Here is a summary of the rest of our Chiang Mai events in photos. Detailed-lengthy text version below photos. Some good times we are having! We are currently in Koh Chang, with these Chiang Mai days in our memory book!

Thai Orchid Garden Tour

Thai Orchid Garden Tour2

Chiang Mai Elephant Ride. Our tour guide told us that lumbering was outlawed in 1987, and that's what these elephants used to do. So now the locals have turned it into a tourist attraction, where they can still earn money without having to abandon their homes. They have a great attraction, complete with a Thai buffet after elephant riding and the elephant show.

Flat Stanley at Elephant Show--You didn't forget about Flat, did you?? He's been having a great time, but we need to fold him up and send him back to Ani's school by Feb. 22...so he'll be off to the Post Office soon!

Did You Know Elephants Can Paint? Flat is really enjoying this!

This was so cool! One of the elephants even signed his name!

Here you can give money to the elephants, and the take it with their trunk. I have never been so close to an elephant trunk before! Maybe he was afraid of me too, but he took the money anyway!

Final Day in Chiang Mai, Catching up on Last Minute Things after Elephant Day Tour:

Flat Stanley Goes to the Chiang Mai Post Office. We couldn't break it to him that we had to send him back home until we got to the post. Ani's school is expecting him back on Feb. 22, we hope he makes it by then but it may be a few days after. We made a copy of Flat Stanley, and will now travel with his brother, Flat Steve. :)

Uncle Jim Mailing Flat Stanley to Ani's School. We will miss him, but will have fun with his twin, Flat Steve.

Jim's Favorite Deal in Chiang Mai 7 Dollar Laundry. Wrapping up our trip, and taking photos we didn't take yet...this is one of Jim's favorites. He wants to bring the Thai lady home to do our laundry. Sounds good to me!

Thai Movie Theater to See a Thai movie called "Chocolate". I'm all for the martial arts movies, and I learned some good techniques...but there was a bit much gore for my taste! An interesting premise I thought. Jim doesn't like going to movies on vacation, but I love it. So this was a treat for me on vacation! I thought it would be cool to see an internation film while on international travel.

Detailed-lengthy text version: 

2/18 Day Trip: Orchid Farm, Elephant Trekking & Elephant Show, Thai Buffet, and Bamboo Rafting

We arranged a day trip with the tour agency at our hotel. We wanted to see some sights outside of our Walking Trip. No other tourists booked on this day, so we basically had our own private guide and taxi. That was pretty cool. Our tour guide was very nice and knowledgeable. Best to blog these experiences with photos. One thing we learned that we had no idea, was that it takes 3 years to grow an orchid. We were amazed at that! And it was beautiful to see the orchids in bloom and how they grow.

I asked our tour guide what he thought about my idea to see the Thai movie Choclate. He said it would be fine to go to the mall nearby our hotel, and that the movie would have English subtitles. He said that movie was selling a lot of tickets, but that he hadn't seen it.

So later that day, once we got back and rested a bit at the hotel, we decided to go see a movie. That was an experience too! In Thailand, when you pay for the tickets, you also select your seats from a display screen...then the host shows you to your seats. That was pretty cool, I thought. The hard thing for us was trying to determine if the red seats on the screen were available or taken, and the teller didn't speak much English. So we had to point and she would say yes or no.

The popcorn and coke were delicious, but the movie was a bit harsh. I'm all for martial arts movies, but this was a bit hefty and gory. But a good concept I thought, and the fact that we saw a movie in Thailand was fun.

Now we're off to Koh Chang and to explore the beautiful southern beaches we have read about! Photos to follow at next opportunity...