Taking the Long Way Home

When were we going to get around to writing an entry on beloved Elephant Nature Park, the animal highlight of our trip to Thailand? Many fellow travelers and friends, too, have been subjected to Megan's teary-eyed testimonial on the gentle giants that live up in a the hills 40 minutes outside of Chiang Mai. The story of Elephant Nature Park is as inspiring as the histories of these great animals are chilling. The following is some background quoted from the ENP website, www.elephantnaturepark.org:

Elephant Nature Park is a unique project set in Northern Thailand. Established in the 1990's our aim has always been to provide a sanctuary and rescue centre for elephants. The park is set in Chiang Mai province, some 60km from the city, and has provided a sanctuary for over 30 distressed elephants from all over Thailand. Set in a natural valley, bordered by a river, and surrounded by forested mountains the area offers a timeless glimpse of rural life.

The founder, Lek, a small, energetic woman filled with almost tangibly-radiant energy, was recognized for her humane work with the elephants as Time Magazine Asia Hero 2005, among other accolades. She was able to fund the park's creation with an anonymous donation from a wealthy Texas businessman. She has since worked passionately to rescue Thailand's retired, abused and downtrodden working elephants and provides them a place to live with dignity at the park. A visit to the park is just as much about educating visitors as it is about playing with the elephants and seeing them up close- we learned about the background stories of many elephants while feeding them their breakfast and washing them in the river. The great thing about the nature park is that it allows visitors to see elephants just being elephants... no "treks" atop exhausted animals, no having to watch them paint and play ball with one another (which may seems harmless enough, but they are actually tortured into learning to submit to their mahouts when requested to do things such as pick up a paint brush, step into a harness for carrying trekkers, etc). Whether or not the average tourist realizes it, a typical visit to see elephants in Thailand usually involves a fair amount of elephant exploitation. At Elephant Nature Park, the elephants reap the benefit.

Us with Lek, founder of Elephant Nature Park

Lek with the elephants

The work Lek is doing to awaken awareness about the ancient training practice of the "phajaan" was featured in a National Geographic documentary, which was shown at the end of our visit. It is incredibly painful and difficult to watch, but serves as an important educational tool. The phajaan (which literally means "crush" in Thai), is a "violent, ritualized separation and breaking ceremony dating back hundreds of years" (nat geo) in which young elephants' spirits are broken in a physical torture lasting three to seven days. They are separated from their mothers and clan, forced into a tiny pen, and brutalized by taunting, stabbing, sleep and food deprivation and other sorts of torture at the hands of villagers and mahouts. The purpose of this ceremony is to train the elephants to always submit to their human handlers (mahouts) and obey when given an order from a human (for when they work in the logging, trekking, or street begging industries, later on in life). It is believed that so badly are their spirits distorted during this process, that afterwards no elephants that knew them before (including their mothers) will ever recognize them again. As horrendous as this all sounds, the documentary and Lek go to great efforts to present it in an unbiased, culturally-sensitive context. She is desperate to change opinion on the phajaan by showing that elephants can be trained more effectively through positive reinforcement, instead. She is experimenting on the babies at the nature park with this new method, and we were able to witness some of their tricks through positive reinforcement training during our visit. The concept is simple enough- instead of training them through torture and intimidation, they are rewarded with a snack or a pat after obeying their mahouts. If anything, the technique works too well- babies eager to get another banana kiss anyone's cheek in sight. Even those of us who are unsuspecting:

mmmm...

the trunk trick...

We decided to visit the park for a full day. Although it was very expensive compared with other activites in northern Thailand, it was definitely very much worth it. In the morning we were taken by van from Chiang Mai out into the countryside. The elephants are free to roam on a rather sizeable piece of land, and you can see them as you drive in (there are no fences) all about. We were first briefed on the history and background of the park before being taken outside to feed them, bathe them, and just generally watch them hang out as we listened to stories from our guide. One of the greatest aspects of the visit is hearing the stories of the different elephants while simultaneously observing them. One elephant is blind as a result of abuse she suffered as a logging elephant. She has befriended another older female at the park who acts as her "eyes", taking care that she is okay during bathing time and in social settings. Hearing this story while watching the two friends bathe together in the river together was unforgettable for us. Also interestingly, even though none of the animals are blood-related, they naturally form family groups and hierarchies, to which they adhere in eating, sleeping, and everything in between.

Visitors are only allowed to come into physical contact with the animals twice- during bathing time in the river, and during feeding time. Our guide, Nadia, showed us how to feed the elephants bananas and watermelons by handing the fruit to them, via their trunks. Amazing feeling to hand-feed an elephant!

hungry!

...and during bath-time, as well:

All in all, it was an amazing visit. Here are some of the many pictures we took, for you to enjoy.

one of them was apparently feeling a little frisky the day we were there...

If you are interested in learning more about Elephant Nature Park and the great work they do for Thailand's elephants, check out their website:

www.elephantnaturepark.org

And in the meantime, be a responsible traveller- say no to elephant treks, shows, and the like.

We flew into Chiang Mai ready for relaxation, culture, and cooking school. From the moment we were picked up from the airport by our friendly (female!) cabbie, we knew this would be a great place to hang our backpacks for a few days.

We ended up staying at Julie's Guesthouse, a mainstay in the CM backpacker scene. For the first time... well, almost ever, we found ourselves in a mostly singles, buzzing backpacker scene. Probably a good thing for us, as we'd been getting a little lazy about the nightlife lately. Julie's has lots of funky decor- hammocks and multi-colored cushions, bright, flowery wall-murals, golden and bronze Buddha images, and a "help yourself!" beer cooler. We spent our first few days hanging out in the common area playing Gin Rummy, and scouting new traveler friends. We sure enough found them our third night, when Ricky (another American guy) introduced us to a whole international crew of fellow travelers from Poland to Brazil. Enter Gabriela Werner, or Gabi, from southern Brazil, who would become our travel buddy and adventure confidante for the next few weeks. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

We started out by taking a leisurely stroll through Chiang Mai to check out some of the temples and architecture. Chiang Mai is famous as the most culturally significant city in northern Thailand, and the temples did not disappoint. Here are some pictures:

Wat Phan Tao

in front of the Chiang Mai Arts and Cultural Center

Wat Chiang Man

sometimes it's "no" to the ladies at the wats...

Wat Chiang Man Interior

As usual in Thailand, many of the wats are home to a menagerie of dogs, cats, monkeys, etc. The monks take care of all.

One of our other favorite things about Chiang Mai was the food. Street food in Thailand is great to begin with; in Chiang Mai it's so good that it's almost other-worldly. Green curry, pad thai, satay, anything you want is available cheaply, freshly, and most importantly, conveniently.

eating at the night market

satay skewers at the night markets of Chiang Mai

hungry for some fried insects, anyone?

random sign

All of the street food prepared us for the ultimate culinary adventure, cooking school! Ever since Catt's cousin, Jenni, raved to us about her culinary experience in Chiang Mai, we couldn't wait to take a country-side cooking course. Our explosively cheerful, pint-sized, encouraging teacher took us to markets first, and then to the countryside to explore her farm's organic garden and roll up our sleeves. We spent the afternoon up to our elbows in green curry, tom yam soup, spring rolls, coconut milk with bananas, and other delicious dishes. When we finished, we enjoyed our creations on the farm. Bonus? Opportunity to take pictures of Catt in a sombrero-like chef's hat.

Pictures:

at the Chiang Mai market

raw chickens at the market

different kinds of rice for sale

learning about the differences between different kinds of curry paste

learning about string beans in the cooking school garden

Megan rocking the cooking school couture

Catt in the hat

Here are some pictures of us attempting to re-create some Thai classics:

the victim

afterwards... on the way to becoming green curry

finished product

slicing and dicing

we could almost be on food network...

tom yam soup

frying up spring rolls

Catt with his completed meal

our group, eating

During our time at the cooking school, we got to meet Washington state-cum-Hawaiian couple, Josh and Irena. Irena was six months pregnant and travelling through Thailand like an old pro! Congrats on the soon arrival, guys! Josh and Irena also referred us to Elephant Nature Park (more to come on that), which turned out to be one of our favorite experiences in all of Thailand. See next entry.

We arrived in Kanchanaburi, Thailand early in the morning after a few days decompressing in Bangkok. We decided to take the third-class, hard-seater train, which turned out to be wonderful- with no A/C, there were great opportunities to gaze out the gigantic windows, watching Thai life fly by. The best part of the train journey (this being Thailand,) were the food vendors who would slip on the train and ride for a little while, selling their goodies. Sate grilled chicken and little baggies of steamed rice- absolutely heavenly.

The Lonely Planet, ever our trusted guide, promised that Kanchanaburi would be a convenient "catch basin" for travelers over-whelmed by big sister Bangkok, with plenty of historical and cultural sights to keep us busy. Kanchanaburi is also a good jumping off point to enjoy the "softer side" of Thai trekking and outdorsy activities, with plenty of forests, waterfalls and (sadly) elephant trekking opportunities within a stone's throw. Perhaps the town is most infamous, though, (aside for being The Place for loud, obnoxious, unbelievably decibled karaoke for Bangkokians on weekends) for being the eastern terminus of the notorious "death railway," a demanding, deadly rail route that was constructed to link Thailand with Burma/present-day Myanmar as a Japanese supply-line during the second world war. The railway was built by captured Allied POWs and conscripted Asian laborers and it is estimated that almost 100,000 prisoners and forced laborers died at the hands of their brutal Japanese captors. The story of the death railway was immortalized in Pierre Boulle's book "The Bridge Over the River Kwai" and a movie of the same name. The bridge itself, several museums, and some respectfully maintained cemeteries are all popular sights associated with the railway. Another big draw for Kanchanaburi is the nearby "Tiger Temple." More on that, later.

Upon arrival at the train station, we immediately sensed a noticeable downshift in pace and stress level. Cyclo drivers peddled by, fruit vendors lazed under umbrellas, half-heartedly calling out "buy something?", and the motorbike traffic was sporadic and casual. Per usual, we had no destination in mind, so we just started walking in the general direction of downtown and waited for fate to intervene. It eventually did, in the persistent and kind form of "Jon," an elderly cyclo driver with a brochure for every guesthouse in town. It is quite an art, as a cyclo driver, street vendor, or taxi driver to be able to nab a customer. Typically we are untrusting and just keep walking, but we liked and trusted Jon instantly. He wheeled us (and our packs) on his bike to Blue Star, a great guesthouse on the riverside with bungalows and rooms on offer. We dug it, and voila- home for the next few nights. We immediately set about arranging activities for the rest of the afternoon and first on the list was a visit to the controversial, unique, bizarre Tiger Temple.

The Tiger Temple, or Wat Luang Ta Bua Yanna Sampanno, has an interesting story. Paraphrased perhaps most accurately from the guidebook, "what could quite possibly be one of the worst tourist traps in history is actually an incredible photo opportunity." This couldn't be further from the truth. This forest monastery, about a 45 minute drive out of Kanchanaburi is a veritable petting zoo for, you guessed it, tigers. The temple adopted its first tiger cub 8 years ago after discovering that its mother had been killed by poachers and soon other orphan tigers were brought to the monks for care. Currently 10 tigers live at the monastery. In the afternoons, the tigers are released from their cages for exercise and napping in the shade of the canyons on the premises. Visitors are unbelievably allowed to be photographed up-close with the unrestrained tigers while they nap and rest in the shade, and touch and pet them as well. This is not without controversy, though- although the temple has been lauded as a wonderful outreach effort for these endangered big boys and featured on Animal Planet and National Geographic, critics speculate that the price for admission is too high and whisper that the monks are using the money on superfluous purchases for themselves. Regardless, an opportunity to take a photo and meet a tiger up close? Not an experience we wanted to miss:

the main monk who works magic on the tigers...

sleepy

almost looks like a house cat, eh?

Megan and Catt walking with the tigers

Catt and the tiger

Megan with the tiger cub

okay, it was a little bit scary. just a little.

the canyon, where we visited the tigers

After the visit, we felt a little bit conflicted. True, it had been amazing to see the giants up close. But we worried that the repeated impact of subjecting them to hundreds of tourist visitors, day after day, could have a toll on the psychological well-being of creatures that are intended, really, to be left in the wild. In an imperfect world, though, this seemed like a better solution than most. The monks also claim to be constructing a "floating island," where the tigers will be able to live without cages in the future. We discussed this, and more, with new Kiwi friends Pascal and Sandra over beers that night. They have been travelling for three months and normally work for a kayaking company near Able Tasman National Park, in the northern part of the South Island (nearish to Nelson.) It was great meeting you guys, and can't wait to catch up in NZ this summer!

The next few days we mostly devoted to visiting sights associated with the Death Railway, which was an emotionally steeling experience. There are some very well-preserved museums in Kanchanaburi- namely, the Thailand-Burma Railway Center and the JEATH Museum. Both museums succeed in offering unbiased, historical background on the construction of the bridge, and its role in the greater context of WW2. After the museum visits, we rented bicycles and took to the countryside to check out the Allied War Cemetery, the Chung Kai Allied War Cemetery and Wat Tham Khao Pun. The War Cemetery was formerly a POW camp and the plaques bear short epitaphs for the Dutch, British, French and Australian soldiers that perished during the construction of the railway. All of the American dead were transported back to the US at the end of the war for burial at Arlington.

The bike ride was great- flat road, mostly through sugarcane fields. We had a chance to see village life, and the weather was beautiful. Wat Tham Khao Pun was interesting, as well- apparently this quiet cave temple played host to a violent murder of a British tourist in 1995, when a drug-addicted monk murdered the traveler in the cave passages. It is said that the cave was also used by the Japanese to torture and imprison Allied soldiers during WW2. Knowledge of this background makes the journey through the subterranean passageways, filled with Buddha images, a bit harrowing.

Last of all we visited the Bridge itself. The little railway bridge is actually quite small, and mostly a reproduction- the Allies bombed out the first version in 1945. Parts of the bridge are still from the original construction, though.

Here are some pictures from Kanchanaburi:

"Ahh, the perfect souvenir... megnets...

Local Bar, Kanchanaburi

maintaining the Allied War Cemetery

Blue Star Bungalows

Memorial at the Bridge over the River Kwai

A poster depicting Thai massage techniques, or "the beat down" massage, as Catt likes to call it. Ouch!

After Kanchanaburi, we headed back to Bangkok to catch our flight to one of our favorite spots so far, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Stay tuned!