Moving to Thailand: moving to Thailand: First orphanage visit
http://www.xomba.com/referral/778238d1tp://www.goldie77-movingtothailand.blogspot.com
Tuesday 15 June 2010
Friday 11 June 2010
bamboo rafting
Bamboo RaftingBamboo Rafting -from the Moving to Thailand blog
http://www.mylot.com/?ref=goldie77
After the elephant trek we had a buffet lunch in a nice shaded area.I wasn't too sure about the hygiene of the food preparation but I was so hungry I didn't care. The rice and chicken dishes were delicious. We bought chilled coke from a fridge for about 40p. Everyone on the trip was so friendly - it was a wonderful experience and a trip I would definitely repeat, for the fellowship of like minded people if nothing else. Riding on an elephant was fun too-something I'd never done before. It was pretty awesome being so high up. My hat blew off into the river and the guide retrieved it for me from behind the elephant which was really nice of him. Generally I found Thai people warm and friendly when they weren't after your money. They seem to think all foreigners are rich and I was there on a shoe string budget! Probably compared to them I was rich though.
Next we got onto bamboo rafts- around 6 of us per raft and started an hour long, very relaxing and slow trip downstream. Relaxing that is until we were suddenly surrounded by hilltribe people trying to sell us their hand made wares. Yes, they actually came into the water, up to their waists to show us their trays full of completely useless, although very pretty, souvenirs. Not being there strictly speaking as a tourist I had my practical hat on. Nevertheless I couldn't resist buying a Thai style hat from a little girl who couldn't have been any more than 7 years old and was nearly getting swept away by the current. I thought if she made a sale she'd go back to the safety of the bank but she didn't -she stood nearly up to her neck waiting for the next raft.
Once again the difference in our cultures was glaringly obvious - child protection activists would be up in arms in the UK if anyone allowed their child to do such a thing. I could see the sense in British safety laws though. Too many children in Thailand die due to poverty related issues.
http://www.movingtothailand-goldie77.blogspot.com/
is the link to go to catch the start of my blogging journey -for reasons unbeknown to my non technical mind, my blog got divided into 2 parts.
http://www.xomba.com/referral/778238d1 is a link to a site where many of my articles are bookmarked. Any money I earn from writing articles is to go towards reaching my goal of rescuing children in Thailand.
http://www.mylot.com/?ref=goldie77
After the elephant trek we had a buffet lunch in a nice shaded area.I wasn't too sure about the hygiene of the food preparation but I was so hungry I didn't care. The rice and chicken dishes were delicious. We bought chilled coke from a fridge for about 40p. Everyone on the trip was so friendly - it was a wonderful experience and a trip I would definitely repeat, for the fellowship of like minded people if nothing else. Riding on an elephant was fun too-something I'd never done before. It was pretty awesome being so high up. My hat blew off into the river and the guide retrieved it for me from behind the elephant which was really nice of him. Generally I found Thai people warm and friendly when they weren't after your money. They seem to think all foreigners are rich and I was there on a shoe string budget! Probably compared to them I was rich though.
Next we got onto bamboo rafts- around 6 of us per raft and started an hour long, very relaxing and slow trip downstream. Relaxing that is until we were suddenly surrounded by hilltribe people trying to sell us their hand made wares. Yes, they actually came into the water, up to their waists to show us their trays full of completely useless, although very pretty, souvenirs. Not being there strictly speaking as a tourist I had my practical hat on. Nevertheless I couldn't resist buying a Thai style hat from a little girl who couldn't have been any more than 7 years old and was nearly getting swept away by the current. I thought if she made a sale she'd go back to the safety of the bank but she didn't -she stood nearly up to her neck waiting for the next raft.
Once again the difference in our cultures was glaringly obvious - child protection activists would be up in arms in the UK if anyone allowed their child to do such a thing. I could see the sense in British safety laws though. Too many children in Thailand die due to poverty related issues.
http://www.movingtothailand-goldie77.blogspot.com/
is the link to go to catch the start of my blogging journey -for reasons unbeknown to my non technical mind, my blog got divided into 2 parts.
http://www.xomba.com/referral/778238d1 is a link to a site where many of my articles are bookmarked. Any money I earn from writing articles is to go towards reaching my goal of rescuing children in Thailand.
Tuesday 1 June 2010
Elephant trek
After our second orphanage visit we had another day of adventure. I opted to do something I knew Josh would never forget although for me personally it was a little scary!
I booked us in for a whole day trip which started with watching elephants playing football!!!!, and ended with a ride down a river on a bamboo raft. I'm not really into getting animals to perform unnatural acts. However, I was curious to see how the elephants were treated and this was so unlike anything I had ever done before, we just had to try it.
We rose early and taking just a small backpack with water,sunhats and suncream we set off on our organiseed tour. I must admit, it felt very exciting to be a tourist in Thailand and be off on an adventure with other like minded tourists but my real purpose for being there was never far from my mind.
The elephant camp was quite a distance outside of Chiang Mai so I was glad we were in an air conditioned minibus. It's such a great part of a child's education when they can see animals in a more natural habitat than a zoo and when they can experience a culture first hand so I was delighted to watch Josh's face -in wide eyed wonder as we approached the camp and saw elephants among the trees on our left,
eating leaves from the trees and to our right, a river with elephants swimming. I was pleased to see they had so much space.
Sure enough we watched the elephants playing football and then painting pictures and then doing a comical parade, holding each others tails -they were well trained and obedient but I was hoping they weren't cruelly treated. If I was an elephant I don't think I'd paint a picture for anyone!
Then we got into carts pulled by oxen and went a journey of about half an hour into the countryside to visit what was supposed to be an authentic hilltribe village. However, all it was, was a few hilltribe people in all their beautiful Thia regalia,selling goods for a higher price than we'd pay in Chaing Mai. I felt sorry for them because they did seem quite poor so I bought some souvenirs but what really annoyed me after a while was when we got onto the elephants to wade down the river and some men sitting on platforms kept trying to persuasively sell us bananas. After I'd bought a couple of bunches and we'd fed our elephant I really didn't want any more but I was getting disgruntled looks for saying no thank you. I was beginning to understand just how different the Thai culture is from my European culture.I realised it would be difficult to adapt but it didn't put me off. I just wanted God's will in my life.
I will continue this adventure in tomorrow's blog - about the monkey show and the bamboo rafting.
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http://www.xomba.com/referral/778238d1
http://www.hubpages.com/profile/goldie77/
These are links to the articles I've written which I invite you to read. Any money I make from writing goes to fund the orphanage I will have in Thailand.
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