Thai-ing Not To Cry, Saying Goodbye to Chiang Mai

Thai-ing Not To Cry, Saying Goodbye to Chiang Mai

By: Kayla Wilson and Sophie Brown

Our last weekend in Thailand was nothing short of amazing. On our last free day, we decided to split up into two different groups and explore the city on our own.

Anneliese, Grace, John, Catherine, Ireland and I (Kayla) had one of the most exciting and adventurous days thus far - WE WENT ZIP LINING. It is hard to put into words just how beautiful Thailand truly is. On Sunday morning, we got to experience the height of this beauty. We had an early start to our day, when the Skyline Adventure staff picked us up from our hotel at 8 am. After a long drive through the mountains of Chiang Mai, we arrived at Skyline Adventure. Before beginning, we learned about the safety mechanisms and a staff member strapped and secured our gear on us. Then, we were off. 

After another brief ride to what felt like the very peak of the mountain, our excursion was about to begin. We had a small hike to our very first zip line tower. When we finally reached it, I looked out into the sky and felt like I could touch the clouds - I was speechless. After admiring the beauty, we got to go on our first of 24 zip lines. With the wind blowing in my face, I laughed and smiled from start to finish. We soared through the zip lines, the air bridges, and propelling lines. I felt a combination of fright, excitement, awe, and joy all at once. As the end of the experience approached, we had five of the longest lines left. The lines were 400, 450, 500, 600, and a whopping 900 meters in length. On the 900 meter long zip line, I decided to go attached to our instructor so that I could lie face down, in a super man position, for over a half of a mile. What an experience it was. I will never forget how happy of a day it was. Just looking out while airborne, admiring the natural beauty of this amazing country. I’m so grateful that we got to take in just how beautiful Thailand is on our last weekend in this country.

When we had free time on Sunday, a small group of us chose to explore the city a bit more, and ended up at a museum in the old city center. This museum celebrated the Lanna, or northern Thai, cultural heritage and how their culture has shaped Chiang Mai, and Thailand as a whole.The museum is located in the very heart of the old city, directly across the square from the Chiang Mai history museum we attended a couple of weeks ago. The square also features the Three Kings Monument, in celebration of the three ancient kings that, together, founded the ancient city of Chiang Mai. The name “Chiang Mai” itself means “new city”. 

All of the museums, and the exhibits therein, that we have viewed during our stay here have been wonderful. They are thought provoking, engaging, and highly educational. I personally have learned much from these exhibits, and the discussions they have sparked within our group are invaluable. 

One of the main focuses of the Lanna exhibition was on Buddhist practices, beliefs, and symbolism. For westerners, especially those of us who have never travelled to Asia, the symbols used in Buddhist architecture, like the temples we have visited, are nothing more than architectural features. To a devout Buddhist they hold deep spiritual and cultural meaning. It was fascinating to get a peek into their meaning, and therefore, better understand the sites we have seen. 

Another important piece of the exhibit was the focus on traditional Lanna dress. Throughout the halls there were cases upon cases of clothing, especially women’s skirts, which are intricately woven, and ornately decorated. This portion of the museum also featured photographs of prominent Thai people wearing these traditional skirts, as influencers of history. This exhibit was fascinating and I learned so much from visiting. I love history museums and the ones in Thailand have not disappointed! 

Hi guys, for the last time, it’s Kayla. This trip has been the experience of a lifetime. I have embraced, enjoyed, and cherished every second of every day. From learning about global health first hand, to zip lining through the mountains, I will never forget the memories I've made during the last 25 days. While I’m sad that tomorrow is our last day here, I’m so glad for everything that’s happened. Dr. M, thank you for putting up with me (enough said). To my friends, thank you for laughing with me every second along the way. And to my mom and dad, thank you so much for supporting me and letting me go on this amazing adventure. It’s been a BLAST :-)!! Until next time, Thailand.


 Hi guys, it's Sophie. I am truly not ready to leave Thailand, as I have already learned so much and I feel that there is still a wealth of knowledge left to learn. 

Thanks for following along with our journey for the last month!

Sincerely, Baylor in Thailand.

Thai Pit Stops aka Temple Tour

This morning we all got up bright and early to make our trip to Chiang Rai. We loaded up in the vans to make the four hour drive north after breakfast and made our way to our first stop. Our first stop was a hot spring in which we could see the locals cooking eggs in the hot water while other springs were being used as foot spas. After spending a little while here, we loaded back up and made our way to Chaing Rai. 

Once we arrived, we made our first stop at the famous white temple. This temple was gorgeous and featured very intricate details. We crossed a bridge that had statues of hands reaching up to symbolize “Hell” and once we crossed the bridge the temple was a true beauty that symbolized Heaven. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside of the temple, but on one wall it contained images of pop culture and the devil while the other side had depictions of Buddha and a statue of a monk meditating. After visiting the temple, some of us got silver objects which hang from the top of walkways, and tourists of the temple write their wishes and aspirations to keep for good luck.

After visiting the white temple, we headed to the blue temple. This temple was a bright blue and had many depictions of ocean waves and dragons. Inside was a breathtaking painted ceiling and statue of Buddha. The entire inside was painted bright blue with many gold accents. After this visit we visited Baan Dam Black House Museum which was designed by the same artist as the white temple. This was a stark contrast to the white temple as it featured many dead animals, horns, and skins. There were also about 40 buildings associated with the black house museum, so there were a lot of grounds to explore.

After touring some of the most famous temples in Thailand, we got to visit another famous spot- the cave that the soccer boys and coach were stuck in. Although we were not able to see the actual entrance of the cave, we got to go to the site of where it happened and see the mountains where the cave was under. Another interesting place we stopped was a large mural to honor the heroes and the diver who lost his life in attempt to save the people trapped in the cave. The event happened only a few weeks ago, but an artist was able to paint an entire mural dedicated to this event which we found very fascinating.

At the end of all of stops, we headed to our hotel for the night which is located in the Golden Triangle. This location is where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar all meet at one point, and we even have a great view of all three countries from our hotel room! Even though it was a long day filled with many stops along the road, we had so much fun getting to see Chiang Rai today!

Hey yall it’s Anneliese!

Today was incredible! It was so fun to visit a new province and get to explore more of Thailand. I seriously don’t want to leave this week! My favorite part about today was getting to visit the White Temple because before I came to Thailand I had seen so many beautiful pictures of it which made my experience at the temple so special. Pictures do not do this temple justice, it is absolutely stunning and even more breathtaking in person! I also loved all of the good luck charms that they hang on top of the walk ways. I decided to keep mine because I wanted it to remember my time at the White Temple, but others wrote out their goals and wishes for life and hung them up. Overall, I’m so sad this trip is coming to an end, but I’ve had the trip of a lifetime and Thailand has my heart forever!

Hey yall it’s Grace!

Oh my goodness the temples were absolutely breathtaking today! I think my favorite was white temple (like Anneliese haha). This temple was a built by one man (the same one who painted the mural of the diver) and it was absolutely stunning. I also loved the blue temple. The bottom of each statue was carved into blue waves and resembled the ocean. The inside of the temple had a large white Buddha that was surrounded by blue and gold murals. Each of the temples featured gorgeous trees, ponds, and garden areas that gave plenty of opportunities for some pictures. Getting to see the cave area was also surreal. It was an incredible opportunity to see where a moment of history took place. This trip has been full of so many fun moments and although we’re leaving in a few days I know that I’ll always cherish this place and these memories.

All Thai-d Up with Weekend Adventures

Our last day at Patara Elephant Farm

This weekend has been quite eventful! Friday was our last day for surveying at Patara. We surveyed tourists in the morning and then followed the groups to be the mahouts’ assistants throughout the day. We helped explain the commands of the elephants while teaching the mahouts english. At the end of the day, we said our goodbyes to our elephants and a special goodbye to the baby elephant, Tanwa the trouble maker. 

On Saturday, we went to Mae Taeng Elephant Clinic for our second elephant experience. We were welcomed by an elephant show and a meeting with the veterinarian at the facility. He showed us the different types of herbs they use in herbal medicine for the elephants and gave us an example of how they cut the elephants nails. We then went to area of the facility where the various tribes of Thailand were selling goods. Mae Taeng employs many of the women from these tribes for different tasks that make Mae Taeng a successful tourist attraction. We learned about seven tribes: Akha, Kayor, Daraang, Mien, Lisu, Mhong, and Karen. The people were so kind and talented in making beautiful handmade scarves and goods. We then went to see how elephant paper is made. They showed us the process of transforming the elephant poop into an ivory paper that is used for present wrapping and journals. The poop is rinsed four times and boiled for five hours to purify it and get rid of the toxins. It is then rinsed again and dried multiple times on a frame to create a flat and rectangular shape. 

After lunch we continued with our elephant experience and got to feed and bathe the elephants. We changed into classic mahout attire and made energy nutrient balls out of turmeric, salt lick, and grains. After feeding the elephants all of the fruit we had in our buckets we got in the river with them to give them baths. We used natural soap that is from the trunk of a specific tree. After the bathing session, we said farewell to our elephants and headed home.

 

For dinner we were invited to the founder of ISDSI, Pi Mark’s house. We ate pizza, ribs and salad while playing card games and had an intense tournament of Banana Grams! 

Sunday was our second free day of the trip. We split into two groups for the day and met back up from dinner and one last night at the night market. Part of our group had a relaxing spa day. They got fish pedicures and thai massages then went to a cute coffee shop for the afternoon.  The other half of our group went on a zip lining adventure outside of Chiang Mai. The zip lining included 24 platforms, 4 basils, 4 hanging bridges. Today was so fun and full of adventure but we are excited for our next adventure tomorrow in Chiang Rai! 

Hey it's Juli
It’s a bittersweet feeling that this is my last blog post. Our last day at Patara was one of the best days I’ve had here. I was at the hilltop and I could see the mountains in the distance half covered by the fog. There were elephants all around me and I wished we could just be here for a few more days. I’m excited for the last few remaining days of our trip. Tomorrow we will be going to Chiang Rai and Wednesday we will be doing a hike. Thailand has definitely taken a piece of my heart. I’ll miss everyone that I have met here. Thank you Pi Peter and Pi Poad for looking out for us. Thank you Dr. Muehlenbein. Through this trip I’ve have learned a lot and experienced many things. La-gon ka (goodbye) Thailand.

Hey guys it's Ireland again!
It's crazy how our time in Thailand has gone by so fast! I can't believe that this is Juli and I's last blog post. Looking back on this trip, it has been such an educational, fun, and adventurous experience. From visiting different hospitals to various markets and caring for elephants, this trip is something I will always cherish. I was sad on our last day of Patara because I didn't want to leave the beautiful elephants and the amazing view but like Juli, I'm really excited for the rest of the things we have left on this trip. I'm looking forward to seeing the temples in Chiang Rai and our hike to Doi Suthep on Wednesday before we head home. Thank you Pi Poad, Pi Peter, and Dr. M for making this experience so incredible! 

Thai Language – Knowing Sai from Kwa (Left from Right)

We have less than a week left here in Thailand, and we have learned so much Thai over the past two weeks. We started on the first day with greetings/introductions and continued to build our Thai vocabulary along the way with other categories of words, like body features, questions/phrases necessary while shopping in the markets, colors, numbers, food, etc.

With Pi Poad at our side, our Thai language curiosity is quenched with a quick answer followed by lots of practice trying to remember our newly-acquired words. Pi Poad is amazing at testing our vocabulary; he is a great teacher and loves to help us learn and memorize new words.  We are so thankful for Pi Poad because without him we would not have so many fun experiences with the Thai language!

When speaking Thai, it is important to use polite words and phrases.  There are two “politeness” words in Thai, “ka” for girls and “krup” for boys, and these words are said at the end of every sentence.  Furthermore, it is nice to greet someone with “Sawatdee ton chao” (Good morning), “Sawatdee ton bai” (Good afternoon) and “Sawatdee ton yen” (Good evening).  At least once a day, someone says “kor tod krup” (Excuse me) when they get in the way or bump into a stranger.  Lastly, always remember to say “khop kun krup!” (Thank you!) as much as possible!

Of course, being in Thailand, we have had many opportunities to use the many words and phrases that we have learned in our Thai language lessons.  At Patara Elephant Farm, us students often help the staff by translating for tourists.  We give explanations on the various commands and facts about elephants and translate the tourists’ questions to the Mahouts, such as “Chang ar yuu tao rai krup/ka?” (How old is the elephant?) and “Chang chue arai krup/ka?” (How old is the elephant?). 

One of the best places to practice speaking Thai is at a market.  There are several markets in Chiang Mai, including the Night Bazar and the Sunday Walking Street, and there are many languages that we hear being spoken by tourists from all over the world.  John has even met some French-speaking tourists and was able to give them directions in French; however, the REAL challenge is meeting Thai people and attempting to converse with them in the native language.  Asking a vendor “Tao rai krup/ka?” (How much?) and translating the price, attempting to get a discount with “Paeng mak leuy!” (So expensive!), and ordering my favorite drink “cha nom yen” (Thai tea) are some of the common phrases we use.  The markets are always bustling with people and very loud, so I sometimes ask a person “Arai na krup/ka? (What did you say?) or “Puud eeg tee si krup/ka?” (Say it again, please.)  In the end, many of us resort to “khun puud paa-saa ang-grit dai mai krup/ka?” (Can you speak English?), but even that sentence is a challenge!

Khop kun krup/ka!

Catherine and John 

This week we're back at Patara continuing our survey work. However, this week the director of Patara asked us if, in addition to our surveys, we could also help the mahouts communicate with the tourists and improve their language skills.

So this week, after we arrive at Patara, we all split up into 3 groups and go to different locations to wait for the tourists. We do our research work and then stay with them for the rest of the day to help the mahouts when it's needed. However, we have faced some challenges. Yesterday, 2/3 of the groups didn't have a person that spoke Thai, so communicating with the mahouts was a little tricky. Another challenge is the weather.

The rain has been nonstop for the past couple of days and it's harder to work in rainy, muddy conditions. Also, the elephants have gotten more antsy in the rain and have started to misbehave. Today an elephant ran away from their mahout, running down the road back towards the elephant clinic.

Research isn't always straightforward, circumstances change and a good researcher must be adaptable. This week we have learned first hand what it means to be flexible and positive researchers! We have really enjoyed our time at Patara on this trip and are so grateful for what we have learned from the mahouts, Pi Poad and Pi Peter, and Dr. M. 

Hey it's Sam!
It's week two at Patara and it's been great despite the rain. I love seeing the elephants every day and getting to know them better. The elephants have individual personalities and I'm getting better at identifying them based off of that. I got to see Pansa today and my mahout, Chai, which made me unbelievably happy. Also today, one of the mahouts asked me to inform the group instead of him about the four signs of a healthy elephants: ears/tail, sleeping on side, toes and poop and to go over the commands for the elephant. It felt good to demonstrate what I had learned last week to a new group of people. Friday is our last day at Patara and I'm going to be so sad.

Sarah here!
Normally on a rainy day you'd find me curled up under a pile of blankets, sipping on a cup of coffee, and reading or binge watching my new Netflix obsession. But today I donned my rain jacket and enjoyed the overcast at Patara.

After completing our morning surveys, we refreshed the Thai we learned yesterday, and then played with Tanwa. As a six month old male elephant, Tanwa does not have a mahout; meaning he has no training and understands very few commands. He also does not have a firm grasp on how big he is, which is approximately 400 pounds. Several of us have narrowly escaped our feet being trampled by Tanwa as he aimlessly runs about looking for another target to head butt. Oh, did I mention he likes to head butt people? He also likes to throw temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. We're not too mad about it, obviously because Tanwa is so stinking cute! Here's a video of one of her tantrums today:

Sarah feeding trying to feed sugar cane to Tanwa

Tanwa taking a bath (more like splashing water everywhere)

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice
By: Kayla Wilson and Sophie Brown

This weekend was absolutely unbelievable. After a Saturday that was jam packed with several tourist attractions, we woke up early Sunday morning and were greeted to the wonderful Thai Farm Cooking School Instructor, Gift. Gift was so bubbly and full of life as we hopped in the van and headed off to the market. 

We started our experience with the Thai Farm Cooking School at a local food market. Gift taught us all about several different foods in order to introduce us to the food that we would be cooking with. These foods included chili paste, sweet and sour sauce, coconut milk, and of course different types of rice. After our lesson, we headed off to the farm and we were beyond excited. When we arrived, Gift gave us a short tour around the organic farm. The farm had dozens upon dozens of different fruits, vegetables, herbs, and even their own rice field. It was so fun to learn and get to try new fruits and compare some Thai herbs to the herbs we are accustom to back in America. Following the tour, it was finally time to cook, yay!


We first began to prepare our Thai Curry Paste. We were given the option of making green, yellow, or red curry. Green and red curry is made with eggplant and yellow curry it made with potatoes. In order to make this curry paste, we took the ingredients given to us by Gift and mashed them up into one thick paste using a Mortar Bowl. After we finished the curry paste, we all moved to our indoor preparation station to begin making our first course. The first course was called Tom Yam Kung and it was an amazing soup that could be prepared with either shrimp, chicken, or tofu depending on preference. The soup included several delicious ingredients including bird eye's chili peppers, tamarind chili paste, coriander stem, and galangal. The finished soup tasted exquisite - it was light, tasty, and had flavors that were salty, spicy, and sour all at the same time. 

 Following the completion of this soup, we transitioned into the appetizer course - we made our very own spring rolls. We first made sweet and sour sauce as a group. Then, we made the stuffing for the inside of the spring rolls. The spring rolls stuffing consisted of several vegetables, tofu, and glass noodles. After preparing the stuffing, we learned how to roll and fry our spring rolls. The finished product was amazing, my mom would be so proud. I cannot wait to try to make them at home. 


After we ate our delicious spring rolls, we were already feeling pretty stuffed, but we had to dig deep because the main dish still lied before us. The main dish was fried chicken with cashews and curry. We first prepared our curry dish using the curry paste that we made at the beginning of the day. We then added sliced chicken, coconut milk, water, vegetables, and herbs. After we finished the curry, we set it aside and prepared our cashew chicken stir fry. The chicken consisted of chicken, cashews, carrots, chili peppers, oyster sauce,  and garlic. We've had our fair share of cashew chicken during our weeks here thus far, but let me tell you, this was the BEST. After we ate this amazing dish, I truly thought as if I could not eat another bite for the rest of my life. 











Staying true to myself, of course I managed to make room for dessert. The dessert was mango with blue sticky rice. The rice was colored blue by using a flower called butterfly pea flower. It was sweet, sticky, and the perfect compliment for fresh mango. My favorite part was the fact that we got to decorate the dish however we pleased. I decided to decorate mine like a palm tree :-)

Still a little stuffed from Sunday’s marvelous cooking class, we set out bright and early Monday morning. 

Our first stop was to a traditional Thai medicine clinic. In Thailand, traditional medicine is becoming increasingly scarce, and few people know how to practice it. In response to this loss of cultural heritage, the Thai government has initiated a program to add a clinic that practices traditional medical procedures to each Health Promotion hospital. These Health Promotion hospitals operate within each tambon (sub-district), and can serve anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 people as a primary care center. 

The addition of traditional medicine to the centers is primarily for use in rehabilitation from surgery, and physical therapy. These therapies can include Thai massage and herbal therapy. Some of the members of our group even got to sample some medical massage, which is a lot more intense than the massages we got last week. According to the public health workers at the center, about 25% of potential patients choose to supplement their care with traditional methods. These therapies are fully funded by the Thai government, in order to revive the traditional industry. 

The second stop we made was to Chiangmai University’s OneHealth Center for their PODD program. This is a relatively new idea, born from the OneHealth center, that uses modern technology to make public health, environmental health, and animal health more seamlessly connected. 

The central idea of PODD, which when pronounced in Thai translates to “look closely”, was the development of an app that allows PODD volunteers to report issues in any of the aforementioned categories. These reports go directly to the OneHealth department, the Ministry of Public Health, the Department of Agriculture, or any of the associated departments. The data collected by these reports are immediately available to any of the PODD volunteers, so they can track issues in their specific area, and be able to look out for anything similar, and report it themselves. 

This program, unique to Chiangmai Province, is honestly brilliant. Using modern technology to improve the health of everyone, including animals, and the non-animal, and non-living environment, is vital to moving forward with the goals of each nation, and the 2020 goals set by the United Nations. 

Hi guys, it's Kayla again. I had so much fun at this Thai Cooking Farm on Sunday. Coming from someone who burnt mac-n-cheese once, it was really awesome to learn how to make Thai food step by step. I got to try so many new ingredients that I typically wouldn't eat at all, and it was really fun to completely immerse myself in the culture. I also didn't burn anything and it all tasted amazing. Are you proud of me mom? ;-) This trip has been a dream and I really, really don't want it to end. 

Hi guys, it's Sophie. I’m loving my Thailand experience. It breaks my heart that I’ll have to go home in a little over a week. I’ll forever be thankful for this trip, and the incredible opportunity that I’ve had to meet, live with, and learn from the Thai people.