taking a vacation (part 5)

The last section of our trip was spent up north in Chiang Mai. Once the capital of the northern Lanna kingdom it’s been heavily influenced by Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. The city and the surrounding areas were incorporated into the Thai kingdom shortly after the fall of Ayutthaya but didn’t become an official province of Siam (Thailand) until 1933. It’s a big city with a small town feel and an interesting mix of Thai and western influences. There are a ton of tourists so you’ll find many people who at least speak a smattering of English and lots of restaurants and shops that cater to western tastes but also some amazing distinctly Thai cuisine found just in the area. We spent more than our fair share of cash at some local art galleries but also hours (and again, lots of money) wandering through the huge night market.

We stayed at a guest house, which is just one step up from a hostel really. We had to buy our own toilet paper and there were no maid services but we had a private room and a bathroom. And we paid a grand total of $10 a night. Not too shabby! Plus the staff was awesome. They were there to help grant our every whim and answer all our questions. In some ways it was my favorite place we stayed (but oh how I’d hoped for one more hot bath!)

Our first night there we were enrolled in a Thai cooking class. We walked to the local market where they explained some of the ingredients and showed us what to buy and then we spent the next 3 ½ hours making 4 different dishes and eating until we were stuffed. We even came home with a cookbook so I’ll be trying my hand at a few things on my own once I’ve got a kitchen again.

Another day we rented motorbikes and drove up a winding road on the nearby mountain to the summer palace, past several waterfalls and shrines, and to a hilltribe village where we browsed the local wares and ate lunch. Our last full day in town we’d booked a tour to see elephants and tigers. We were picked up at 6:15 am by a darling local lady who drove us around all day and talked non-stop. We asked her questions about the culture and Buddhism and her life. She was a fount of knowledge! She took us up into the mountains just after sunrise and fed us breakfast which she’d bought at a market on the way and then it was off to meet the elephants. We met up with a few other people bringing our group to 6. They divided us up, 2 each on an elephant that we were told how to control (more or less) and then we ventured out into the trees where we realized the elephants really just did what they wanted. The mahouts eventually led us all back to the nearby river where we helped bathe the elephants and engaged in a water fight with the great beasts (one guess as to who won!) After a couple of hours with them we went back to freshen up (ie wash the elephant snot and mud off) and eat a snack.

Then it was off to what was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. The Tiger Kingdom. It’s basically a glorified petting zoo but you get to pet tigers! I have had a fascination with tigers my whole life, mostly because my grandmother had a fascination with tigers. She would always comment on how when the millennium came she was going to have a pet tiger. And even though she passed away when I was young, every time I see a tiger it makes me think of her. There is some controversy around any facility with human/animal interaction. Is it safe? Are the animals treated well? I don’t have all the answers but this one does seem to have a decent reputation. The animals are raised from babies and are used to humans, they’re fed frequently and watched carefully. There was a part of me that felt a little guilty about it, as I do any time I see an animal caged no matter how well they are treated. But when the alternative is for them to be hunted to extinction in the wild, well, at least there are places like this that will ensure that my children will know what an actual tiger looks like. And I had to leave my conscience with that (same with our elephant encounters).

Anyway, we paid our money and then went in to wait our turn. The enclosures are grouped by size; largest cats, medium, small, and smallest. We paid for smallest, small and large and started with the large. A trained handler goes in with you and walks you from animal to animal (there were 4 or 5 in each enclosure) where you get a chance to sit next to them, pet them, and pose for pictures. The largest ones were the most docile, basically sitting and sleeping hardly twitching a whisker while we stroked and petted their stomachs and tails and feet. They were so majestic! Seeing them up close and personal was amazing. My arm was as long as one of their feet but their paws were just like your housecat’s only bigger. And all I wanted to do was stroke one of their noses! But that’s a no-no. J

The smaller cats were more frisky. We got to pet a few but we also watched them chase each other around and splash in the nearby pool. And then we got to go see the smallest ones which were just a couple of months old. They were truly like overgrown kittens. I had one on its back while I rubbed its belly and I’m sure if it had been a little quieter I could have heard it purr! And Kat had a little more lively experience. While she was scratching one on the back it reared its head around and bit her hand! At first she wasn’t too concerned, like a kitten they just sort of nibble but soon that nibble turned into a real bite. She ended up with a nice puncture wound and three matching teeth marks. But even she agreed that it was worth it. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. And I’m certain my grandma was watching us from heaven that day.

Our last stop of the day was for a ziplining adventure through the jungle. Again I was worried that my heights thing might do me in but I had no problems (though I did do my fair share of screaming and squealing and the guides took full advantage of the opportunity to scare and tease me!) There were a bunch of zip line tracks but we also had a couple of swinging rope bridges and ladders and some abseiling as well. It was kind of fun to mix it up a bit and gave you a chance to see things just a little differently each time. The organization that did it went all out giving us certificates of completion and t-shirts and a late lunch when we finished. Our drive back to the city was a bit quieter despite our friendly guide. It had been a long, adventure-filled day and a great way to end our trip.

The next day we had to do a lot of repacking to fit in all of our new purchases and we spent our last couple of hours adding to those purchases, eating some delicious food, and getting in one last cheap massage before we went our separate ways at the airport. It was a fantastic trip and I’m so grateful that I was able to have a little bit of home around for the holidays. It made everything just that much better. That may be all the touring I get a chance to do before I leave, too. I don’t have any breaks from school until the end of the year and I’m shooting for a trip to Australia on the way home which means I’ll need to save every cent of my measly paycheck. But I think I hit most of the highlights; the cities, the ruins, the beaches, the mountains. Not too shabby!

a bucket list moment.

One of the top 5 on my list of things to do while in Thailand was to ride an elephant. And I got a chance to cross that one off my list during our orientation week. We all loaded onto buses and drove a couple of hours west of Bangkok to Kanchanaburi where we were able to visit an elephant refuge. Situated right on the river it was exactly what I had pictured when I thought about Thailand; thick green jungle, rather primitive buildings, giant golden Buddhas rising out of the trees, water buffalo trudging through the water, birds of all colors, mountains rising in the distance. It was beautiful!

We spent the early afternoon with the elephants. They put on little shows for us, playing the harmonica, basketball and lifting people up with their trunks. And then we got to ride them! They’re so sweet and majestic but it broke my heart just a little to see them put to work for our amusement. No amount of ‘proper treatment’ can make up for what their lives in the wild should be. It made me think twice about visiting a tiger sanctuary (number 1 on my list!) There are horrible rumors about how they’re treated, drugged to remain docile for the tourists. As much as I want to see and pet a tiger I just don’t know that I can do that in good conscience.

Anyway, later that afternoon we were treated to a float down the river on a bamboo raft ala Swiss Family Robinson. It was the first bit of stillness and peace I’d really experienced since coming to Thailand. Bangkok was definitely the opposite of both of those things. It was also the first time my brain had had a moment to sort of process all the information and emotions that had been thrust at me solid for over a week. I sort of melted into it and regenerated for a few minutes. It was great!

Next was a stop at the famous bridge spanning the river. There's a movie, you may have heard of it or at least its catchy theme song, though it promotes the mispronunciation and spelling of the river’s name as Kwai (kwy) when it’s actually Kwae (pronounced like quack without the ‘ck’ at the end) all about the horrible conditions surrounding the building of the bridge during WWII. Thousands of POWs were killed during construction and it was bombed several times. The bridge is still there and still in use but now it’s surrounded by t-shirt and refreshment stalls. Progress? Hard to say. But it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon and a much-appreciated respite from the week’s events.

Happiness is...a good book. (Summer Reading edition #7)

The One and Only Ivan
Author: Katherine Applegate
Illustrator: Patricia Castelao
Published: 2012
Pages: 305
Age Range: 8-12
Genre: Fiction
Cover Score: ****
Overall Score: *****
Rating: PG

First Sentence: I am Ivan. I am a gorilla. It’s not as easy as it looks.

Ivan lives at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Living with Mack, the owner, for most of his life, Ivan has come to accept his circumstances and make the most of them by forgetting what little he remembers of his family and life in the jungle. His friends (Stella the elephant, Bob ‘a dog of uncertain heritage’, Julia the custodian’s daughter) are a comfort to him and all is well until a baby elephant arrives to help boost the failing circus’ revenue. Ruby is inquisitive, constantly pestering Ivan and the others for stories and answers to all of her questions. She inadvertently helps Ivan remember what his life was like before and the animals decide they must do what they can to make sure that Ruby has a better life than the one she’ll get in her small cage at the mall. Ivan has always been an artist, creating images out of mud when he was tiny and crayons and paint once Mack discovered that people would pay for a gorilla original. Ivan uses his talent (with a little help from Julia’s interpretations and understanding) to start a campaign to get them homes in zoos where they will have room to roam and grow.

Told in first person verse-like narrative, we see life through Ivan’s eyes and thoughts. We feel his pain as he is taken from his family and his longing for gorilla companionship and the taste of the wild again.

"Some animals live privately, unwatched, but that is not my life.
My life is flashing lights and pointing fingers and uninvited visitors. Inches away, humans flatten their little hands against the wall of glass that separates us.
The glass says you are this and we are that and that is how it will always be."**

“You could try remembering a good day, “ Stella suggest. ‘“That’s what I do when I can’t sleep.”
Stella remembers every moment since she was born: every scent, every sunset, every slight, every victory.
“You know I can’t remember much,” I say.
“There’s a difference,” Stella says gently, “between ’can’t remember’ and ‘won’t remember.’”
“That’s true,” I admit. Not remembering can be difficult, but I’ve had a lot of time to work on it.

The harsh realities of life are not glossed over. Humans are shown in light of their cruelty to animals. Death, neglect, ignorance; all are touched upon and a young sensitive reader might find it a bit too much. But it’s not graphic and opens the doors for great discussion and most will have their eyes opened to a reality they may not have otherwise imagined. And all is not dismal. There is much hope in the friendships and outlooks of the animals and many humans who seek to do right by them. The wise Stella even states:

“A good zoo is how humans make amends.”

Applegate uses Ivan’s memories to shed light on some of the gorilla’s habits and natural tendencies, particularly in family groupings, food, nurturing, displays of emotion, habitats etc. These are balanced nicely in the narrative giving readers some facts about the animals she’s humanized.

I loved Ivan’s story. While animals are definitely wild and not to be treated as anything but, that doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings and even personalities (anyone with a pet can attest to that fact.) By remembering they aren’t that different from us we might seek to treat them better than we do…there’s a fine line between giving them the respect they deserve and seeking to make them human. This is a simple yet powerful story of the rights of all creatures.




And I loved this quote by George Eliot found in the front:
                                  ~It's never too late to be what you might have been. 

I think that might have to be my new mantra!

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July tomorrow.  For those of us here in the States it means a day off in the middle of the week full of cookouts and fireworks and basking in the sun (and by that I mean trying not to die of heat exhaustion!)  But I will be enjoying it all from the comfort of my now air-conditioned house! That's right, the power is finally back on. Hooray for little miracles!!

I'll just warn you right now that there may be no book post tomorrow, but I'll give you two on Thursday to make up for it!


**apologies for the lack of page numbers here...I will remedy that as soon as have a copy in my hands again but I am way down at the bottom of a long hold list!