Chiang Mai

"You been OCD?" asked our tour guide as we were leaving our hotel. "Well, yes, some of my work friends accuse me of having OCD" I thought before realizing he was saying, "Old City." The central old part of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a moat with parts of the old crumbling wall still intact and our guide showed us this historic area before driving us up the mountain to Doi Suthep and the beautiful temple there.

Teri enjoyed a half day Thai cooking class making Pad Thai, Tom Yum soup, Red Curry, and Spring Rolls. Now the challenge will be finding all the special ingredients it takes to get the amazing results. The instructor spoke very good English and was understanding of my vegetarian preference.

We did some shopping several evenings, purchasing items from the street vendors. We were told that we would need towels at the elephant park later in the week and that purchase proved more difficult than we expected. Finally we found $9 towels at a department store, only to discover towels were provided in our traditional thatched-roof one-room "cabin". Thankfully we had warm water there and mosquito netting over the bed.

Our van ride to the Elephant Nature Park www.elephantnaturefoundation.org took 90 minutes or so Thursday once we gathered our van full of echo-tourists. When we arrived we were first given instructions on how to be safe around the elephants; where to stand, how to feed them, when to run, and which ones were never safe to approach. We were then taken to a raised platform where the elephants could walk up and be fed bunches of bananas, whole pineapple, small watermelons and pumpkins. Then came bath time. We all headed to the river with buckets and had a great time tossing water at the elephants and each other.

It comes as no surprise to any of us; Teri was a natural with the elephants. She was in her element. It was fun to watch. Unfortunately the photos don't catch all the nuances of their bonding. The property is not fenced so each of the 34 elephants has a personal mahout that makes sure she (all but 4 are female) doesn't wander off the property and destroy a neighbors crops.

After dinner we both received a traditional one hour Thai massage. That was a first for both of us and we've agreed to schedule that again before we leave. We still can't believe the price - $3.00 an hour!

To end our time at the elephant camp we floated down the river on inner tubes with 7 others. It was just what we needed on a very hot day.