Let's Spill the Tea

Welcome back to the blog! Reid and, most importantly, Lia back at it again, but in Chiang Rai.

Today, we started our rainy day at Choui Fong Tea Farm. Here we tried a plethora of scrumptious Oolong teas and green tea desserts. While there was a fog over the tea plants, the view was still picturesque. Most of us loved the tea we tasted and had to buy some for ourselves. Some even got tea sets.

After the tea farm, we headed to Than Luang Nang Non Cave where 12 young soccer players and their coach were trapped for 18 days last year. When they were in the cave it started pouring, filling it with water. They soon realized they had no way out and had to start pushing back deeper in the cave. Eventually, a rescue mission was sent out and they were miraculously saved. We got to see the cave, from a distance, the memorial for the Navy Seal who died during the rescue mission, and the exceedingly beautiful mural. This experience elicited many emotions from each of us as we reflected on the tragedy.

Then, we headed to Elephant Valley Project, an elephant sanctuary where they work to rehab elephants from captivity and give them normal lives as wild elephants. First, we sat down for a modest lunch served by Jack, the manger of EVP.  Jack was an eccentric, English man. We went on a tour of the facility and got an in-depth description of their five elephants. They even had a little drama going on between them! Relationships run wild with the elephants. Boyfriends come and go but they always come back.  Zach, a resident elephant, was chained away as he goes through musth. When male elephants go through musth, oils secrete from their head, their testosterone levels increase, and they become more aggressive. This happens 2 times a year. This elephant sanctuary was very different from the others we've seen so far. EVP mainly focuses on separating the elephants from humans and tourists in order to integrate them back into the wild. It was interesting to see this park's perspective on how elephants should coexist with us. 

On our way back to the resort, we stopped for dinner at a sweet floating restaurant. We delighted in snakehead fish, frog, wild boar, and other spicy Thai dishes. Then, we headed back to enjoy a much needed rest after such a long, wet day. Tomorrow we are going back to Chiang Mai after we see the Golden Triangle, the border between Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos.