BTW

Hey everyone.  So I have been trying to blog but there is this tiny problem of my laptop not turning on.  My pictures are on my laptop. So........there will not be a post for a couple weeks.  Plus I am going to be visiting family and moving for the next couple weeks so there is lots going on.  Wish I could just go ride an elephant or play with a tiger.  Seems like a long time ago!  It's fun blogging though, because I can enjoy my memories again and reminisce as I share them with you!  Anyways, we are doing well back in the US of A right now.  Keeping very busy but thats ok!  We just found an apartment to move into March 1st and we hope to settle in and keep trying to simplify as we wait for what adventure may happen next!  We have some dreams but we will see if they become realities or not.  In the meantime I will try to blog ASAP.  TTYL!

(You can tell I got my cell phone back on and have been texting again!)

Elephant Camp

Well, here we are, safe and sound back in the States.  It seems unreal that only 2 er 3 weeks ago (takes me awhile to put together a post these days, real life dontcha know.) we were in Asia.  ASIA!!! So far away now.  And as I sit here, and look out the window, instead of palm trees and heat there is snow, and freezing cold.  Apparently it has "warmed up" significantly, from unbearable to just the normal freezing variety of cold.  Good thing too, because I'm cold enough!!  However, we still have lots of photos to share and I think you will enjoy seeing our photos of the elephants.

 After the Bamboo rafting adventure we saw an elephant show.  This little elephant was our favorite.  All the elephants were trained to bow but she did it whenever she felt like it.  She would just do this little bow and make a little sound randomly during the show.  She was perky!

 The elephants showed us the inside of their mouths! Big molars!

They need them too, because we got to feed them and they will just take a whole bunch of bananas and stuff it into their mouths.  Also sugar cane and corn on the cob.  With the corn though, they don't like the husk so they will husk it themselves before they eat it.  We also saw some talents these pachyderms have:

Suda painting.

That's right, I said pachyderms.  There is a first time for everything!  And yes, elephants can paint!  Their trainer gives them the brushes and they know the order of things and what to do.  Very clever I say!  Matt's mom bought the painting so if you are interested and in the area of.........Utah.... you could see it :D.  I can't paint an elephant like Suda can!

They can also play football, er, soccer that is. So confusing, one sport having more than one name.

We took an oxcart ride.

It looks so cool but its kind of boring.  The scenery was nice though.  Now I understand a little bit what it might feel like for those people on the Oregon Trail.  That would be quite the adventure going all the way out west in a wagon.  No thanks!  I prefer those newfangled machines they call cars.

Aren't they way more fabulous than our cows back home?

However, I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to ride one of these on a long journey:

So cool!  Matt said he was uncomfortable, we had to sit in the basket and the elephant dude sat where Matt is sitting in the photo.  I didn't find the basket uncomfortable in the least, but that's because it's built for us normal sized folk, not super tall giants like Matt.

We got to ride in the river.  That was my favorite bit.  We don't have a picture of us in the river, but check out these folks we met:

Matt's parents cruising along!

I think they have the picture of us riding the elephant in the river. :)  That concluded our elephant ride!

After seeing all those elephants, you are probably wondering this " So Lazuli, what do they do with all the elephant excrement?"  I knew it!  After all it's a totally natural question.  Elephants are huge so it stands to reason...uh...anyways.  Well, never fear, the people at the camp have come up with an eco-friendly solution. 

 The process is explained above but they use DRY materials.  Then they put the pulp in these screens:

I will admit it looks gross.

 And then they set the screens out to dry in the sun.

And there you have it, elephant poo paper!  It's a pretty neat way to get paper I must say, and saves the trees too! (You need those to grow food for the elephants so you can make paper down the line.)  If anyone is interested in purchasing their own elephant poo paper I think that I have seen journals made from it at Barnes and Noble.  Just in case you are curious.

As we left  we saw the parking garage:

We aren't in Kansas anymore!

 Then it was off to the next adventure.

Bamboo Rafting

Well, nothing can really top the tiger post. Nothing yet anyways. However, we still had fun the next day in Chiang Mai. We had booked a "safari" day and first on the agenda was a sedate bamboo raft river ride.

Our Guide, whose family origins are Myanmar.

The raft had 2 people guiding us down the river.

Then, Matt and his Dad had a chance:

Just like being in a Mark Twain novel, except we were in Thailand. The scenery was lovely. So amazing, and surreal to be floating through the jungle. Saw an elephant getting a bath.

As we passed this piece of greenery I got super excited and was elbowing Matt saying "look, its just like an elephant, see, SEE???" He didn't seem all that impressed and then when I saw the picture on the computer later I could understand why:

I mean if you really use your imagination................uh........

Anyways. Who cares about supposed imaginary greenery elephants when you can see the real thing as you float down an exotic jungle river in northern Thailand?

See how huge this one is?

About halfway through there was a floating snack station:

We brought snacks and water but if you ever float down the river in Thailand, know that you can stay hydrated with coconuts and bottled water on the go!

It was a beautiful ride and another first for all of us!

Check out the size of some of the bamboo!

Til next time!

Brief Update

Hey everyone, I tried to post a couple weeks ago and the Internet was being dumb so I couldn't save or post my last one. Then we were so busy that I wasn't able to re do it. I will do it ASAP.

Today we said a very tearful goodbye to Myanmar and our amazing friends there. It was so extremely hard to leave, words fail. We are so grateful to have had this fantastic experience. I know that when we post on our blog, it's mostly the fun adventures we have shared. However, the day to day rhythm of working with our friends is what we will cherish the most.  (Even more than the Tigers;) Many of you have received the yearbook for 2013, it reflects the friends there perfectly.  We started it, and then we saved it for when we left, it will be such a treat to read it and reflect on our time there. Many of the friends whose stories appear in it we have had the privilege to know and work with.

We hope to continue relating the last two months of experiences, we still have many photos to share, so I hope we can continue to make you smile if you wish too!

Tiger Kingdom

 This has to be the toughest post I've ever written.  Not because it's sad. No, because its SOCOOLICANTEVENEXPLAINIT.   Do you have any idea how hard it is to sort through 400 pictures of playing with TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????  How can I possibly choose just a few?????? However, I must because as dedicated friends of ours, I can't put you through 400.  Not even 40.  I will try to give you our best shots.

To start, a little information on Tiger Kingdom.  Basically, it rocks.  However it's important you know something about the place.  Some tiger interaction centers drug the tigers to keep them gentle and or use other restraints.  Here they do not.  Tigers are big kittys so they do lots of sleeping and lazing about, but these tigers are free to get up and move around when they want to.  Which we observed when we were there.  And if they feel like jumping up and running around, they do.  There are rules about how you can act with them too.  At tiger kingdom you can pet the tigers and hang out with them but you do not actually play with them.  The keepers can use toys to interact playfully but we cannot, and that is because even though they are small and start out easy to play with, very soon they are too big and you will get hurt.  You aren't allowed to touch their faces or when they are bigger their front paws, this is for your protection too. At 2 years old they are not permitted to interact with humans anymore because they get cranky and unpredictable and they are moved to zoos within Thailand or are kept for breeding.  They are not allowed to be sold or to leave the country.  This is really a protection for them, so that they are not exploited. Different tigers are rotated throughout the day, at least the big ones are, so that they don't get tired and cranky with their visitors.

We started out with the smallest ones which are around 3 months I think.

Look how big their paws are, even at such a young age. 

 

 
 Then we moved onto the small size ones.

I love how Matt and the Tiger have the same expression in this one.

We didn't hang with the medium sized ones, but we got some great pictures of them being playful:

Then we moved onto the big sized ones.   When I say big, I mean to say, ginormous.  You may be thinking.  Uh, huh. I've seen tigers in the zoo. I know all about tigers. They are big.  Well you are right, however, it's a whole nuther thing to lay on them when they are that big.  Suddenly you appreciate how big they are.

Tigers like to do gymnastics too!

Did I say lay on them?  Oh yes I did!  Meat, I mean Meet Cesar:

Remember in the Jungle Book when Baloo has Shere Kahn by the tail?  Remember how you laughed at that part?

Who is laughing now??  Seriously though, after hanging around these big cats, Baloo's fear doesn't seem so funny now.  I'll probably laugh at that part still, but now for different reasons.

Did you ever wonder if your head could fit inside a Tiger's mouth?  Well, wonder no more!

Then it was time to give Cesar some alone time and we went to meet another tiger.  However, she decided she wanted to walk around so we walked with her for a few minutes.

They get bigger than this too, some of the adults were sectioned off and they were huge!  It went by way too fast and we can't wait to play with tigers someday again.  Really play with them!

On the way back I got a splendid slideshow of Matt falling asleep in the back of the car, but even though I know you will be bitterly disappointed not to see it, I'm just not allowed to show you.

Later on we went in search of a restaurant.  After driving up and down the street several times our Taxi driver dropped us off where it was SUPPOSED to be but it wasn't there  anymore.  So we went to a different place instead.   Matt and I ordered Kao Soi, a traditional northern Thai dinner.  It was a mild chicken curry, and so good.

Our next day was quite full of exciting new experiences, so we will tell you more next time!