Holiday

This is just about one of the most exciting things I've ever done in my life. We actually got to ride an elephant! I hope I don't someday become some callused Thailand dweller who yawns in the presence of elephants, because they are amazing animals. We just returned from a vacation in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, where we got our elephant fix. Petting, feeding, getting sprayed with river water from their trunks, seeing them do funny tricks...just such fun. The ride was quite an adventure. I expected Em to be terrified and possibly refuse to climb aboard, but she surprised us by hopping right on and swinging her legs, chatting merrily the entire time while Tim and I held on for dear life and I squeezed our boy so hard he cried.

I had sort of expected it to be like a pony ride, with someone holding the reins while the elephant walked in circles, but it was a trek up a muddy hillside and a steep descent that was a wee bit frightening. But all worth it in the end. At one point our driver pulled off the trail and hopped off, offering to take our picture. I was terrified at this point that the elephant was going to take off down the hill. He kept edging over toward the path, and the driver would look at him, nervously, I thought, and tap him with this little stick. He took the picture, but he cut off our heads, alas. I really didn't care; I just wanted him to get back on so we wouldn't have the life-altering experience of careening down a hillside on an unmanned elephant.

We did lots of other fun things, too, and have lots of pictures, so I think I'll post family ones today and interesting city shots in a few days...

We took tuk-tuks all over the city. This is the one we hired to take us to the zoo and drive us around there, as it's a hilly place and very spread out, so you really need a vehicle to see it in any sort of timely fashion. Tuk-tuks are like glorified go-carts that speed around the city making lots of noise and putting out massive amounts of exhaust. It was fun to see the children enjoy the experience...the little adventurers.
Our other mode of transport was the song taew, a truck with a covered bed fitted with two benches where passengers sit. Here we are zooming up the mountain, Doi Suthep.

This is the temple on Doi Suthep. Quite a grand place, full of many beautiful people and sights, and a great place to pray for this beautiful country. There were so many steps leading up to it, as you can see in the picture- the dragon tails stretch up quite a long way. We were worn out when we got to the top!

The boys at the Doi Suthep temple.

Okay, a few more shots without narration, so as to not bore you to death...