Written on February 25th:

After the iPad adventure, I arrived in Chiang Mai – with means “elephant smile” – with an open mind and an open heart. Too much connection to home definitely makes it more challenging to live in the present, so I read the signs and decided to make a conscious effort to breathe into each moment a little bit more.

Sara and I had several things we knew we wanted to do in Chiang Mai: Thai massage, something with elephants, and a cooking class. The Thai massage that I got, an hour-long celestial experience in which I was an active participant – twisting, turning, and breathing – helped me decide to become certified in Thai massage when I am staying along the southern beaches next week. It is a wonderful intimate experience to give to someone. Oh yeah, and my massage cost four dollars.

Before arriving in Chiang Mai, I knew I had a problem with the numerous companies that offer elephant rides. Thailand, known for its working elephants when logging was still permitted in the country, now has serious problems with animal abuse. Elephants are paraded around dirty streets, serving as beggars, and are blatantly mistreated in shows designed to entertain tourists. Sara and I found an organization called Elephant Nature Park, housed on a huge plot of lush, green land outside of the city. The organization is dedicated to helping rehabilitate injured elephants, and providing visitors an opportunity to care for the elephants without riding them. Elephants are now contending with giraffes to be my favorite animal. They are remarkably graceful, calm, and loving beings.

The elephant that Sara and I washed, Mae, had a sad story associated with her injury. Her right hip and leg were broken when she was working in a Thai circus. Her owners thought it would be a great idea to breed the two elephants they had, without any knowledge for how this is done, and in the process of the forced breeding, her hip was broken.

We took good care of her, spoiling her with a portion of her fifty-pound a day diet of bananas and watermelon.

One of the reasons that I am excited to return home is to share the newfound knowledge of Thai cuisine that I picked up in Chiang Mai. Sara and I took a cooking class led by two young Thai women, both of whom were clearly stoned. When they picked us up at our hostel, Sara and I were looking around for the location of the blatant aroma in the car, excited to be with people who like to, well, ya know. After going to a local market to learn about ingredients, we laughed through six courses of stir-frying chicken, crushing chiles, and arranging papaya. Together, we made pad see-ew, fish cakes, hot and sour soup, green curry, mango and sticky rice, spring rolls, and a host of other delicious meals. I think it was the best food we’ve had on the trip so far.

There was one other guy in our cooking class, who I swear looked and spoke exactly like the guy from Office Space.

Robert and David, our friends from the bus, spent a couple of days with us and are now off to India, where they are planning on “climbing Everest.” People with adventurous spirits are so fantastic. Chiang Mai is likely filled with them; as a beautiful city with temples, delicious food, and friendly people, Chiang Mai attracts conscious, yoga-practicing backpackers brave enough to tackle this area of the world.

As for Sara and me, it was onto Bangkok on a night bus. Bangkok rocked our world, and the magic started early on…