Last Day in Thailand...

Thailand has several cooking schools for foreigners that it offers throughout the week. You essentially go for a half or whole day and they teach you to cook Thai food. So, I talked Chris into it!

They start by taking you into the local markets (which smell awful!) to pick out food....

Then they take you to the school, which was pretty neat because it's all open on the sides.

And then they teach you step-by-step.... we made 4 different Thai dishes and sent us home with a cookbook of recipes to make!

Thailand, Day #6

So, we're up at the very northern part of Thailand, near Chaing Rai (different than Chaing Mai, which is a little more south).

This arch says "The Northernmost Point of Thailand" on it....

I look really happy in this picture, but I was actually mad at Chris. He thought it would be super-fun to take a boat to Laos and I didn't really feel like it.... so, I gave in. Well, on the way back, it started pouring down rain, and in this picture we knew we were about to get soaked!

Here's another picture of a hilltribe village....

And before we headed back to Chiang Mai, this was our last stop.... the White Palace. It was another beautiful Buddhist temple, but was made entirely in white and silver.

Thailand, Day #5

We ventured up to the border of Thailand with our tour guide. They call this area the Golden Triangle... where Thailand meets Burma and Laos. We took a cool little boat along the river for a little while.... it was so relaxing.

This is a picture of us with a tuk-tuk. These were our main means on transportation while in Thailand. The driver rides in the front and we stay in the back on the little cart. This was a rather small tuk-tuk, so they vary quite a bit in size and style. They're also really popular with the tourists because they only cost around $1-3 to get around the city....
Of course, we checked out a few more Buddhist temples...
Here we are overlooking Burma... looks and feels very similar to the poorest/dirtiest parts of Thailand....
Up in the hills of Thailand are hilltribe villages, where people gather together to make their huts. They let us look into a few of them.... they're mainly made of bamboo and the people here essentially live off the land, making their own food, clothing, and crafts, which they take into town and sell at the markets.

Thailand, Day #4

Day #4 was my favorite day in Thailand... we were heading up north, but we made several really fun stops along the way. First, we stopped at the orchid and butterfly factory. They actually take the live orchids, cover them in some stuff (I know that sounds really scientific) and then outline them with gold and sell them as jewelry.

Next, we stopped at the Tiger Place (not the official name, but I can't remember!) Not only can you go in and look at all the tigers, but you can take pictures with them as well. I'll admit that I felt a little bad about doing this because the place advertises that they don't drug the tigers in any way, but that's pretty hard to believe. The tigers are up playing around one minute and the next, they're laying down calmly the next. But, it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so we took it!

They actually charged more to get pictures/pet the baby and small tigers. So, of course we were cheap and got pics with the largest tigers. Once we got up to their cages, I got a little nervous though!

Then, we went to see the elephants! You can pay to watch the elephant shows (which we missed), feed the elephants (which we again missed), and ride the elephants (which thankfully we made!) They have local Thai people who are "steering" the elephants, but then you ride on a cart on their backs... definitely my favorite thing that we did!

Thailand, Day #3

Our third day in Thailand was the start of our tour with Gap Adventures. Basically, we have a personal tour guide and driver that take us through Thailand. We were in Chaing Mai and they took us around to see several craft places.

We started at a huge temple on the top of a mountain...

And yes, we climbed all of those stairs behind us....

After the temple, we went to a Jade factory. Thailand is pretty well known for their jade jewelry and figures. Ironically, I didn't buy any jade, but instead got a pair of pearl earrings!

This is a picture of us at lunch... just like Japan, most of the Thai restaurants serve all the same Thai food...

We then moved on to the paper-making factory. Essentially, the people in Thailand are so poor that they find really creative and crafty ways of making things to sell to foreigners. At this place, they made paper, then turned it into umbrellas and other items.

You could then purchase your items and take them to their artists, who would paint these beautiful designs in just a few minutes....

We then went to a silk factory, where they grow silk worms, pull out the silk, and then weave it into fabric using machines. This was essentially a demonstration place, attached to a silk store. Thailand is also known for their silk, but lots of people in the street markets claim that their products are 100% silk, but they're really not!

This woman is pulling out the silk thread from the worms...

And of course, we had to fit in a few foot massages! Thailand is also known for their cheap massages... they were about $7/hour for a foot massage! :)