Tie-Dye, Doi Inthanon, and Agape Orphange

Tie Dye Workshop:
Last Saturday I went to a cotton farm which was about a half hour away from Chiang Mai where we learned about Tie Dye and even got to make our own! We also had learned how to make banana sticky rice, had a delicious lunch and got to play with some cute dogs! What a great way to spend a Saturday!

Before the Tie Dye

Showing us how to make sticky rice

Mass sticky rice production

Lunch!

The finished products!

My Tie Dye!

Last week we had Monday and Tuesday off from class because Chiang Mai University had their commencement ceremonies. This is a huge deal here, the princess came to hand out the diplomas, so Chiang Mai was a very busy place! We took a day trip to Doi Inthanon which is the highest point in Thailand. We left at 5 am so we got there in time to see a little bit of the sunrise. I am not a morning person at all, but it was worth getting up at 4:30 to see.

The temperature when we began the hike! BRRR!

The hike was beautiful and a good length, nothing too strenuous. Doi Inthanon is a part of the Himalaya mountain range which goes all the way from Northern Thailand across Nepal, Myanmar, and Bhutan.

My roommate Hailey and I 

You can see the top of one of the pagodas we went to see later.

After the hike, we drove to visit the Royal Pagodas of Their Majesties the King and the Queen which were partly visible from the hike earlier.

A random Thai family asked to take a picture with us. 

After the pagodas, our last stop of the day was the Wachiratarn Waterfall.

Saturday, some of our group visited the Agape Orphanage that is located in Chiang Mai. The orphanage is home to about 70 kids who are HIV positive. Agape means unconditional love. About 20 students from my study abroad program went for the day. It was a really nice day, but also challenging because most of the kids didn't know any English- but it is amazing what you can communicate with a smile.

My phone was stolen from my purse while I was out this week so I am a little short on pictures from the orphanage.
This weekend I am going to Pai which I have heard amazing things about from many people!

Elephant Nature Park

Hello!
Sunday, I spent the day at Elephant Nature park right here in Chiang Mai! Spending the day at an elephant sanctuary has been on my bucket list for a few years and one of the reasons I wanted to come to Chiang Mai, so you could say I was a little bit excited.
A group of 15 of us all went together and it was an amazing day!

Most of the group.

When we arrived they gave us these awesome outfits to wear- lol. We changed and began to prepare the elephant's food! We separated bananas and chopped sugar cane.

Chopping the sugar cane with a machete 

carrying the buckets of food

Next, we finally got to feed the elephants! IT WAS AMAZING. One of the coolest things I've ever gotten to do. They would grab 5 or 6 bananas at a time from you and hold them in their trunk because they are afraid that if they don't take all the food that you have that you will give it to someone else.

holding all the bananas

After we fed them all the food we got to "take them for a walk." We walked down a path towards the woods and the elephants followed us. We got to watch them look for food in the wild which was quite interesting.

Above is the mother, 4-month-old baby, and grandmother. Whenever they walk anywhere the baby is in the middle of the mother and grandmother for protection.
After we watched them eat in the wild for a bit, we took them back to the fenced-in area and fed them some more- this time cornstalks.

Next, we went for a longer walk to the river to give the elephants a bath!. It took about 40 minutes and man was it hot- I was ready for a bath too! The walk was beautiful- it really felt like I was in Thailand for the first time. It was much more of what I had been picturing Thailand to be- jungles and mountains rather than the city where I have been spending most of my time so far. 

We walked for about 40 minutes until we reached the river. The elephants waded in with us right behind them and the bath began! We used buckets to splash water on them. The elephant trainers had a lot of fun dumping their buckets on us instead of the elephants....

After we had the elephants all clean, they walked across the river and used their trunks to throw mud onto themselves. They do this because it acts like sunscreen for them. Then we hopped in the back of a pickup truck and rode back to the sanctuary and that was it for the day!

everyone pilled in the back of the truck

Elephant Nature Park was amazing. The staff was so nice and super friendly and willing to answer the millions of questions we had. They even picked us up, dropped us off and gave us lunch! If you are ever in Chiang Mai check them out! 

Up Next: Dio Inthanon National Park- Thailands Highest Point

Aubrey :)