We have thoroughly enjoyed our last few days outside Chiang Mai. The horse riding we planned didn’t work out terribly well. It turned out that they had misunderstood that we were only here on holiday although we had been clear about it from the start. When they finally understood they didn’t want us to ride at all. We did eventually persuade two pony rodes out of them for Luke and Susie but as this only involved being walked on a lead rein around the arena they quickly got bored!
Emma and I really enjoyed our one day cooking course. We visited a market where Emma’s food knowledge easily outstripped that of most of the other (adult) attendees! The difference between ginger and garlic anyone? We then went to the location for the cooking where we each had our own workstation and wok. We learnt to make a soup each, pad thai and a curry each starting with the curry paste. The instructor and other group members were good value and we had lots of fun. Unfortunately I forgot to take the camera so no photos of our food! We packed up most of the food and brought it back to our hotel where it was reheated for the whole family to eat for tea. By no means the best Thai food we have eaten, but not too shabby either 🙂
Yesterday we had our day with the elephants. We were able to walk amongst them, feeding them bananas, hugging and stroking them. Some of us were even kissed by a baby one. A funny but not altogether pleasant experience.
We then had a lesson in basic elephant commands before we each had a turn, astride our own elephant at putting them into practice. True to form, susie showed no fear and was first to mount up and have a go. All the kids did very well and were very brave as it is quite a daunting experience!
After some lunch we took our elephants out for a walk in the “jungle”. Because of the kids ages we were given a professional mahout to ride in front, one for each child / elephant. Phil and i had to ride behind with luke and susie. I have to say that riding on the back, as opposed to the neck, of a large elephant is a very uncomfortable position and there was more than once when I felt like I might fall, particularly as my rope to hold o to had slipped. However we sll stayed on, and the kids loved being on the front. Afterwards we all had “elephant legs” with a strange gait :-). Finally we took the elephants into the water where we washed them and they sprayed water over us. Lovely to cool off and great fun for everyone. Even the baby ones came to join in.
We were dropped off at the Saturday walking street for a few last minute souveniers before our ride back to the hotel. Just time for a nightime swim under the stars before bed. What a fabulous day to end our trip.
Today we are packing and travelling home. Three aeroplanes – a short one from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, then Bangkok to Dubai, and finally Dubai to Gatwick. No doubt we will be very much looking forward to our own beds once we get there.
