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Phuket, Thailand

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:25:18 -0800

The prime vacation destination for Thailand is probably Phuket. That should have been a warning. I did not care for Phuket. It was loud and the vendors were beyond obnoxious. It was probably my mistake for staying at Patong Beach. Once I got away from Patong, the rest of the Phuket was much better. Patong is the Daytona Beach of Thailand.

The highlight of my stay in Phuket was hiring a taxi to drive me around the island to take photos, see stuff and do a little hiking. If you plan to visit Thailand, you can avoid Phuket. There are better places to have the Thailand beach experience.

Photo Gallery for Phuket, Thailand

Thai Cooking Class – Chiang Mai, Thailand

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:54:28 -0800

Besides riding elephants and playing with big cats, the other cool thing I did in Chiang Mai was take an all day Thai cooking class. I’ve been cooking Thai food pretty much every week for the past 18 months. Assuming I don’t get hit on the head and forget everything I’ve learned, my Thai cooking skills will be even better when I return to Seattle.

The day started out with a trip to the market. There we met up with our instructor and got an introudction to curry and rice. We also and saw a machine used to extract coconut cream and milk. Then we drove out to the Thai cooking school, which was on an organic farm. Our instructor walked us around the garden and showed us the different plants that we would be adding to our Thai cooking.

The Thai cooking class was a 6 course event. We made our own curry paste and then a dish using that curry. In addition, we made a soup and a stir fry. The class had a choice between pad thai and spring rolls. I picked pad thai. We finished with a desert (pumpkin soup for me).

I highly recommend the Thai Cooking Class. It was fun and we got to eat our own cooking. We even had leftovers to take home.

Photo Gallery for Thai Cooking Class and Market Trip

Photos taken with the Canon 30D by Nick

The Phi Phi Islands in Thailand

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:11:25 -0800

My posts are getting a little out of sequence. Although I have more to say about Chiang Mai, I want to get out my photos from the Phi Phi Islands. The Phi Phi Islands are off the coast of Phuket.

We got to snorkel at two different places. The water was a little murky, but still had good visibility. Someone mentioned that it gets much clearer the further away from the rainy season. All underwater shots are by Nick (aka TheTailGunner).

I also got a chance to hike up to the top viewpoint of Ko Phi Phi Don. Once up there I had to race back down so I wouldn’t miss the boat. I made it just in time.

Photo Gallery for the Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

Playing Tug of War With an Elephant

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:56:29 -0800

All those pull-ups didn’t help. My side got crushed in a tug of war match with an elephant in Ko Samui, Thailand. Video below.

Feeding a Crocodile in Ko Samui, Thailand

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:15:23 -0800

For just 50 baht ($1.65), I was able to use a fishing pole to lower a chicken down to a pit of hungry crocodiles.

Start Your Holiday Amazon Shopping Here

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:47:42 -0800

Before you go straight to Amazon.com for your holiday shopping, start here on CriticalMAS and use my search box on my Shop page. The products will cost you the same, but I’ll get a little cut.

I gotta pay for this Thailand trip somehow.

Elephant Training in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:32:27 -0800

There are at least two ways to ride an elephant in Thailand. One is to do a trek. They put you up on a mini bench and two can ride seated side by side. That is what I planned to do when I came to Thailand. Then we discovered the elephant training option.

At elephant training we learned and practiced two ways to climb up on an elephant. The first way is by the side. You grab the ear, place your foot on the elephant’s leg and then yell a command to have the elephant raise his leg up. From there, you straddle the animal and pull yourself up.

The second method is the head first method. You tell the elephant to bend his head down and then you climb onto his head. Once on, the elephant lifts his head and you move to the top. Once situated, you spin around and you are ready to ride.

Once on the elephant we learned commands to get the elephant to move right, left, forward and backward. The commands were all in Thai. When you combine the command with a tap from a mini cane, the elephant responds. So cool!

Later in the day, we took the elephant into a river and cleaned them using water and scrub brushes. We also rode them into a field to graze and even took them into a mud bath.

Our elephant group was two female elphants and a baby elephant named James Bond. He was a handful and liked to do ram us occasionally.

If you go to Chiang Mai, you MUST do the elephant training. It has been the highlight of my trip so far. More photos and video will be coming in a future post.

3 Tigers, 1 Lion and MAS in a Cage

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:44:26 -0800

I had a chance to get inside a cage with some cats in Chaing Mai at Tiger Kingdom.

Photo Gallery For Tigers and a Lion

Floating Market Video

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:15:17 -0800

Here is a video sample of the boat ride to the Floating Market. It took 70 minutes to upload 35 seconds of video and this is the fastest connection I’ve had since arriving in Thailand.

The Elephant Whisperer

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:28:09 -0800

More photos and a story to come.