Happy Wanderers

After a 30 minute flight, a never-ending queue at the Mae Sai border crossing and a 4 hour bus journey (all whilst Sarah was still ill!), we finally arrived in Chiang Mai. We stayed at the Teeraya Boutique Hostel which was run by a friendly Thai family, and our dorm room even had a pool-side view with a balcony.. how posh for £4 a night! It wasn't long before we discovered that we could book a visit to Ran Tong Elephant Sanctuary through the hostel and spend the entire day cleaning, feeding and helping out the elephants anyway we could. As tempting as it was, the price (£50) was putting Sarah off as we were meant to be travelling on a budget after all.. but the next day Bethan and Sophie surprised her by paying half each as an early birthday present, needless to say there was some tears of joy! They had chosen the option where you don't ride the elephants, just wash, walk and feed them because they'd probably had enough people taking advantage of them in their lives and didn't think it would be fair.

We were told by the hostel to take some clean clothes, a towel, toilet roll, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner which we were confused by because we couldn't think why we'd ever need them (we later found out)! The sanctuary arranged a pick up for us at 8am and we were taken straight to the elephants and greeted by so many of them, it was incredible to see how happy and playful they all were. Nancy was our guide for the day who gave us a quick briefing on what we'd be doing for the day and sent us off to put on our mahout uniforms which were the most unflattering thing we've ever worn haha!

She then walked us slowly around the sanctuary introducing us to all the elephants and telling us the stories of why and how they were all rescued. Some stories were a lot better than others but it made us happy to know they were surrounded by love and comfort after suffering for so many years. One of our personal favourites was of course the little baby who was around 2 years old. Nancy had informed us that his mother was used for transporting heavy goods up and down rocky mountains all day in the heat, eventually she became so weak that she suffered a fall down the side of a mountain and didn't survive. Her captures were left with a newborn baby and no clue how to look after it, so they contacted the sanctuary to rescue him. Luckily, one of the female elephants took a liking to him immediately and took him under her wing.. they've been inseparable ever since! We were told that if they are ever parted, the adoptive mother starts calling out for him until he is returned to her because she hates not having him around. Another had been attacked by poachers for his ivory tusks and he was awake while they cut them off which would have been so painful for him to suffer. Thankfully he was soon found in the wild and taken to the sanctuary to recover where he's now started growing a new set of tusks!

Eventually we were shown to the elephant who we would be looking after for the day, she was called Mae Por and was the oldest at the sanctuary at the age of 56! Even though she was old, she had such a big personality and was quite sassy.. she knew what she wanted and wouldn't listen to any commands until she got whatever she wanted (my kind of woman!). We were also part of a group with some other tourists whose elephant was called Mae Bae, she was a bit younger (around 35 years?) but still had an amazing character. After feeding them a ridiculous amount of bananas, it was time to give them some exercise and walk them to the river where they used their trunks to munch on the tree leaves and nuts. Here the mahout told us about an old folk tale where some people believe it will bring you luck if you walk under an elephant, but you must be fast because if they start to move.. you're in trouble! He tried to get us to form a line and walk under Mae Por but the risk of being crushed was too real haha. Eventually, an older man who was looking after Mae Bae, put on a brave face and decided to go for it, thankfully Mae Por was too distracted by the trees to realise what was going on. We're still yet to hear if he's won the lottery! After a tiring walk and a few demands for more food by Mae Por, it was lunch time for everyone. We were given a wonderful traditional Thai dish of chicken with crunchy noodles and vegetables, delicious! Then it was bath time for the animals..

We were lucky enough to be able to join Mae Por and many others in the watering hole where we were given buckets to wash her. She really enjoyed the attention because it wasn't long before she flopped down on her belly and let us splash her with the cold water. Eventually she'd had enough and decided to leave but as she did, another two females entered the water who apparently both have the same 'husband' and began having a trumpeting competition to impress him.. it was hilarious to watch as the male was clearly loving it, typical haha! Then some of the younger elephants started playing with each other and rolling around everywhere.. they soaked everyone by flapping their ears around and splashing their trunks in and out of the water. This was definitely one of the cutest and happiest things we've EVER seen!

Once Mae Por had dried off and been taken back to her little home, Nancy showed us how to make one fo the elephants favourite treats which consisted of bananas, rice and sugar. All of the ingredients were then thrown together in a wooden bowl and mashed together with a wooden pole, it definitely didn't look very tasty by the end of it. Everyone grabbed a handful, rolled it into a ball and were free to choose an elephant to give it to.. Nancy wasn't wrong when she said it was one of their all time favourites, they went crazy for it!

Our sexy mahout uniforms!

"Thanks Nancy!"

Showing off his new set of tusks to Sophie :)

Helping Carolina to put her hat back on

Baby elephant and his adoptive mother, cuuuteee!

Happily flapping his ears around after enjoying some bananas

Time for walkies!

Casually taking an elephant for a walk.. as you do.

The mahout giving Mae Por some hugs

The mahout getting some luck by walking underneath Mae Por

Elephant friends!

Mae Bae having some snacks

Lunch break

Even more snacks, they're forever eating!

Dinner time!

Cheeky elephant trying to steal treats when Nancy wasn't looking, haha!

Bath time for Mae Por :)

Play time!

The world's happiest elephant!

BEST DAY EVER!!

The Happy Wanderers

♥

*WARNING - This is a long blog post so be sure to have a cup of tea to accompany you!*

After a short stop in Kalaw where Sam and Rebecca booked and began their hike to Inle Lake (blog post coming soon), Sophie and Sarah decided to go on ahead. It was only a short minibus drive (just over an hour). We stayed at the Four Sister Inn which was run by a couple who were really friendly and helpful, breakfast on the balcony was also included that came with amazing views of the surrounding mountains which were always covered by mist in the mornings, it was so beautiful!

On our first day, our main priority was to find somewhere to book a boat tour for the next morning so we could see Inle Lake how it was meant to be seen! It turned out that the couple who ran our hotel had a friend who took tourists on his boat to show them the best parts the lake had to offer. After a brief meeting with the man to discuss what we'd see and where we'd be taken, we finally booked it for around $8 each (USD). During the afternoon, we decided to walk around the town to get some lunch which was swiftly replaced with amazing strawberry milkshakes and home-made brownies at a cute local cafe. We even met a group of English 60 something women who were travelling Myanmar together and had stopped for a cup of tea and cake - how predictable are the British, eh!?

After lunch, we continued our stroll around the town to discover it was just pagoda, after pagoda which we weren't too impressed with as many of them were run down and not well looked after, so we took yet another break in an internet cafe to do some hostel bookings ready for our Northern Thailand adventure in a few days. We also tried to book our bus tickets to take us to the Mae Sai border the day after our boat tour, only to be informed that the land was closed to tourists so the only way we could leave Myanmar was to book a flight to a town called Tachileik ($100 USD!!), then walk a short distance to the land border crossing! We spent hours trying to find a cheaper way to leave but after many dead ends, we gave in and finally booked the flight.

The next morning, we were up at 7am ready to enjoy our breakfast with a view before being collected to start our boat tour of Inle Lake. We rode in the boat for around 45 minutes before we arrived at our first destination, Ywama Village. Nearly all the homes and buildings are constructed on piles driven into the lake bed which means the residents travel around by canoe but there are also numerous bamboo walkways and bridges. Ywama is part of a 5-day rotating market cycle of Inle (the marker appears in different locations on the lake each day). There is no main street or square which makes it quite unique, but it wasn't long before we got sucked into the local market which takes place on the grounds of a pagoda complex. We spent at least an hour eyeing up the hand-crafted jewellery and garments that were being sold along with some delicious looking fruit and vegetables. However, much of the commerce takes place on the water as merchants, their small boats loaded with handicrafts and produce, do business with locals and tourists. We also met some very cute dogs that were wandering around greeting all the tourists with the world's cutest little faces (see pictures below and you'll agree!). The village is also home to a monastery and a stupa, weaving, metal smithing, wood carving and umbrella workshops. There are also many floating gardens where farmers plant crops like tomatoes and cucumbers on floating mats of vegetation anchored in place with bamboo poles.

On the way to the next location, we noticed our boat was gradually slowing down even though we weren't approaching a village or building which concerned us. After about 5 minutes of wondering what was going on, it eventually came to a stop and we were told that we had officially broken down in the middle of the lake in the blazing sun! Thankfully, a passing boatman stopped and let us join the people on his boat so we could complete our tour.. it was quite entertaining trying to pass over the chairs, blankets and our belongings while floating on the water haha!

Next up was a weaving factory that only use cotton produced by cotton spiders, which they weave themselves using old fashioned machinery to make scarves, cardigans, ponchos etc. We were greeted by a young girl who showed us the different machinery and equipment and answered our questions about the garments the women were producing before us. It all seemed so complicated but it was quite peaceful to watch the women work and see pieces being created right in front of us. It wasn't long before we were taken to the gift shop where Sophie decided to buy two scarves, one for herself and one for her mother. Sarah almost bought a poncho for herself but resisted when she realised how little room she had left in her rucksack!

After another short ride along the lake, we arrived at the local boat-builders and cigar makers.. weird combination haha. The lady informed us that an average fisherman boat can take up to 2 months to complete and cost around $600 (USD) which is probably the reason we saw so people with leaky boats and repairing them the cheapest way they could. We quickly popped into the cigar makers afterwards but were greeted by a room full of smoke as some tourists were testing the product before purchasing, we swiftly left after a small coughing fit! Again we were taken to the gift shop where the boatman also crafted some items out of left-over wood such as bowls, magnets, wall hangings, key chains and plates.

We quickly drove past the Phaung Daw Oo pagoda giving us enough time to quickly snap a few photos of it before being taken to visit the Kayan tribe. In the late 1980's and early 1990's due to conflict with the military regime in Myanmar, many Kayan tribes fled to the Thai border area. According to a 2004 estimate, there are still 130,00 living in various places in Myanmar and Northern Thailand. Women of the Kayan tribes are well known for wearing brass coils that are placed around the neck, appearing the lengthen it. They first start to wear them around five years old then the coil is replaced by a longer one and more turns are added. The weight of the brass pushes the collar bone down and compressed the rib cage which gives the appearance of a stretched neck (the neck is not actually lengthened). There are many different reasons why the women wear these coils, but the tribe we met wore them to resemble to a dragon, which is an important figure in Kayan folklore. To see these women in real life was quite unsettling and made Sarah feel ill to the point where she had to leave and sit outside for a while, it really is a strange sight!

Lastly, we were taken to Nga Phe Kyuang which is a wooden monastery built on stilts on Inle Lake, just north of Ywama village. It's name means the 'Jumping Cat Monastery' because the monks used to train the cats to jump through small hoops, unfortunately they don't do it anymore due to laziness apparently haha! Upon arrival, Sarah felt a lot worse and had to run to the toilets to be ill.. it was at this point that she felt she hit an ultimate new low in life. Being sick.. in a squatter toilet.. in a monastery.. with no shoes on. Come on, that's pretty bad right? Needless to say, we didn't spend much time there as Sarah continued to get worse throughout the day due to sunstroke.

Here are some (many) photos of our time in Inle Lake, enjoy!