Thailand: Bangkok & Chiang Mai

The trip to Thailand was off to a whirlwind start. Flight delayed so whisked through security to a flight departing in 10 minutes. Boarded and OFF (and luckily no checked bags to worry about this time)! It is a long flight followed by a layover and another long flight. But so worth it. First morning in Bangkok I was up early and enjoying the strong coffee while watching the barges move down the river. We boarded klong boats soon to visit temples. These are long passenger boats that essentially serve as public transportation.
We also biked through the local neighborhoods. Seeing real life was fascinating. Though it was quite difficult riding though on narrow streets with motor bikes sharing the paths. The Flight of the Gibbon zipline was intense, but incredible. After 4 days in Bangkok we traveled north to Chiang Mai where we immediately joined Thai cooking class. And we hiked Doi Inthanon by amazing waterfalls and rice plantations and visited village school and passed out gifts the children.
Back at the hotel I had a little time and went for a very interesting Thai massage by a blind person. No photo of this but later at the night market we tried the fish spa. I could barely get through it from the tickling!
The whitewater rafting was also great.  Plus we had to stop and wait for the elephants to cross the river. Wish I has pics.. But it was raining and camera was put away.
Honestly I don't even know what my favorite part was. We spent a day as “mahouts” working with elephants. Feeding, bathing and riding elephants was awesome.  We also visited a tiger park. Being IN the cage with tigers was interesting and amazing. That was a little disconcerting though... I don't think the tigers are as happy as the elephants were. Not quite a zoo but still caged.  Just very big cages.  Note: since visiting Thailand I have become aware that riding elephants and actually not good for them and do regret having done it.
The last night we had a Khom Loy ceremony. Floating paper lanterns traditionally released in northern Thailand by the Lanna people. Did I mention the food?? Every single meal I had was incredible. What an amazing trip this has been. So busy but I can't think of a single thing to cut. We just need more time! Oh and I did stop in Tokyo for a night flying home. I went to the fish market and had the freshest sushi of my life for breakfast. And here’s the post I put on FB that day (July 31, 2013):
Bottle water in Bangkok this morning approx 10 baht ($.32) Same bottle of water in Tokyo on the same day is 460 yen (approx. $4.55) How's that for extremes?
FYI the best hotel in Bangkok is The Atlanta Hotel. It is simple and cheap. Great for single travelers (and my brother’s personal favorite place to visit) is the Atlanta Hotel in Bangkok. it is not fancy but it is good, cheap, and well run. If you have any questions just ask. I LOVED Thailand!!

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