Doi Suthep and Baan Chang

What an amazing weekend it's been! On Friday (also my first day at BEAM - but that's a whole 'nother post!) my Buddhism class made the 30 minute journey up the mountain to Wat Phra that Doi Suthep.  I may have mentioned earlier that if a wat has "phra that" (hard "t," not "th" as in "this") in the name it's relic is from the Buddha himself. Pretty cool. You can't actually see the relic because it is housed in the chedi (also called a stupa), which is the big pointy structure in the middle of the complex.

People circumambulate (a fancy word for walk around) the chedi three times as an act of meditation and a way to make merit with offerings of flowers, candles, and incense (remember my experience at Wat Rampoeng?). Our class was mostly interested in the mural paintings that surrounded the temple, depicting important scenes in the Buddha's life story.

In this painting, the Buddha is calling witness to the earth goddess to wring out her hair, which was soaked in the waters of his good merit from previous lifetimes. The subsequent flood is washing away the demons, especially Mara, the god of death and rebirth, who were trying to keep the Buddha from achieving enlightenment. There are many grand and ornate halls to house Buddha images around the complex, like this one.

The other amazing thing about Doi Suthep is the view of Chiang Mai you can see (even with some cloud cover) from a look out point. I have a two week break from classes in October and my plans include doing a meditation retreat for five days, most likely at Doi Suthep. Meditators get up early, and I am told the wat is empty of tourists late at night and in the early in the morning. Can you imagine seeing the sun rise from up here? Hopefully, come October, I won't have to imagine.

Then, on Saturday, eight of us got up bright and early to visit Baan Chang, which literally means elephant home. It is a park that is a sanctuary for rescued elephants from all over Thailand. Sadly, these majestic mammals are no longer found in the wild but are often used as work animals or for tourist gimmicks such as street begging and circus tricks. Baan Chang wants to rescue as many elephants as possible and give them a new, humane life about an hour outside of Chiang Mai. Each elephant gets their own mahout, which is a human trainer, caretaker, and companion, usually from a hill tribe such as the Karen.

Visitors are welcome to come and spend the day with the elephants, helping out with their daily routines and learning about our "big friends." Here I am feeding sugar cane and bananas to an elephant, which is like a special snack in between meals. Elephants spend only 4 hours sleeping and the other 20 hours eating every day! We wear the denim uniforms because they are OK to get dirty and help the sight-limited elephants recognize strangers as people who come to feed, bathe, and play with them.

The most exciting part of the elephant experience was learning to ride them! The best way to do it is on the elephant's muscular neck, as it is a comfortable place to sit and you can give verbal commands as well as nudge their ears to turn. Getting up on the elephant, even while it's laying down, requires a certain degree of athleticism because they are just so big! We all managed to get up on them and do a quick turn around the fenced area to get used to riding.

After lunch we paired up two to an elephant (one "driver" on the neck and one "passenger" on the shoulders with a rope to hold on to) for a longer ride. Elephants like to walk around and get some exercise just like anyone, but in the park must do so in a controlled way so they don't escape, pick fights with each other, or eat a plant that will make them sick. Our guide, Puza, was kind enough to walk alongside with the cameras and get some action shots.

Nicole's and my elephant was very gentle and cautious with the steep and muddy road . . . maybe because she was 10 months pregnant! We were still OK to ride her, because mama elephants can be expecting for 18 to 24 months. Our final job was to help with bath time, which took place in a pond area with buckets and scrub brushes. It's important to keep elephants clean because there are bacteria that gets on their skin and causes infection. Nothing like trying to keep your balance on a slippery, wet elephant back!

Baan Chang was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience unique to Thailand. I would encourage everyone to read up on the state of elephant welfare in the world and do what they can to raise awareness and put an end to the cruel treatments of some of our precious pachyderm friends.