Greater Northeastern and Northern Tour [Part 2]

I figured it was about time I write the second half. But I have yet to upload pictures.. so you will all have to wait a little bit longer.

Day 8 - We woke up and drove to the Princess Mother's Palace/Home which had the most GORGEOUS gardens in the history of the world. Everyone who was wearing shorts had to put on sabai pants they provided you with that looked like they were made out of jean material. They were so funny. I was tempted to swipe a pair and put them on my jacket but thought better of it. We climbed up a hill to a lookout over the valleys and there were flowers growing everywhere. We walked around the building and Peter made me read out the alphabet to him which was carved onto the wall. Then we walked back down the hill to see the most AMAZING gardens. There were topiaries everywhere, thousands and THOUSANDS of flowers, waterfalls that you could stand behind, big wooden waterwheels, archways, cacti, ponds and big flower covered jungle gyms you could climb on. It was the most beautiful place I've ever been and probably will ever be. I've decided that if I ever get a house with a nice property - I will cover it with flowers just like that. We got back to the hotel really early in the afternoon so I ran a yoga session on the roof. The boys were shooting off fire crackers out of their windows and it sounded like guns were going off - we all freaked out when they started going off. After dinner that night we all gathered on the roof and played a bunch of games - Samurai Intergellactica, Chicken Chicken Fighting Cock, Skin the Snake and the boys lit off more firecrackers. We also found a way onto the VERY top off the roof and Kalie climbed up there. She's crazy, but I love her. After Papa P kicked us off the roof me and a bunch of my girlfriends went to one of their rooms and played Ouiji. We contacted the devil.. apparently. Or some spirit that was PRETENDING to be the devil. I still don't think I believe in all that stuff but it was pretty cool. We all freaked out, Tati lit her bracelet on fire and our friends told us to burn all the pieces of the game. It was intense - but really rediculous

Day 9 - We left for Chiang Mai and on the way we stopped to see the hill tribes. I can't express in words the exact feelings that were running through my heart during the whole experience, but I can say I wouldn't want to go back again. It felt like we were at a zoo, and the people were the exhibits - it just felt wrong to be walking through the little twists and turns with the Longneck Women sitting on either side making scarves and playing guitar. There were even children with rings around their necks. It was definetely an experience I will always remember and a place I am glad I went to, but it felt very "icky" being there and I couldn't wait to get out. It felt wrong to be taking pictures of them. There were groups of children who would run ahead of you and sing for you as you walked by in the hopes of getting money, even still there were men sitting on the ground with their daughters while they smoked opium and the children sang Happy Birthday when you passed. There were women with stretched ears, black teeth and bright red gums. There were pregnant women, teenage girls and little children dressed up in makeup and headpieces - all with rings stretching their necks and legs. When we arrived in Chiang Mai we realised what a MASSIVE hotel we were staying in. It was about 16 stories high [we were on the 10th] and they had beeautiful glass elevators. The rooms were very nice; plus, they had ACTUAL BATHTUBS! We piled 26 of us into a song taew [quite the squish] and set off for the Night Bazaar. We went to Starbucks first and I bought a really cool travel mug; the celebration of the 100th store in Thailand mug. The Night Bazaar was AMAZING! I bought so much stuff, for so cheap and we spent hours wandering all the little stalls. There were people playing violin in the centre, and along the walls of a building there was a line of about 20 people giving foot massages. After the Night Bazaar we went to get Mexican food - Adrian really wanted some. It was SO delicious. Kalie and I took the stairs back up to our rooms once we got back - it was a mission.

Day 10 - Monday we went to the Chiang Mai Zoo. It was a bit of a disapointment - we had to walk a billion km between most of the exhibits - but the animals were really cool. We first went to an aquarium [I was sad there were no Hammerhead sharks - I was hoping there would be] where there was a diver dressed up as Santa and there were Christmas trees in almost every tank. Then we went to see the pandas. THEY WERE SO CUTE! One of the pandas had a little chair he sat in while he munched on bamboo. Then a bunch of the girls and I went to look for more animals. We saw crocodiles, turtles, snakes, zebras, giraffes, lions, tigers, panthers, jaguars, leopards, elephants, ostriches, koalas, monkeys and lots more. We went on an "adventure" and sat in this little cart while it drove around an area where they had mechanical figurines. There were dinosaurs, hilltribe people and snakes. There was even a King Kong! There were about a hundred real life deer hanging out, as well as goats. We got to feed the jaguars big hunks of meat by sticking it through the cage on the end of a big stick - they are STRONG! Once we got back from the Zoo we got dressed to go to Kantoke dinner [traditional Northern Thailand way of eating]. We sat on the floor with little cushions behind us and ate the food on the floor - it came to us on a little wooden table. While we were eating they had performers come out; Thai dancers with really long fingers, little children jumping around over bamboo and men holding swords in their mouths and throwing them around. Kalie and I made animal figurines [mine an elephant, hers a giraffe] our of sticky rice and gave them to Clayton as a present. When the dinner was over we all went to the second part of the show where they had a guy holding FLAMING swords in his mouth, between his legs and throwing them around. When we got back to the hotel we played hacky sack in the hallway, I ordered a club sandwich from room service [soooooo delicious!] and then we went up and hung out on the roof before going to bed.

Day 11 - Elephant Camp day - one of the most fun days of the trip. Kalie and I hopped on a 26 year old elephant names Mae Sun and bought some bananas and sugar cane to give to him on our trip. However, the elephant guide just took the ENTIRE bunch of bananas and tossed them to him - so we hid the sugar cane behind our backs so he wouldn't do the same with those. At one point I dropped my camera off the top of the elephant while we were walking through the jungle and our guide had to hop off of the elephant's head to go down and get it. At least the elephant didn't step on it, or it didn't land in poo or something. Our elephant was a rocker! He was lumbering ALL over the place and we almost fell off quite a few times, it was so much fun. While we were preoccupied taking pictures the elephant behind us [Ashley and Kaitlin's elephant] reached into our seat and pulled the sugar cane out from behind our backs. WHAT A THIEF! When they came around the bend near the end of the ride they gave the elephants giant lumps of sticky rice and a big bale of leaves that the elephants stuck between their tusks and their trunks like a little hand. Then they just reached up and took a piece occasionally. When we dismounted the elephants we went over and got seated for the elephant show. They danced, played the harmonica, swung around hula hoops, threw darts, painted pictures, played soccer and lifted people's hats off their heads. It was so cool - I really wanted to buy a tshirt with an elephant painting on it but they were too expensive. We went to another Orchid Farm for lunch [this one was much better] and then we went to a historical park and drove around between temples. Next we went to see the umbrellas - I bought SO much stuff, and you could pay to get things painted. I got them to paint my camera and my mug with cool birds and stuff. After dinner the bus dropped everyone off at the night market where I bought even MORE stuff [this trip was the death of my bank account]. When we got back to the hotel, Kalie and I sat downstairs and had a good chat while we waited for the Movie woman from the night market to drop off our copies of Twilight. We lurked some stuff on the internet for a while before going to bed.

Day 12 - Christmas Eve. It didn't feel like Christmas Eve, and I would have completely blown through the day without thinking about it if someone hadn't pointed out the date. We went to the highest peak in Thailand which was supposed to be super cold - and wasn't - though Papa P was decked out in a fargo hat and a parka. Such a funny, funny man. We went to a waterfall [the biggest waterfall in Thailand] and then to the King and Queen's pagodas where Clayton, Kalie and I napped on top of each other. Our new hotel was beautiful. It was a giant garden with a park, peacocks, streams, waterfalls and all of the bungalows were at least 500 m from the other. It was really nice, but it took too long to get everywhere... so we borrowed bikes. Kat and I biked around the grounds for a really long time - racing, going off jumps and chasing down other exchange students who were on the walkways. Until I came to Thailand, I did not realise just how much I missed riding a bike - it's such a great feeling. After dinner everyone gathered in a small clearing in the middle of the resort where the boys set off fireworks and fire crackers. It turned out into a Roman Candle battle between the boys, and the girls stood around the edge trying not to get hit by the lights flying everywhere. Michael and Manon brought out flaming chains that we took turns swinging around - I burnt my arm and Adrian burnt his back - but it was SO much fun. Kate brought out her guitar and we sat on the lawn singing for a while.

Day 13 - Christmas!! It wasn't a very exciting Christmas. I woke up really early to hand out stockings I had made to all the exchange students and we set off to Sukothai Historical Park. It was really cool [kind of like the temples in Ayutthaya] but after a while it got kind of boring. The boys' bus broke down [CHRISTMAS MIRACLE] so they got to come and sit on our bus for the day - there was a lot of driving, so we watched a few movies. When we arrived at the hotel we had a "Christmas party" [ie. Falang food for dinner] and we did our Secret Sant gift exchange. Nicole was my Secret Santa and she got me a really cute elephant charm, a beautiful wooden necklace and one of those star shaped lamp things with dolphins all over it. I got Tati an umbrella that I had "Thailand Rotary Youth Exchange" written on for her. I called my family when it was Christmas morning for them, and Ashley shrieked when she picked up the phone. It didn't upset me talking to them - just another day, but when I said goodbye to Dad I started to cry. It's crazy how much you realise you really care and love for everyone when you are so far away - I feel the closest with my family [Dad especially] now that I'm on the other side of the world. I love talking to them, and I can't wait for Mom and the girls to come visit me. The rest of the night was very relaxing - we hung out in each others' hotel rooms, Kalie and I gave each other massages and then we went to sleep.

Day 14 - We returned at the hotel in Korat and Suzanne and I [as well as many others] had to spend the night before returning to Nakhon Phanom. We went to the Mall for Starbucks etc. and then we went out for Mexican food - Mexican food is GOOD! Most people went out looking for something else to do but a few of us went back to the hotel. Kalie and I looked for a Thai massage place but the woman said we would have to wait 2 hours before we could get them. We just hung out at the hotel and fell asleep very late at night.

Day 15 - The drive back to Nakhon Phanom was horrible, but when we finally got back we walked to my first host parents' house from the bus station [our cellphone batteries had died so we couldn't call for a ride] and they had my parcel from CANADA!! It was really exciting to open up my Christmas presents - my family even sent me a stocking full of goodies. My host parents had also bought me a specially made rice basket full of my favourite Thai candies - they are so cute. When my host family picked me up, they ALSO gave me a Christmas gift - a beautiful scarf and a picture frame - and I was suprised to see Nong Nurse was back for the holidays from Bangkok.

"I never forget how strange it is just to be alive at all" - Patrick Park