Laos

Brad and I have officially been in Thailand for 3 months now, and with those 90 days having flown by, it's already time for us to leave.

Oh wait, don't get your hopes up, we're not coming back to America yet. I just meant, we had to leave Thailand to do a border run, so we could stay here legally. Basically, after 90 days your visa expires, and you have to leave the country and then come back in and get a new visa. So to do this, we took the bus to the nearest country, which in our case was Laos.

We discovered that life is simple in Laos. The people are friendly, and everything moves at a slower pace, especially the traffic. Seriously, they stop and give pedestrians the right of way to cross the street, which was a nice change from almost getting hit by a scooter everyday in Thailand.

The town of Savannakhet is nothing spectacular. It's just a little border town that we spent three days exploring while we waited to pick up our new Thai visas. During our explorations, we walked from one side of town to the other, and then back again just to get some exercise and see the way that people live here. Here's a few of my favorite pictures that I took of their everyday life.

It makes me smile just to see how happy the kids are, even though they don't have very much. So everyone be thankful for what you have, and keep reading my blog! :)

Doi Inthanon National Park

The remainder of our time in northern Thailand was spent enjoying the beautiful scenery and escaping from the city. One morning, we woke up before the crack of dawn, so we could watch the sun rise from a hot air balloon. It was so peaceful as we were flying 2000 feet above the ground. We floated over the jungle and the highlands, and then we flew over part of the city as it was just waking up. It seemed like in just a matter of seconds, the city went from quiet to the hustle and bustle of scooters everywhere. Being able to get a different perspective on the city and the scenery, made it that much more beautiful. Here's a few pictures, but they do not do justice.

We loved the scenery so much from the hot air balloon, that Brad and I decided to hire a driver to take us to Doi Inthanon National Park. Here, we were able to see the different landscapes up close and also the plants and animals that live in them.

Our first stop in the park was at a beautiful waterfall. Brad and I took the time to admire its beauty, and then we walked off the path to find some of the smaller waterfalls. Pictured below.

In the national park, there are different hill tribes living throughout. We came across one, and I asked the driver if we could get out and explore. When we stepped out of the car and walked in to this little village, it seemed as though I was transported back decades. They live so simply here, but they seem so happy as you can see in the photos.

We then spent the majority of the day exploring the highest point in Thailand. Although it was cloudy up here, we still enjoyed the view and the temple at the top. With all of the temples in this country, it is no surprise that they would have one up here. But this temple was different than many of the others. This one was simple and beautiful, just like the area at the top. Below are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Ran-Tong Elephant Center

Our second day in Chiang Mai was spent at the Ran-Tong Save and Rescue Elephant Center, and honestly this was one of the best days of my life. It was so incredible to interact with the elephants and learn each of their stories. Elephants are wild animals in Thailand, and they are allowed to roam free wherever they please. There are laws in place that protect these beautiful creatures from being captured and forced to work in industries such as logging or farming. Unfortunately though, elephants are not protected in the surrounding countries. So if one of the wild elephants wanders over the border, they might be captured there and forced into these awful situations.

At the beginning of our day, we learned that the elephant we got to ride was rescued from a logging company in Laos. The center bought the elephant from them, and now she is allowed to roam free for the majority of her life. The elephants roam free all night, and then in the morning, a Mahout finds them and rides them back to the center.

Each elephant has a Mahout, or a person who takes care of them. They come from a tribe in northern Thailand, who have been working with elephants since as long as they can remember; it is their way of life. The Mahout that takes care of our elephant was a 17 year old boy. He was so sweet and he took all of the pictures for us as we were riding along. Below are a few of my favorites.

Before we hopped on the elephants, we were taught how to control them. Basically, it is just like riding a horse. To turn, you kick with your outside foot of the way you are turning. To go, stop, and reverse, there are voice commands. But in case you forget any of the commands, the Mahout is right there beside you.

When we finally got to climb on the elephants back, it was the most amazing experience! We rode  through the jungle for a couple of hours, and then when we returned back to camp, we got to swim with and bathe the elephants. As we were still on top of our elephant, she walked in to the swimming hole and started sucking water up in to her trunk. She then sprayed the mud and water all over us. We hopped off and splashed her to get her back, and then she sprayed us again. We swam and played around for a while until finally it was time for her bath, as seen in the picture below.

After the bath and the long trek through the jungle, our elephant was hungry, so we got to feed her. We went and cut the sugar cane from the field and then brought it back and fed it to her right from our hand. Check out our elephant looking cute while eating.

To finish off our day, we got to play with the baby elephant. She is only about six months old and 250 pounds. Her mother is protective, but she is still very curious. Whenever her mother allowed, she would wander up to Brad and I and wrap her trunk around our hands, resulting in a game of tug of war. (pictured below) We also splashed her with water and fed her some sugar cane. Really, if I haven't said it enough already, this was one of the most wonderful days.