!