Girls of SK House

I closed out my time in Chiang Mai, Thailand with a bunch of fun girls I met in my Guest House, SK House. There were two Aussies (who happen to be Indian), and two Irish girls. We had a great time, and if any of you visit the "Chiang Mai Saloon" anytime soon, I encourage you to look for our post! (We're not vandals, the place provides markers and encourages wall art!)

We went for a trek into the countryside of the North. We visited some Thai tribespeople (originally refugees from Burma/China who are now settled in the hills of N. Thailand). It was nice to visit, but it felt a bit forced - they just wanted to sell us their wares, and communication was tough, as we don't speak their tribal language, and the only English they know is along the lines of, "You buy today," and "Good price for you." The only purchase I made was a bracelet from an enterprising little 5 year old. The bracelet was made of some embroidery string scraps and local seeds and beans from the forest all around us. It cost pennies, and fell apart after a few days, but was really lovely while it lasted!

We also went for an elephant ride, where the elephant owners are pretty sly. In addition to paying to ride their cute beasts, they encourage you to buy a bag of food (sugar cane & bananas) so you can feed your elephant along the way. Turns out the elephants have been conditioned to expect these feedings, so once you sit on the bench for your ride, the elephant's trunk is immediately over his head and breathing smelly elephant exhale in your face till he gets a treat. Once fed, the smart elephant will walk four or five steps, and then stop, throwing his trunk back again, and not moving until he gets another treat!! Cleverly, the owners have set up stands all along the elephant walking trails in the woods from which they'll gladly sell you more sugar cane & bananas so you can keep your beast moving. What a scam, huh? But seriously, with that smelly, drippy, windtunnel of a trunk in your face, you'd keep throwing food at it too! So not only did we pay to ride, but we also wound up paying for the animals' food for the day! Smart....very smart of those elephant owners!

Another of our activity highlights was the bamboo rafting, which consisted of us holding on for dear life and getting soaked as we rode down a little creek on ten pieces of hollow bamboo that our "guide" had just tied together with strips of bicycle tires. Maybe if we hadn't screamed like girls (to the guide's delight) every time he forced the raft to sink a bit, we would have stayed on a steadier course!

xoxo,

Mere