BootsnAll Travel Network
Add this blog to: MyYahoo, Google, Bloglines, RSS


Archive for January, 2008

« Home

Wrapping up Asia…off to S America…

Friday, January 25th, 2008

It was actually, really sad to leave Asia.  We had really enjoyed it.  But Latin America is calling our souls.  Someday we’ll return to Asia…maybe someday soon…or maybe not…

I think this trip we’re taking is making us somewhat crazy.  You kind of think you know what you’re all about and then you realize after a month or two into a trip like this…nope, you have no idea.

I tried to sketch out one of those tree things where you put something in the square and then attach yes or no arrows to them.  My tree started getting very out of control.  Too many decisions hinge on so many other things…life was so much simpler when you only had to decide on the left or right roads.  Do I take the safe road or the not so safe road?  Well, it seems like we’re on a road where we can take a left, right, second left, second right, straight, back, around the curve…too many options…

So stay tuned for more indecisions…
So anyway…we boarded a plane from Bangkok (after spending one last evening with Jeff – so sad – we were getting so used to seeing Jeff every few weeks for a lunch or dinner!) on a airline called LTU.  German.  This airline was so cool.  I mean, we were offered shots after dinner.  Leg room kind of sucked but it got us to Berlin.  With our bags.  In Berlin was spent one night.  And it was COLD!  0 degrees C.  We got up early to look around the city but ended up going back to our hotel room until check-out because it was so friggin’ cold.

From Berlin we went to Madrid on Easyjet.  After a layover of a few hours we went on a plane to Buenos Aires on Air Plus Comet.  Remarkably we landed safely and with our luggage on 3 different airlines that are all known to be kind of sketchy and semi-on-time.  And we found the apartment we are renting without actually knowing the address.  Only the cross-streets.  Kind of amazing.
But if we ever tell ANYONE we’re going from Asia to S America again without stopping…please SHOOT US!  Oh my gosh, I’ve never been more jet-lagged than after this trip.   I mean we were literally flying for over 24 hours and that doesn’t include layovers.  Like smart people would have spent a few days in Europe.  Had a few tapas in Madrid and a few beers in Germany.  Not us.  Yes, we’re insane.  Unfortunately, we are also on a budget and the friggin’ Euro kicked our butt on this trip.  I mean when a hostel bed in a dorm costs 3 X what our apartment is costing in Buenos Aires, there is something seriously crazy about this world.

Posted in Argentina, RTW Trip, Thailand | No Comments »

Elephant kisses…

Friday, January 25th, 2008

By far the coolest thing we did in Chiang Mai was go to the Elephant Nature Park.

Which we almost couldn’t do since our guest house told us we only had to book one day in advance…but when we asked them to book for a Monday (it was Saturday) they called someone (who, I have no idea) and that person said it was booked until Thursday.  Well, we were going to leave Thursday so we were resigned to the fact that we weren’t going to be able to go and were kicking ourselves for not booking earlier.  Luckily, John likes music.  So he was looking at this place in the Night Bazaar that had a bunch of “his type” of music …well of course I got totally bored – John suggested I go and ask this tour place behind the stall to double-check on the park’s availability.  So I’m like, well, can’t hurt to ask.  So I go up there and ask the girl working there and say “when is your next availability?”.  She says, tomorrow.  I’m like, tomorrow?  So I had her check availability for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  They had space for Wednesday so we put down a deposit and did a little dance.  Score!  (We came to find out later from other people that they also had a lot of problems since it’s not government funded and must not give out good commission)

So we were picked up and driven out to this park.  And got to feed elephants.  We got to feed a very picky baby elephant.  They all have their own baskets (since some of the elephants are total hogs and will eat all the fruit).  This baby elephant wanted only melon.  And then when that was done she wanted bananas.  But forget about the pumpkin and pineapple.  She was having none of that.  Luckily another, bigger, elephant helped her out.  The coolest thing though is we both got elephant kisses.  The baby took it’s trunk, put it to a cheek and did this vacuum thing with it.  SO CUTE!   And then we gave them baths.  We went into the river with them and splashed water on them and scrubbed them with brushes.  Then the elephants got out and proceeded to splash sunscreen on themselves (dirt).  And then the teenagers played around by pushing each other into the mud pit.

But the sad and glad thing about this park was the condition of the elephants.  There were some sad elephants.  Since domestic elephants are considered livestock in Thailand, some of them aren’t treated very well.  One lady was blind because she had lost her baby and refused to work.  So her owner put her eye out with a slingshot.  And when she still refused to work he put the other eye out with a stick.  Lek, the woman who started the park (and she is TINY!), saw this elephant running into trees in the forest and asked the mahook what was wrong with the elephant – when he told her she offered to buy the elephant from him.  And another elephant pretty much adopted her and now they’re inseparable.  Lek has pretty much devoted her life to help elephants.  One kind of sad thing you see in Thailand is elephants walking around the streets with their mahook and you can buy sugar cane to feed the elephant.  Which sounds kind of innocent except for elephants have really sensitive feet.  They can feel vibrations and must feel crazy when they’re in cities.  Plus, Thailand is really hot.  Hot asphalt can’t be pleasant on anyone’s bare feet!  So the park is trying to get enough signatures to stop elephants in the city of Chiang Mai.  Anyway, one more sad thing – Lek had a documentary made.  It showed some really bad things (like how domestic elephants are trained – put into a cage and poked with sticks/nails for days until they bend their legs how their trainers want them to bend), how some trekking companies treat their elephants, etc. etc.  So when it came out she had death threats to herself because it showed a negative light on Thailand, and a baby elephant featured in the movie was killed.  It was poisoned because of the documentary.

It was really a fun, informative day.  Elephants are like the coolest.  They have such personality and…well, they’re just the cutest.  I’ll never forget that kiss…

Posted in RTW Trip, Thailand | No Comments »

More Chiang Mai stuff…

Friday, January 25th, 2008
Okay, so we didn't do a ton in January.  Possibly because we knew we were going to have to actually use our minds when we hit Argentina because, well, learning languages is not really our thing.  Some people are just ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in RTW Trip, Thailand | No Comments »