December 10, 2011

Hey everyone!

So much has happened! We left Bangkok on Tuesday night to come to Chiang Mai on a night bus... that was interesting because of how hung over we were on our 12 hour bus right... not much fun. I ended up sitting next to some guy who had an iPad and was watching movies, so he let me watch them with him which really helped make the time go by faster. We talked for a while and he actually lives in Chiang Mai so was able to give me some pointers for our trip. As soon as we got here Wednesday morning, we went straight to the guest house and fell asleep until about 3pm... it was 630am when we first got here. We didn't do much that day.
On Thursday we went to Tiger Kingdom. It was amazing! We got to cuddle and pet the baby cubs and the full grown tigers. It was definitely not something I would have the opportunity to do at home. We had our photos professionally taken with the baby cubs, they aren't on Facebook yet though because we have to find a computer that has a disc drive. We took our own photos with the full grown tigers, they are uploaded now so you can all have a peak. They were so friendly and lovable... I just wanted to take them home with me. We had a very quiet night on Thursday because we knew we were going to have a full busy day on Friday. We woke up at 7am o n Friday to go on a one day trek. The trek started by taking us to the jungle where we rode elephants!!! Shannon and I shared an elephant and it was huge! It was the biggest one they had. He was 29 years old and weighed 4 tons. As I am sure most of you know, I am deathly afraid of heights, so being way up there with nothing strapping you in was terrifying. There was a seat with a rail to hold on to, but that was all. It was definitely the most scary but exciting experience of my life. I couldn't believe it. One of the baby elephants gave me a big kiss on the cheek with his trunk... man those guys have suction! haha. The elephant rides took an hour, after that we went up to Karen Village. We saw women making silk scarves and tons of awesome animals running around. We didn't stay there long, we then went to the waterfall which was absolutely beautiful. Again, I overcame my fear of heights by walking across so many bridges that didn't have railings... I was terrified but I did it!!! The trek back to the van from the waterfall was probably close to an hour, once we got there they took us to have lunch which consisted of rice, veggies, and a curry soup. It was delicious. After lunch we went bamboo rafting!!! That was so much fun! we got so soaked and the water was freezing, but all in all, the whole day was absolutely worth waking up early for and overcoming a fear. We went out for dinner last night to a Mexican restaurant and drank margaritas! We ordered a pitcher of them... not realizing how much booze a pitcher really was... it was a lot and they were so strong!! It was still pretty early at this time... probably around 7pm... we were all in bed by about 1230am.
Today, because we were so busy the past couple of days, we decided to have a lazy relaxing day. We slept in until around 1pm, then woke up and I spent most of the day beside the pool reading my book. Later in the afternoon we went out to get Thai massages... they were incredible!!! We just finished them about half an hour ago and I feel so relaxed. They use a lot of pressure and actually get right up on top of you... it's different but it feels amazing. Tonight we're going to go get some ice, take it back to our room, and drink the rest of the booze we bought at 7/11 last night! Tomorrow will be another quiet day, Monday we're going for a 12 hour Thai cooking class on a farm where they grow all the ingredients right there, and Tuesday we're going to the Longneck Village. I will be sure to keep you updated on how all those exciting events go!!
Love you all so much and miss you so much too!!
xoxoxox
Alicia.