Chang Mai

In the past two weeks I have travelled by airplane, car, taxi, elephant, ox-car, bamboo raft, speed boat, kayak, and long boat. My family moved to Bangkok this summer and we were able to fly out and visit them for Christmas and New Years. They decided to take the opportunity and show us all sides of Thailand, and I am so grateful they did. I’ll be splitting the trip into three posts which consist of the three legs of our trip; Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and Phuket. Without further ado…Chiang Mai.

Flying into Bangkok took three flights: SLC-LA-Tokyo-Bangkok. It was a long and exhausting treck, but everything was worth it. Also, special shout out to the kind stranger who snuck me into the business lounge. My sister is able to go and use the lounge on International flights due to her Gold status, but I am still Silver and she can only bring one guest. Thus, Michael and I were heading out to leave when I saw a lady give me the look and head nod. So I pushed Michael back with Coryne and I snuck in line with stranger lady. She got me in, told me to the enjoy my trip and disappeared. Thank you stranger lady, for letting me enjoy the perks of the business lounge on our long layover.

After landing in Chiang Mai with the fam, we drove about an hour to our hotel, Sukantara cascade restort and spa. It’s a small piece of paradise that is located on a set of waterfalls. We spent every morning and evening eating homemade Thai food by the waterfalls.

All around Chiang Mai there are signs for crazy animal shows. “Feed a cobra!” “Tame a tiger!” “Stick your head in a crocodile’s mouth!” The crocodile one intrigued my parents and so we found ourselves there. Next thing I know they are pushing me into the pit of crocs and telling me to sit on one to get a picture. What??? I’m pretty sure the one we sat on was drugged but the rest were definitely alive and kickin. My parents thought this was hilarious.

Notice that I am actually too scared to actually make contact between my butt and the crocodile tail.

This guy is the craziest. I wonder if doing this daily pays well…

The next few days were spent visiting the Long Neck People who are from Burma and have moved to Thailand to seek better employment (they are beautiful), shopping in the markets, and hanging out with elephants. I am kind of tempted to go work on an elephant reserve somewhere. Putting that down on my ultimate dream list right now.