We have had a great couple of weeks in Thailand. This is what we have been up to in the last few weeks.
Night Market – Hua Hin
Mady: We went to a market and there were all kinds of different varieties of food. There were even insects to eat – and my parents tried grasshopper, but I didn’t. They said they tasted like fries, but too bad they didn’t have any seasoning as they were crunchy and bland. And there were crafts there as well. And they have the market at night – when it is cool.
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
Mady: The floating market was educational. It was very different in a good way because some people were selling things on land, some were selling things from their boats. People were going back and forth on the river in boats like they were traveling on a highway and they would say “want to buy a mango”. They would have a boat full of vegetables or fruits and other things. Their whole store would be on their boat.
Trivia Night in Bangkok
Mady: Phillip is a friend of Mom’s and they’ve been friends for a long time. When we went out to see him, just by coincidence he is a quiz master. He does it in different restaurants that speak English. If you answer certain questions in the categories you win that round, and if you win the game, you win money. The Joan Jetts (sorry guys, I had to name us that) we won 2nd place and won 500 Baht – which is the money they use in Thailand (1 Canadian dollar = 25 Baht – so that means 500 Baht = $20.00). But since we were going to Chiang Mai and couldn’t use the 500 Baht coupon at the restaurant, we gave it to the 3rd place winners. They were thrilled.
Bangkok to Chiang Mai – Train Ride
Jade: We took a train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai – it was 11 hours. There were so many great views and it was great to see some of the sites. We met another Canadian family who had kids 6, 10 and 13 from Saskatchewan. It was fun to have other kids our own age. They brought games – shout out to Elsie for introducing me to Bears vs Babies because they brought a similar game called Exploding Kittens. We had lots of fun doing games with each other. The train ride was shorter than I thought it would be.
Royal Park Rajapruek Gardens, Chiang Mai
Jade: It is the Royal Gardens, to honour the King and Queen of Thailand. The garden was cool, we went to a butterfly sanctuary, it had butterflies everywhere and there was a waterfall and there were butterflies in the air and I almost touched one. There were a whole bunch of flowers too.
Khum Katoke – Traditional Thai food and dance
Jade: Traditional Thai women and men came out in their dresses and uniforms and they did skits, plays and traditional dance routines. We were on the front row to see the dancers, and we ate the traditional Northern Thai food sitting down on cushions like they do. We had curry chicken, fried banana fritters, and sticky rice. They showed us different cultures they use, dances, stories and their dresses sparkled and there was jewelry. They also showed us Thai fighting. During the Thai fighting a female fighter stepped onto a man’s knee, jumped on his chest and up his shoulders. The best thing was the Thai woman fighter beat 2 men at once in the demonstration. #girlpower.
BMP Elephant Care Project
Mady: It was an experience of a lifetime that I can’t even put into words. The elephants were so nice. The oldest elephant was Natalie – she was rescued from a circus camp. She was 17 years old. The second oldest was Anna – she was 16. She was rescued from a work camp. And the third was a baby whose name was Mali. She was circus elephant too and her Mom abandoned her when she was six months old. And it’s so cute we had a connection to Mali – she did not have a Mom so she was adopted by Natalie. Natalie’s other daughter is Peanut, who is very naughty.
Jade: To get there we woke up early and they took us into a minivan and we drove an hour and ten minutes. When we got there we put on blue cloaks – and the reason we wore blue was because the elephants were used to that colour. The first step of the elephant care camp was to walk over to a sand flat and the elephants came to us. What we did is we had a bag of bananas and we put a banana in the elephant’s trunk and they would put them in their mouths. We then fed them grass. Fun fact: Female elephants are more sociable than male elephants because when they go on adventure in the wild, the oldest female leads them. My favourite part was we took them into a mud spa and we slopped mud all over them and then washed it off.
Mady: My favourite part was the whole entire thing. It was so inspirational as I want to help them even more than before because now I have actually seen elephants up close.
Jade: shout out to Nora and Gabe – we completed your quest – we hugged Mali and the smallest elephant’s name is Peanut. We went to the camp for Mady’s birthday and on Valentines day.
Wat Chedi Luang – Buddhist Temple – Chat with a monk
Jade: We talked with a monk. We learned how they get taught, their culture, the rules they follow – like don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t touch women, don’t spit. We learned they have to get up at 4 or 5 am and go to bed at 12 as they are studying. Did you know male monks have 247 rules they have to follow and women monks have 317? If you want to learn about Buddhism they will help you.
Fruit Carving
Mady: We we went to fruit carving. It was so extraordinary. But sometimes it was very hard and sometimes it was so easy. We made plain fruits and vegetable into masterpieces. And it makes you like vegetables and fruit a lot more. We carved a watermelon into a rose, carrots and cucumbers into leaves, and radish into flowers.
