ขอโทษที่แอนดี้เขียนนี้ชามากๆครับ แต่ว่าทุกวันผมไปเดินเล่นตลอดเวลา เชียงใหม่เป็นเมืองที่สวยดี สบายดีด้วยครับ สามวันที่แล้วเบลและแฟนเค้าพาแอนดี้ไปเที่ยวดอยอินทนนท์มา คือดอยสูงที่สุดในเมืองไทย อากาศที่โน่นเย็นดีแต่ตอนเราได้ไปเที่ยวอยู่ฝนตก หลังจากนั้นพวกเขาพาแอนดี้ไปชมพิพิธภัณฑ์พระพิฆเนศมา ก็สวยดี แอนดี้ได้ถ่ายรูปเยอะ ดีใจมากที่เบลพาแอนดี้ไปเที่ยวอีกแล้วครับ สนุกดีมากๆ
สองวันที่แล้วมีงานเผาศพในหลวง ตอนบ่ายเกือบทุกที่ปิดเพราะว่าคนไทยหลายคนได้เอาดอกไม้ไปไหว้ในหลวงที่สนามกีฬาในเชียงใหม่ครับ ตอนเช้าแอนดี้ได้ไปเดินเล่นไกลมากแถวริมแม่น้ำและเมืองเก่า ทุกคนที่แอนดี้เจอดูเสียใจจริงๆ น่าสงสารมาก แอนดี้ก็เสียใจด้วย หลังจากกลับห้องแอนดี้ได้สอนภาษาอังกฤษให้เพื่อนใหม่ที่อยู่ห้อพักด้อยกัน สนุกดีๆ
เมื่อวานก็สนุกดีเพราะว่าได้ไปป่างช้าง Elephant Nature Park มาครับ เป็นป่างช้างที่ดีที่สุดนะ มีช้าง 78 เชือก หมา 200 กว่าตัว ควาย 80 ตัว และแมวหลายตัว น่าสารใจมากที่ช้างส่วนใหญ่มีปัณหาสุขภาพ แต่หลังจากไปเที่ยวมาผมคิดว่าคนดูและที่ป่างช้างเลี้ยงมันเก่งมากๆ ไปเรียนเรื่องของช้างให้อาหารมันและเจอหมาหลายตัวดีมากๆครับ ไกด์ของผมเป็นคนตลก แต่สอนเกี่ยวกับช้างให้เก่งมากที่สุด ถ้ามีเวลาจะลองไปอีกเพื่อช่วยดูและหมาครับ
วันนี้ผมไปลองดูโรงเรียนนวดมาในที่สุด ชอบมาก พี่ที่แอนดี้คุยกันใจดีมากครับ แล้ว ผมจะริ่มเรียนฤษีดัดตนวันจันทร์นี้ สองวันนะ ตื่นเต้นแล้ว ก็ไปลองดูยิมมวยไทยมาด้วย ดูดีนะ จะไปซ้อมพรุ่งนี้ตอนบ่าย ดีใจมากที่นิ้วดีขึ้นแล้ว เย้ๆ
Been a busy few days, with a lot of happenings. Here's some random things and thoughts:
- Belle and Bpei-Bpei are so awesome. They took an entire day to bring me to not only a wonderful lunch, but also the highest mountain in Thailand and the Ganesha Museum (which we almost didn't make it to). The mountain was so cool with the misty rain and wind. It was so high up that my prepackaged pineapple pie nearly exploded from the pressure! Wild! Such a fun day!
- I already hit the one-week wall of speaking Thai. Had a mental block/fear of not getting better, then just worked through it. Feeling better now, despite the mornings still being a bit rough. lol
- Thursday was the Royal Cremation ceremony in Bangkok. I didn't explicitly pay attention to it, but the mood of anyone I met was pretty somber. When I was running that morning, they even had it broadcast on a huge screen on the outside of a large shopping mall. I stopped to watch for a few minutes next to a few ladies and it was very sad, knowing how so many people were affected by losing their shining beacon of strength, hope and national identity. The rest of the morning/afternoon I just walked around near the river and in the Old City. It was like a ghost town, as many people had gone to pay respects and participate in a ceremony at one of the stadiums here.
- I started helping a Thai lady who stays at the same guesthouse with her English. She is very funny, so it is nice to teach her. It also has helped with my Thai skills, which is obviously a bonus.
- The food here is awesome. The vegan festival ends today, but I have located most of the permanent places that will continue serving after today!
- Yesterday, I went to the Elephant Nature Park. It was a wonderful experience, which taught me a lot about the plight of Asian Elephants that are/were native to Thailand. I was in a group of 8 people from places like Scotland, Spain and Slovakia. It was a good mix and cool to hear about their travels. Our tour guide Job was great and very informative, as well as very funny. He told me that I can speak Thai really well and during breaks, he and some other tour guides joked with me about various things.
We watched a video about the park and the many problems elephants still face from exploitation in the 1-hour drive on the way there. It was hard to watch, given the savagery still routinely inflicted on them by human hands. Almost on cue, when the video finished, we passed a group of tourists riding elephants that had been harnessed and chained. It was sickening. The last sad elephant was carrying an old white lady holding a parasol. It seemed like some sort of lost image from a past better-off forgotten. Talking to the others in my group at lunch, they felt the same way. I just hope that people like that woman who take part in exploitation of animals (and humans) for "tourism" and entertainment somehow become aware of their ignorance and choose more beneficial activities for the good of all beings in the future.
Elephant Nature Park was the opposite of those passing scenes. No chains, no handlers with equipment to harm the elephants. It was very peaceful. As park visitors, we were mostly observers. It was cool to feed the elephants and see them having a good quality of life. Of the 78 elephants there, most had suffered some type of injury while working illegally or, even more brutal, by stepping on landmines along the Thai-Myanmar border. Despite this previous horrific treatment, the elephants in the sanctuary had a high level of freedom to live as the chose and to form foster families. The several blind elephants had even found helpers to guide them through life in the park. It was very impressive to see their resilience and comradery.
The park also had a lot of other animals, including over 80 water buffalo, 200+ dogs and a lot of cats, too. I was happy to get some dog-time in as well, feeding bananas to a few of the pups while the rest of the group was trying to feed our elephant! There was even a dog that jumped on the (all vegan) buffet table after lunch to clean up the scraps. It made me feel at home! All in all, it was a great day. I am going to see if I can maybe do a day trip again to work with the dogs!
- Today I went to check-out a massage school to study Ruesii Datton. It was great, the lady I spoke with talked to me only in Thai and I understood pretty much everything. Apparently, her boyfriend lives in Cleveland, so we had something to talk about. I start a 2-day course on Monday. I also hope to do the Thai Herbal Compress class on Saturday. They had a special lunch for the graduating teachers today and invited me to stay! The food was mostly "jay' and was very good! I am glad I found this place.
- I also went to check-out a Muay Thai gym here in the Old City. It seems decent and they are ok with me training and not punching. They have 2-hour sessions throughout the day, so I will start tomorrow afternoon. It is a slightly different format than the other gyms, but I just want to get some training in before going to Ubon. Excited!
- I think I am going to add a few more days to my stay here in Chiang Mai, again. I will probably stay until 11/9, then go to Issan for 5 days and then back to Bangkok for the last 6 days. Chiang Mai is awesome.
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