Elephants, etc.

Yesterday, Mary and I went for a two hour run up at the reservoir before we all headed over to Grace’s for an outing of elephant riding and other adventures. First stop was the elephants. This time, Zak and I were allowed to ride on the heads of our elephants. Every time they would walk downhill we would have the sensation of an imminent fall over the front and then, presumably, under the feet which would make for a horrible slimming technique. However, as long as we kept our legs lodged behind their ears it would have been almost impossible to fall off. I was wearing shorts and I can attest that elephants are very bristly. While on the elephants they were allowed to feed on some young bamboo growing at the edge of a deep gully. They can really rip that vegetation out; wow. After the elephants we went to a waterfall where our guide Jimmy and Zak and I went swimming. The day was hot the water was not to cold which made for a welcome and refreshing dip. Jimmy jumped off about a 25 foot ledge into the pool and we had fun trying to walk upstream against the force of the water at the base of the falls. After we got back to the red songthaew truck, Zak mentioned it sure would be fun to ride on the roof. Jimmy readily agreed and up the two scrambled; so much for seat belt laws. Luckily it was not far to the bamboo raft put in point. We had a great trip downstream past elephants and through the rapids. We had a great time.

That evening, back in Chiang Mai, all four of us loaded up on the scooter and drove over to the Wararot Market on the bank of the Ping River. I bought a big Kum Loi (floating paper lantern) and we headed up on the foot bridge over the river to launch it. Mary had not yet mastered the art of crossing the busy Thai streets but we were eventually all assembled. When we launched the Kum Loi, it first dropped (very bad luck) down to just above the surface of the river before it started to rise (good luck). There is a lesson there for us I am sure. After watching the Kum Loi join the stars, we headed out on the Riverside Restaurant Ping River cruise. It was very nice. The last photo is of all four of us on our main mode of transportation in Chiang Mai.