Saturday morning was an early morning as we were picked up by 6:45 for our Zip lining excursion. We booked as a group with "The Flight of the Gibbon" and they picked us up, as well as 2 others from another hotel, to take us the 45 minute drive up the mountain from Chiang Mai. I was so incredibly excited about it that my nerves didn't really kick in until I was geared up and about to zip down the first cable. Our tour consisted of over 30 cables, a small amount of hiking, and a Tarzan swing. I can honestly say that I had 5 points where I felt utter fear and asked myself what on earth I was doing!
1. When I saw the first cable and he was about to clip me onto it - about half way down the cable my squeals of fear turned into a giggling fit because it was so much fun!
2. After the first few cables, we had to hike up the side of this sloped mountain from one cable to get to one at the top. The ground was wet and it was a slippery clay on the path with nothing to keep you from falling. I have a huge fear of falling - not heights, but falling - and I was terrified I'd slip and fall down the mountain from that path
3. Once reaching the top of this path, I was informed that this was the longest cable in our tour and we had to wait for someone to bring this little box that helps to slow you down so you don't arrive going too fast, however I was still going so fast that I was terrified that I wasn't going to stop! I did, but it was super fast and I got really nervous!
4. After a few more lines, I'm not sure what happened, but I smoked my bottom on one of the platforms while going pretty fast. There is quite the bruise there right now... So immediately after that, I was really worried and would cringe as I landed in fear that I would do it again.
5. My final minor panic moment occurred when I had to take the Tarzan swing, I was so nervous about what to expect and whether or not I could climb the rope on the other side. But it worked out very well, and I had so much fun!
During the excitement, they had a couple of stops for water breaks, and we stopped to see the family of gibbons (monkeys) that live there in the rain forest. We even got to groove to some music up in the canopy top because our tour guide was loving some Gaga music. Haha! There was plenty of flora to see, and we saw many insects, but not much else other than the monkeys. It was an amazing view, and not a single picture can portray it! It was amazing! Probably the biggest thrill I've had in my entire life!
On a side note: Flight of the Gibbon, where we went Zip Lining was in an episode of Survivor and they were sure to show us the clip of it on our drive there. For 2600 Thai Baht, or approximately $85 CDN, we were picked up at our hotel about 45 minutes away, driven to Flight of the Gibbon, spent an amazing few hours zip lining, were fed a great Thai lunch and given a T-shirt, before taking us to a waterfall and driving us back to our hotel. It is well worth the money for such a priceless day!
After our morning excitement, we chose to take it easy for a while. We had some food or went for a swim in the pool. Then we all went and got dressed up for supper, which we had at the hotel and then went off to check out the night market. We just got there in time for a downpour, leaving us stuck in the 7-11, the closest covered space I could find! Many times in Bangkok, when it rains it pours for a few hours and then it's over. We attempted to wait it out but got tired of waiting, as the space around us became cramped and crowded with other people seeking shelter from the rain. We grabbed some drinks and ran out into the rain to catch a whatever we could find to get back to the hotel (which turned out to be a bus) and then we just chilled out at the hotel. I had some wine, we played some games, and then I went to bed. In fact, most of us did. It was an early morning and a busy day!
Sunday morning we were met at 9 by a van that would take us to the Tiger Kingdom, the Long-Neck Village, lunch, and Wat Doi Suthep. We had a great time petting and playing with the baby Tigers and then we nervously went into the cage of the big tigers and pet and took pictures with some of them. They were so cute and I just wanted to take one of the babies home! Then we went over to the Long-Neck Village. I was not so interested in seeing this, I think it would have made me feel sick and I felt that it wasn't really right. They put brass collars on the women's necks starting at the age of 6 or so, and gradually add more collars. These collars push the women's collar bones and rib cages down and makes it look like they have really long (up to a foot) necks. Not my cup of tea, so I sat that one out. We then went to lunch at some random place that had bungee jumping and all sorts of other things and if I had the time and the money, I would have hung out there for a while, but time was limited and I wanted to see the temple more than doing any of those activities. After finishing our lunches we climbed back into the van and drove up the mountain to the temple. The temple is amazing! And it had the most beautiful view of the city! I find religion fascinating and I love to visit the temples and hear stories. This temple was supposed to be built on the spot where a white elephant carrying the shoulder bone of Buddha trumpeted and died. They built a temple there and it just kept growing. There are approximately 300 steps up to the temple (or if you pay for it, there's a cable car that will take you!).
After checking out the temple, we went back to our hotel since it was time to check out of our room (we paid a little extra to have it for the afternoon!) and they were nice enough to let us keep everything in storage for the evening while we went out. Some of the girls got That bamboo tapping tattoos. Apparently they hurt less, heal faster, are cheaper, and they look great! After everyone got their tattoos, some of the girls left for their flight, and then the rest of us sat down for our last meal in Chiang Mai. After supper, we decided that we had 2 hours before we needed to come back to the hotel and get our stuff and leave for the airport, and in that time we were going to make the most of the night market. It was early, and for a lot of places we were their first customers, and they would bargain hard for us to make a purchase. Hard enough that we were getting things for less than half the price they had originally quoted, and one person would buy something, and the next person in our group would get it for less right after them. I bought Nina Ricci perfume, a large backpack, a necklace, sunglasses, a shirt, it was fabulous! Good thing we only had 2 hours or I wouldn't have a penny left for the rest of my trip!
By the time we got back to the airport in Bangkok and I stopped to see if they had found my travel book that I had forgotten on our way to Chiang Mai (and it wasn't turned in, so good bye to that book!) it was about 12:30 or so and we still had to take a taxi home. I twas about 1:15am when we got to the apartments, and we had to get ready for work the next morning. It was a late night, but completely worth it!
Monday and Tuesday, the students were so loud that I couldn't teach. To the point where I felt like I was a terrible teacher. I've been moved from Phonics to do some team teaching with another student teacher in a different class. It's exciting and sad at the same time. It was fun to be designing a program, but frustrating because we hadn't gotten to a point where we could teach it yet. I hope it all works out well! I'm excited to be starting in a classroom where I may actually manage to learn the students' names and get a chance to teach more. The students are so smart, and they are sweet, but they just really like to talk. I wonder if I was like that when I was a kid, too. I earned the nickname Gabbits somehow....
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