the land of smiles.

Monday was our first full day in Chiang Mai and after getting all settled into our guesthouse, our professor took us out and about to see some of the city.

The first place we went is a nice, little bookshop run by an Irishman named George.  After that, Drexler let us loose to explore some of the city and assured us we would be able to find our way back to the guesthouse if we just followed the mote.  It is amazing just how many tourists you see here in Chiang Mai; that and the number of little shops and restaurants lining the streets – it seems like they never end.

Some of us departed from the bookshop on a quest for food.  We ended up at Daret’s House which is in the apparent backpacker’s district of Chiang Mai and which is also supposed to be the “original” backpacker’s restaurant.  I thought the food was very good and reasonably priced.

Later on that night we went out as a group for our first official meal from the street vendors, in the night market across the street.  It is overwhelming at first with figuring out what all the vendors are selling and how to order it, seeing as practically everything is in Thai.  Having someone with you who actually knows what’s going on (as well as who speaks the language) and who is able to sort of show you the ropes is definitely an invaluable resource though.

The meal we ate was sort of plain, but for the price, not bad at all.

The front gate at Chiang Mai University

Tuesday was our formal introduction to CMU, or Chiang Mai University.  We had our official little “orientation” in the morning, complete with coffee, tea, and light snacks.  Everyone at the university is extremely friendly and hospitable; we are so very lucky to have them welcoming us as guests and students in their school.

After orientation, we walked over to the uniform shop.  About half the trip was already prepared and brought uniform-appropriate clothing with them, and the other half still needed to purchase this.  I, of course, was part of the second half mentioned.  Haha.

But it was a lot of fun uniform shopping, trying on the different styles of skirts they offer, and finding out that when it comes to Thai school uniforms, I wear a size XXL in my button-up shirt!  :]

That night a couple of us decided to eat on a budget and returned to the night market.  We found a street vendor whose menu had an English translation portion and decided that was good enough for us.
The food was really good until I heard my friend sort of gasp and point, “STREET RAT!”  My initial reaction was to say, “Aladdin... where?!” but unfortunately we weren’t that lucky.

Rather, it was an actual rat – three to be exact.  We watched in slight horror as one of the rats jumped on this little strainer-like bucket thing and tipped it over.  There were a couple of lettuce pieces still in the bottom and that rat had his eye on them.  We also were able to witness the rats as they climbed back down into the gutter which runs right through the market, passing all of the vendors.

I mean I guess we should have expected such things with an outside street vendor market, but it was still rather surprising, and an unfortunate discovery which will most likely stay with us for every future meal we eat there.

The next day, Wednesday, we started our classes at Chiang Mai University.

We either have morning class, which is from 9-11am, or afternoon class, which is from 1-3pm.  And on some days we have both morning and afternoon classes.

Erin and I in our snappy school uniforms!

Our first day of class was spent learning some fundamental basics when it comes to learning Thai; the various tones, some of the phonetics and consonants used, etc.  Not the easiest stuff to learn or master, but definitely helpful when it comes to immersing oneself in a foreign language.

After school, Erin and I ventured out for some lunch and ended up back at Daret’s House.  I definitely was not disappointed; it may be a “backpacker hangout,” but the food is good.  We both had beef with garlic and pepper accompanied by rice…so delicious.  The pineapple and orange smoothies were amazing as well!  Not to mention, you can’t beat outside dining in this wonderful weather; it’s so nice.

On our walk back to the guesthouse after lunch we saw a nice old man with a cart near the mote selling food to feed the fish with.  It was only 10 baht for a bag of fish food, so we decided to indulge ourselves!

Feeding the fish was actually a lot of fun; the fish are crazy.

The fishy food seller.

You throw in some food and they all splash and jump about, fighting for the little nuggets of food.

No matter how far you threw the food out in the water, as soon as it hit, the fish went crazy.

That evening we all went out to dinner as a group to a very nice Thai restaurant which I currently cannot remember the name of; I do remember Drexler telling us Elizabeth Taylor ate there once though, so I guess now it’s slightly famous.

For our evening entertainment, a few brave souls decided to throw down 400 baht (rather than 600 baht for ringside seating) and see what Muay Thai boxing was all about.  The multitude of fliers lining the streets of Chiang Mai promised “8 WORLD CLASS FIGHTS” with a special “international” fight as the big finale between a Thai fighter and an American.  When in Rome, right?!

Well, needless to say, the Muay Thai boxing wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be.

Even the special “international” fight at the end actually ended up being between a boxer from Spain and a Thai; pretty sure there was never an American boxer lined up for that night to begin with.

From a handful of similar experiences, a couple of us have decided that this trip’s saying so far is without a doubt, “Well now we know..” (Laugh and shrug shoulders)

Thursday morning was nice; we were able to sleep in for one of the first times post jetlag due to the fact that school wasn’t until 1pm that afternoon.

Thursday’s class was our first true introduction to basic Thai.  I thought the teacher did a great job, and she was very understanding as well as encouraging; we all definitely need to practice some though.

That evening we all ventured over to Watchediluang Varaviharn for what is referred to as “Monk Chat.”

Monk chat brings out all sorts of people (and surprisingly lots of dogs too) :]

“Monk Chat” is when anyone can visit the Wat (temple) and ask Monks various questions they are in need of answering; anything from what Monk life is like, to Buddhism, to Thai culture and more.

Drexler told us it helps the Monks practice their English, so that’s good.

A bunch of us chatted with a very nice younger monk whose English was a little rough and difficult to understand at times, but he was definitely trying.

It was pretty interesting to find out that “Monk Chats” even exist; what an awesome avenue for people to utilize in conversing with Monks and potentially finding explanations to questions they themselves cannot answer.

My favorite part about this Wat was a portion of it towards the back that is in ruin.  It was missing a huge chunk from the top, and it looked as though other portions had either just fallen off or withered away due to the elements or something.  It was soo beautiful though!  I took a ton of pictures.

After our adventures at the Monk Chat, a group of us walked over to El Diablo’s for a fine Mexican dinner. They served us free chips and salsa, so that was a nice perk, and the chips were an interesting interpretation!  As Noah pointed out, they kind of tasted like large Fritos.

I had a chicken burrito, which was rather delicious, especially considering that it was a Thai-Mexican burrito!

From there we walked over to a night market where vendors were selling souvenirs and other goodies.  The two boys bought some things, but Erin and I were conserving our money; not to mention, anything we buy now would have to be toted around with us to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

As we were walking back to our guesthouse from the night market we saw a pretty large outdoor soccer field/complex thing and stopped so Aaron (who plays soccer for Coe) could check it out.

He ended up being able to buy some shorts from their little shop and play in a pick-up game right then and there, so we sat outside in the nice evening weather and watched some Thai soccer.

On Friday morning we had a 9am class on Buddhism taught by an 84-year-old (yes, and EIGHTY FOUR YEAR OLD) Oxford-educated professor, who apparently is Thailand’s most premier expert on Buddhism.

His lecture was pretty interesting, especially taking into consideration the source.

Listening to him speak was a treat.  After class, Erin and I ventured to the Fern Forest Café for a couple of “Iced Milos,” which is a nice chocolaty drink similar to Ovaltine (“More Ovaltine, please!" :] ).

After discovering the deliciousness of an “Iced Milo,” I just may have to reconsider my dislike for chocolate milk…

While at the Fern Forest Café, which happens to be rather beautiful, we were able to start on our first reading assignment for Asia Term, the first ten chapters in A Child of the Northeast.

After doing some reading, a couple of us ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant nearby.  Unfortunately the food wasn’t that great, but I haven’t had to say that many times so far on this trip.  Aaron dined on DUCK FEET at the Chinese restaurant!  Rather brave, I must say.

Later on that evening, Erin, Noah, and I checked out the North Gate Jazz Co-Op, which ended up being a lot of fun.  I can’t say I had ever heard live jazz music before then, and it was pretty awesome.

We also grabbed a late night bite at Thailand’s own, “Mike’s Hamburgers,” which I learned has been “Converting Vegetarians Since 1976.”  The seating was on red stools up to the bar, and the food was pretty delicious.  OH, how much I love French fries!  Even Thai French fries  :]  Oh and for anyone who was wondering, Mike’s serves breakfast starting at 8am, and continues to stay open until 3am in the morning for anyone desperately craving some greasy, American food.

After our bellies were full, we ventured back to our guesthouse and called it a night.

Saturday, which is today, has been without a doubt my favorite day on this trip so far!

Today we all embarked on a journey to the Maesa Elephant Camp, which also happens to be in Chiang Mai.

WOW.  This place was amazing.  I cannot begin to express how much I loved it.

Everyone was so friendly and accommodating, taking our pictures, having the elephants pose with us, etc.  We were able to feed the elephants bananas and sugarcane – it was so much fun!  They took the food right from our hands too, and did not hesitate to try and reach for more, possibly even steal the entire bunch of bananas or sugarcane right out of your hand if their trunk could reach that far!

You would be SURPRISED at how much these guys can eat!

Grass? Banana? Grass? Banana? How about BOTH?!

I kept laughing!

It was truly awe-inspiring to be so close and personal with these gentle giants; including actually interacting and witnessing their intelligence and humor right in front of your very eyes.

SUCH a little cutie!

There were also BABY ELEPHANTS!  The youngest was about a month old we were told; oh my, he was simply precious, standing right next to Mom the entire time we were around him.  I can’t get over how cute he was.  The other elephants were beautiful as well, each in their own individual way.

Some of them were old and wrinkly with saggy elephant skin and tattered ears, and yet still adorable.

There was also an elephant show!  We witnessed soo many various tricks and talents I was left wondering, what can’t elephants do?!  Haha.

You should've SEEN him dunk!

There were elephants playing soccer, painting pictures, playing harmonicas (yes, they made music!), hamming it up for the crowd, beating an audience member at balloon darts, and even scoring baskets in elephant basketball!  Unbelievable sounding, I know, but you just had to be there.

The very best part of the day though, hands down, was our elephant ride!!!!!

Erin and I threw down the collective 800 baht and we were off.  It was incredible.  Sadly, I cannot remember the name of our elephant…  I do remember that he was 48-years-old though!  And fit as a fiddle, i might add.

The mahout, or elephant trainer, of the particular elephant we rode was very nice.  At one point he even hopped down and took pictures of Erin and I atop his elephant as we slowly moseyed along.

THANKFULLY my camera lasted the entire day, and did not die until we were just about to depart the camp.

Overall, everyone at the elephant camp seemed very nice, I just truly hope that they act the same way to the animals when we aren't around and actually treat them well.

Before we departed to go back to the guesthouse, I invested in a tasty raspberry smoothie and it ended up being the perfect ending to a wonderful day.