Thailand: Chiang Mai

We left for Chiang Mai on the 9th.  We were greeted by our guide at the airport and went straight to the Doi Suthep Temple.  It's perched high above the city and offers amazing views of the city and countryside.  Leah took a liking to the guide, and she let the guide hold her without any protest!

Afterwards, we finally got to get our massages.  It felt amazing especially since my feet were getting sore from all the walking we did the past week and a half.  I wish I would have been able to get more massages while I was there to take advantage of the crazy cheap prices.  I believe our hour massage was like $10.  

We then headed to our hotel at De Naga Chiang Mai Hotel.  The hotel had a nice set up and the room and bathroom were pretty large.  They gave us a pack and play which was a little on the dirty side that made me consider using the travel crib I brought.  We checked in and headed out to find a place for dinner.  I was so hungry that when I saw the roti stand, I had to stop and get one!  Roti is a Thai dessert that's like a crepe you can get with fillings.  I got a chocolate filling and it was so good!  While I snacked on that, we found a place for dinner.  Leah was so tired she passed out for most of it.

The next day was the most memorable day of the trip.  We left Leah with my parents for the whole day and went to Patara Elephant Farm just outside of Chiang Mai.  There was a brief talk about the management of the farm and how the breeding program was developed and maintained.  Then we were each assigned our own elephant for the day!  We learned how to feed, inspect their health, groom, ride, and wash our own elephant.  Matt's elephant was the mama of a 10 month old baby. Because she was still nursing the baby, the baby followed us every where we went.  It was so cute!! They provided an amazing lunch consisting of sticky rice with different types of fillings, fruit, and fried chicken.  The end of the day we got to see a 2 week old baby elephant.  I seriously wanted to take him home!  Such a fun day!

We got back to our hotel at around 5:30pm, and I was so happy to be reunited with Leah.  My parents said she was well-behaved all day, although they left a pile of tore up tissue on the floor to show us what she had been up to.  We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant and had the most amazing mango with sticky rice.  Matt's favorite dessert.  The next day we're headed to our last stop - Phi Phi Island!