It is hard to believe our time here in Thailand is already half over! It has been a whirlwind of various experiences and we are really enjoying it! It took us a few days to adjust to the culture shock, smog, and overall chaos that comes with Bangkok. After all, Bangkok alone has twice as many people as all of New Zealand so we expected it to be quite the adjustment.
After a few days in Bangkok we looked forward to a change of pace and made our way to Northern Thailand and the city of Chiang Mai. This city is known for it's culture which is largely contained in the many temples and markets throughout the city. We took a full day cooking course and learned how to make some of the delicious Thai dishes we had already been enjoying!
One of my favorite days so far was when we went to an elephant sanctuary! This place was home to 4 elephants who have previously been used for work, riding, or the circus. We were able to spend the whole day interacting with them! We got to feed them, bathe them in mud and rinse them off at the local waterfall. It was incredible being with these truly impressive animals!
After a week in Chiang Mai we made our way further north to the neighboring city of Chiang Rai. Chiang Rai is a good base for getting out into the surrounding jungle. We did a jungle trek where we were able to walk through three hill-tribe villages, a tea plantation, pineapple fields, and fully immerse ourselves in nature! It had been too long since we put our hiking boots on so we were both pretty excited!
Chiang Rai also has some very unique temples and two of our favorites have been the white temple and blue temple. They both have been recently refurbished and the architects have done an incredible job!
We enjoyed exploring the different areas of Chiang Rai and made sure we had time in our schedule for some yoga classes and massages to relax and rejuvenate! Today we are headed for our last destination in Thailand which is the peninsula of Phuket. This is in south Thailand and known for gorgeous beaches and stunning coastlines. We plan to put some extra focus on the relaxation part of our trip while we are here and will soak up as much sun as we can before we journey back home to the frozen tundra of Minnesota.
We hope all of you are staying safe and warm and we will send as much heat to you as we can! We look forward to our last 2 weeks of adventure and of course are beyond excited to soon be home again too!
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