Chang Mai

Just a quick flight from Bangkok and we were in Chang Mai, a part of Thailand we had never been to.  We were blown away.

 Our hotel was just awesome.  So serene and comfortable.  This was the lobby

 Olivia enjoying her purple welcome drink

We immediately went to a Thai cooking class.  This is the truck they came and picked us up in.

 Our teacher took us to the local fruit and vegetable market to explain all of the fresh ingredients would use in our cooking

 Oh, Eliza.  She loved the fried crickets

 Hard at work

 Rolling spring rolls!

Desert girls excited about the rain our second day

 We visited several temples with a guide, whom was fantastic and very informative

 Wat Phrathat Temple

 This was a huge, very interesting temple, Wat Chedi

Back at the hotel, relaxing in the lobby reading

YUMMY dinner!

Crazy laser light, dance music Tuk Tuk after dinner

We wanted to have an elephant experience in Chang Mai, as this is a top thing to do there.  After some research, we decided on Elephant Nature Park.  It is a legitimate Elephant rescue and rehabilitation center.  There are many organizations in Thailand that do not treat the elephants well, but this is certainly not one of them.

 The first thing we got to do was feed the elephants.  It was so funny, they wanted only the fruit first.  Once all of the fruit was gone, then they would accept the vegetables.

This sweet old girl had been abused and had a hole in her ear.  They stuck a flower in her ear so that she would feel pretty :-)

 After feeding them, we got to go out in small groups on a walk around the park.  The elephants are not restricted in their movements and roam around freely.  For this reason, our guide told us that if she says, "run", you really need to run.  There were a couple times we needed to move quickly away from a baby male elephant who is quite rambunctious.  The elephants self organized themselves into little groups.  It was so so cool!

 It was also in such a beautiful setting

 After lunch, we got to walk down and watch a small group go for a swim

The one on the far left is the mischievous baby boy.  All three of these "mamas" took turns managing him.  He went under water for really long stretches of time.

 Olivia making elephant treats with one of the volunteers

 Mike and Olivia gave one of them a bath

 Eliza and I watched from the shade

That night, we ate dinner at a fun and delicious restaurant at our hotel.  

One last breakfast at our a amazing hotel