Sunday, 25 May 2014
Some pictures of life at ENP in Thailand
Saturday, 24 May 2014
Life here at ENP
Life here at ENP
Our one week stay here at Elephant Nature Park will finish up today. It has been an amazing experience not only for the boys, but for Mark and myself as well. From eating, sleeping, and working with the elephants, to learning about their behaviours and personalities, to meeting Lek, the founder of the park, and watching her interact with these gentle giants, to working along side other volunteers each day - each moment has built on the other to give us an experience of a lifetime! Our days start early after a fairly comfortable sleep under mosquito nets and fans to the sounds of all the animals waking up (elephants, dogs, geckos, and loudest of all, the cicadas). It is a short walk to the main eating platform where we eat breakfast and watch all the elephants heading out in their herds for the day and then our chores for the elephants begin. We laugh as we've done the full "cycle" of food for the elephants...we've planted corn, cut down corn stalks, stacked them, and shovel led up the corn and elephant poo!! We've washed and cut fruit and hand fed it to the elephants, planted grass, cut banana trees, and made banana balls for medicine for some elephants! It's been fun to bath the elephants in the river each day and watch them take mud baths and scratch against huge trees. We've gone tubing down the river and last night ended our stay with a very traditional northern Thai meal and had kids from the school perform Thai dancing for us. Tomorrow we head back to Chiang Mai for our last night and enjoy the night market before our flight to Koh Samuri and our adventures there and on some of the smaller islands in the Gulf of Thailand.
Monday, 19 May 2014
Lov'n the Elephant Nature Park!
Lov'n the Elephant Nature Park!
Today we began our stay at the Elephant Nature Park, about 60 km from Chiang Mai, situated right here in the Thai jungle! Immediately after arriving here we had the chance to feed an elephant and then walked around the fields to meet other elephants. Alex even was taken to see Yindee an elephant he mentioned in his speech for school. It was fantastic! We've had our orientation day learning about the treatment of the elephants here in Thailand (mostly for the tourist trade...horrible stuff) and how the elephants live here in the sanctuary. We are so excited for our upcoming days here! Of course we're here for work too and today our job was unloading pumpkins from a truck to the cutting area to get the food ready for the elephants. They eat a lot...over 200 kg each, each day! For today, that meant a lot of pumpkins to move. It was a fun, relaxed atmosphere so the work was enjoyable. Tonight we have a welcoming ceremony and then enjoy more fantastic Thai food for dinner (meals are buffet and at lunch our eyes lit up with all the delicious food laid out!!!). We have wifi here, so we'll try to Skype and show you the amazing spot we're in!
Lov'n the Elephant Nature Park!
Lov'n the Elephant Nature Park!
Today we began our stay at the Elephant Nature Park, about 60 km from Chiang Mai, situated right here in the Thai jungle! Immediately after arriving here we had the chance to feed an elephant and then walked around the fields to meet other elephants. Alex even was taken to see Yindee an elephant he mentioned in his speech for school. It was fantastic! We've had our orientation day learning about the treatment of the elephants here in Thailand (mostly for the tourist trade...horrible stuff) and how the elephants live here in the sanctuary. We are so excited for our upcoming days here! Of course we're here for work too and today our job was unloading pumpkins from a truck to the cutting area to get the food ready for the elephants. They eat a lot...over 200 kg each, each day! For today, that meant a lot of pumpkins to move. It was a fun, relaxed atmosphere so the work was enjoyable. Tonight we have a welcoming ceremony and then enjoy more fantastic Thai food for dinner (meals are buffet and at lunch our eyes lit up with all the delicious food laid out!!!). We have wifi here, so we'll try to Skype and show you the amazing spot we're in!
3 Countries in One Day in Southeast Asia
3 Countries, One Day in Southeast Asia
Yesterday we drove north from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai and then even further to the border of Burma (Myanmar). We crossed the border to Burma and did a tour of a few wats (temples) around the Burmese border city. After that we drove to the Mekong River and had lunch before taking a rat tail boat across the Mekong river to Laos. At one point on the ride we were at the golden triangle, in between all 3 countries, Thailand, Laos, and Burma. The ride in the boat was so much fun as we were low down on the water and the current and waves had us splashing and crashing up and down. The boys loved it! We passed by very traditional fishing homes on long poles over the water and men out fishing in their boats. The trip home was long but through beautiful jungle and small northern towns. We went on this trip with the owner of our guest house and his daughter (our Thai guide). It was a great chance to experience northern Thailand with some locals!
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
We're feeling hot, hot, hot!
We're feeling hot, hot, hot!
Whoo hoo...we landed last night in Thailand and in the past 18 hours I'm sure we've all sweated out at least a litre of fluids from our bodies! The small town we are staying in is called Hang Dong and we are about 10 minutes outside of Chiang Mai. We have a little guest house rented in amongst mango, palm, jackfruit, and other tropical trees and flowers at the end of a dead end street surrounded by other houses or rice paddies. Our bedroom is inside, but everything else is located just outside. So even though we have a whole "house", it still feels like we are camping a bit. Today we are just taking it easy as Zach rests and recuperates from a stomach issue (we think from the last airport food from Kathmandu...and we thought we got out of Nepal without the true Nepal experience!). We have tons of geckos crawling around and Alex even spotted a lizard bigger than Titan climbing on a wall outside (green, spotted). We were proud of our lunch negotiations at a local market and have already started to enjoy true Thai cuisine (all for about $1 a plate). Unfortunately Alex and I also went to a fruit vendor after lunch and paid for this giant fruit called "Dary?" and realized that the horrible garbage like smell it makes when cut open is exactly how it tastes as well! Tomorrow we're off to explore Chiang Mai and the fantastic night bazaar everyone keeps telling us about. We have wifi in our place this week, so feel free to email or face time us if you wish. We are 11 hours ahead of Ontario time.
Sunday, 11 May 2014
Pictures from Nepal - Everest Area
Of course, we have many, many pictures to share. Be prepared those back at home!
Lots of love from Nepal. Namaste. Jenn and family.
Thursday, 8 May 2014
A Haircut for a Longer Life
A Haircut for a Longer Life
Today we left Namache for lower ground. We hiked for about 4 hours to Phakding and made a quick side trip up to the monastery to say hi to the kids. They were very excited to see Zach and Alex! Today was the day for all monks in all monasteries to shave their heads. It is symbolic fora longer life. So, Alex and Zach are now sporting a new look! Zach describes Alex as looking very much like the next Airbender...he actually looks very good! The young monks had a great time watching Pasang shave all that hair off. Lots of laughing and giggles! Now we are a day away from Lukla and hoping the weather improves. Currently flights have been cancelled the last few days for weather, so we'll see...
Side note: in Lukla now with sunshine and clear skies! Should be in Kathmandu in a day or two.
Mattresses, Yaks, and Up to Everest Base Camp
Mattresses, Yaks, and Our Trek to Everest Base Camp
Our rest day in Pheriche worked out well and everyone felt better after a day at a lower altitude. We went for a short hike and had our oxygen level checked (all very good) and so the next day we headed back up to Lobuche. It was tough to retrace our steps but this time we felt great at Lobuche. After a solid sleep we headed towards Gorakshep for the morning. After a snack at our lodge, the highest inn in the world (Snowland 5100m), we headed off for Everest Base Camp. It was only a two hour trek but beautiful amongst these giant mountains and glaciers. Several times we saw parts of a glacier break off and start an avalanche! The most mind blowing part of the trip up to the camp was the many times we needed to pull off to the side for yak "trains" carrying loads of items from base camp as they are dismantling it for the season and the porters carrying LOADS of stuff down...carpets, tents (think wedding tents), chairs, mattresses (several at a time), metal containers, etc! It was insane! Once we got to base camp it was almost deserted of tents, which our guide tells us has never before happened in Everest climbing history. Usually the place is covered with hundreds of tents, but instead just a lonely few were left. We saw the Khumbu icefall that climbers set off on and it looked dangerous! Finally, Alex and Zach found the perfect rock souvenir to bring back to Canada. A rock from Everest was on Alex's list!
The next day we woke up early (4:45) to summit Kala Pattar. We were told the views from the summit are spectacular and you really get the true sense of how big Everest is, as it is right infront of you. The clouds were low and thick when we set off and not very promising. However, the boys and Mark pressed on to the summit and were rewarded with the clouds burning off and "the world's best views" says Zach! Once they returned we had a quick breakfast and began our descent down. Tonight we are back in Pheriche and in the next few days we should be back into Lukla for our flight back to Kathmandu. We're getting ready for our next step but equally sad to be leaving the beautiful Himalyas. Zach already has plans to come back to complete the Kongma La pass and other peaks! This has been the best trekking experience ever. The kids have surprised us each day by their perseverance and attitude. They are amazing!
Yak "Trains" Coming Down
Yak "trains" Coming Down
We arrived in Lobuche to a great lodge with a fantastic sunroom...ahh, finally warmth! As it was a short trek we had tons of time to put our feet up and just relax! From the sunroom we could see the steady line of yaks bringing down supplies from the camp up in Everest. It's closed for the remainder of the season after the accident where many Sherpas were killed a few weeks ago. We spent the night playing cards as usual but Mark wasn't feeling the best. It turns out he had a really bad night, as did Zach and Alex. So, in the morning instead of heading up to Base Camp and Kala Pattar we decided to go down in elevation to get better. We went down close to 800 meters to Pheriche to another warm and cozy lodge. We'll stay here all day tomorrow and decide if we should go back up or begin our decent down. Either way works as we've been in Everest region almost a month and have accomplished so much! So, a rest day tomorrow and then we'll see...
Up and Over Cho La Pass
Up and Over Cho La Pass
We spent a few extra days in Goyko getting ready to climb over our next pass, Cho La. It was a great place to spend a few days with a beautiful lake framed by mountains and a huge glacier behind our lodge. Mark woke up early one morning to hike to the summit of Goyko Ri and had fantastic views of Everest and surrounding mountains! We spent a lot of time hanging out in the lodge which is interesting as groups all seem to come and stay for several days. There was even a group of mountaineer guides that had come down from Everest after the horrible avalanche that occurred a few weeks ago. They were carrying the google map camera with them to the top of Everest. Since Everest is now closed for the season, they were trekking down and mapping some other areas. When we left, they were behind us so we made sure to wave. Try googling "street view" of Goyko in Everest to see us on the trail???
We headed up Cho La pass early a few days later. We felt really strong and got to the top of the pass in just under 4 hours. Our second "high pass" completed and it was awesome! We had to cross a glacier on the way down and with the warm sun we had to be really careful not to step in too deep. It was a great day trekking and we made it down in a few hours and to our lodge by noon. It's amazing at the top of the passes and everyone is so surprised to see Zach and Alex make it up. Everyone asks..."and how old are your kids??". I had a better climb as well and found breathing a lot easier even though our altitude was as high as our first pass.
Now we are off next to Lobuche and to sleep at even higher altitude before Everest Base Camp.
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