i can't remember exactly when, but i guess it must have been in may 2010 ? 25 of us flew off to chiang mai. let me try to recall who ... cho + kak cho, day + nina, abg chin + kak yati + boy + intan + fatin + ain, kak et + abg jack + ika, pak lee + gee + hasif + izzat + jiha, intan + od + amir + jabbar, myself + mira + iman.
sawadeekaap .... we were greeted by a thai beauty dressed in traditional clothes & flower leis .. only it wasn't orchid ... tak ada laa pulak amik gambar .... coz gambar tu kena beli ! me & acif on d bus
since there were more than 20 of us, we ( actually my brother had arranged almost everything prior to our trip ) chartered a big bus to take us everywhere. great ! we get to relax, & be free & easy in the bus.
first stop ~ makan time ! a halal joint ... & tom yam, of coz
putting up a "happy" smile ~ very hungry actually
that nite we went to the cultural show dinner ( less the dinner tho ) ... unfortunately, i don't have a digital picture of all of us at the dinner/show .... so i had to "cilok" these pix from google
we were pulled to dance along with the dancers .... just like in this pic
this must be at the same place we went ... we sat on the floor, actually, with a space under the table to put our feet down
we even took picture with this "monkey ?", & paid him off, too ...
my nephew couldn't take his eyes off of the dancers then .... kantoi !!
this we were at the jewellery factory. sapphires, rubies. jades, gold, silvers ..... i just bought each of us (iman, mira & myself) a silver ruby ring, & locket for the girls. some spouses & parents had a sudden parkinson attack ~ while trying to sign off their credit cards. some were smart to exit earlier like all of us here ... hehehe
the silk worm. yup, we went to the silk factory, & was shown how the silk cloth were made. did we buy any cloth ? mahal ! but we did buy laa a tudung or two ...
those manually operated "machines" at the back ~ the silk thread woven into cloth
a closer look ...
other than the chartered bus which took us around during the day, we travelled to town & back with the song thaew (red taxi), 2 -3 at one go .... the young cousins would always wanna ride on their own ... wait, i see my my brother (their uncle) in there ... they must have "accepted" him so that he'd pay for the ride ... for experience, we took the tuk tuk too .... *phew*
it is simply not chiang mai, or thailand for that matter, if you don't watch the elephant show .... nope, not the thai girl show ... many children around.
we took pictures with the elephant ....
watched the elephants bathe ....
played ball ...
massage ...
& paint .... awesome !!
it's truly amazing actually ....
& the paintings are sold at RMxxx's
posing with the paintings ...
then we went on a 45mins ride on the elephants .... uphill, downhill, along the lychee tress ... too bad it was off season
along the way, we stopped to buy sugar canes & fed the elephants ....
crossed the rivers ....
at the end of the elephant ride, cow carts waited to take us back to the base ...
lunch time .... we were really hungry & thirsty by now
then it was a 2km
Bamboo-Raft-Trip-Mae-Taeng-River ....
see .... complete with the bamboo headgear
either you seat & enjoy the ride .... or you can paddle & manouver down the river ... it is really hard !
the night market - a real tourist attraction. you can get your souvenirs & many other things there. we were there two nites in a row shopping for interesting items ...
beautiful & colorful flowers carved from soaps, & placed in a wooden trinket .... i bought 5 pieces
to not buy a piece of this thai silk is surely not complete for a trip to thailand ... i preferred a plain maroon
colorful decorated lights ...
silver bangles ....
silk robes & clothings ...
after all the adventures & shoppings, we were ready to go home ... it had been truly a great holiday ... & owh yes, be careful how you greet in thailand ... sawadeekaap vs sawadeehaaa is not the same
