Saturday was George and Anna's wedding, which was held at the Anantara Resort - gorgeous! The reception was back on the beach at the Muang Samui and we partied like pros in the sand late into the night. Nothing beats a great beach party. Sunday we departed for Chiang Mai.
It's a quaint little city, old, and free of the Bangkok's noise and Koh Samui's hustle. We stayed in the old city inside the ancient walls and moat at a lovely boutique hotel. Monday Jeff and I visited the Wat Prah That Doi Sutep shrine atop the mountain which towered over the west side of the city. A tuk-tuk ride, a pickup ride, and 300 steps later, we climbed to the top of the golden shrine that overlooked Chiang Mai. Tourists and pilgrims alike were visiting, and monks giving blessings in different areas of the temple. We then spent the afternoon lounging in Chiang Mai. I can't even remember at this point what we did that evening.
Tuesday we took a 1.5 hour ride north into the Mae Tong region to the Elephant Nature Park. ENP and the founder "Lek" Chailert rescue orphaned, abandoned, injured, sick, and abused elephants. This is an amazing preserve with a small elephant hospital with 2 vets on staff, guest houses for volunteers, a river, and acres of open pasture for the elephants to roam. This is no zoo, people. It brought tears to our eyes to see how much love and care they're given, and I will never, EVER again patronize a circus, any elephant rides, or the like that have a history of elephant mistreatment. These beautiful animals belong in the wild, not lugging tourists or balancing clowns on their backs. They had two babies which were playful and mischievious little critters, with quite the personalities. We fed them, bathed them in the river, and got a wet, sloppy kiss on the cheek (Nette was "blessed" with a kiss to the chest!).
That brings us to today... Matt and I arrived in Siem Reap for some serious shopping (silks, carvings, and shadow puppets), plus an entire day at the Angkor temples. We're getting up to grab a couple bikes at 5am and ride up to the Angkor Wat to watch sunrise. Then we head to Angkor Thom, then Ta Prohm (see: Tomb Raider), then probably back here for a nap, followed by more shopping (I have a list), and drinks at the FCC. This city is beautiful, not quite urban, a touch of tourism, but you can still see the poverty, the dirt parking lots, dilapidated buildings, and crumbling infrastructure, although I hope this is on the rebound. There's something about this town that has touched me already, to hear some people's stories about how they lost their hands while trying to battle the Khmer Rouge, or the children in the streets, or the fact that this city was completely emptied not 30 years ago by the rebels. What other stories lurk behind the faces of those that lived through that era, and survived the genocide? It's almost an eerie feeling to be walking the same streets that saw blood flow in my lifetime.
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