Remember that time our friends the Fitzs came over to Asia? I can't tell if it feels like yesterday, or a year ago. A final recap of events...
As you may recall we had the best time on our first day in Bangkok. Saturday afternoon I was exhausted after our trip to the market and was laying down for a nap and scrolling through my instagram feed. I came across a photo from a magazine in Singapore that I follow. Two words: Elephant. Polo. After some googling and convincing the rest of the group this was a real thing, we made big plans to check it out the next day. We were fully sceptical with a hint of excitement during our 40 min, $8 taxi journey to get there. It was quite possibly the coolest, strangest, best thing I have ever seen in my life. It was for a great cause, we met a lot of cool people (2 people who had lived in Kansas! weird?) and got our moneys worth at the VIP tent. All-in-all a top 10 day.
So, a little background from the organizers :
The welfare of the elephants participating in the polo tournament is paramount, with strict rules in place to ensure that the pachyderms are well cared for at all times. Thanks to Thailand’s advanced micro-chipping programme for all legal domesticated elephants and research into DNA tagging, by imposing a “no micro-chip, no game” rule, Anantara guarantees that all elephants who play have been domestically bred and not captured from the wild or smuggled in from neighbouring countries.
In addition to the 30 rescued street elephants who now enjoy a comfortable lifestyle at Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa’s onsite Elephant Camp, the annual event allows a further 50 young elephants to be taken off the streets for the two week period during the tournament, providing them with a native forest environment, the best food possible, as well as the only proper veterinary check and vitamins they receive all year.
Anantara always ensures that the elephants are treated as well as our two-legged guests, while the event also plays a crucial role in raising much needed funds to help protect all of Thailand’s elephants and their heritage. This important work is carried out by Anantara’s own elephant charity – the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF).
For more info. visit their website here.
First stop - elephant petting! Gah!
I love this pic :)
It didn't take long for the boys to purchase and promptly change into team jerseys.
Line change.
What a fun day - this was one for the books.
Sunday evening we had a wonderful (and omg spicy) Thai dinner and checked out some of the night life. I kid you not we walked past at least 5 bars and they were ALL playing Oasis cover songs. Ha.
Monday it was up and at'em to check out some of Thailand's famous temples. We went to the Grand Palace and Wat Arun. This is the part where I become an absolutely horrible blogger and tell you to check out the wikipedia pages for the history behind the temples.
In short, the Grand Palace was build in 1782 for the Kings of Siam. It is not necessarily one palace, but a bunch of buildings. I understand the monarchy no longer lives there, but the Palace is used for a variety of official events. It was also built as a newer more LUXE location to house the famed Emerald Buddha. We checked it out and it was stunning - and a little smaller than I expected (no photos allowed). I loved all of the spires - which are a major part of Thailand's architecture and culture.
See us down there?
This white-ish one was my favorite.
In Bangkok they had a bunch of huge billboards off the highway and various signs stating 'Buddha is for respecting - not tattoo, furniture, souvenir,' etc. It is apparently against Thai law to purchase and take a Buddha statue out of the country. They greatly frown upon the buying and selling of Buddha souvenirs (even though they are everywhere?) as it is taken as a sign of disrespect. Kissing Buddha is also a no-no. So next time you see someone rollin' around with a Buddha ankle tatt... people are serious. The more you know, kids.
The details and level of LUXE was insanity. ("Luxe" kind of became a running joke, but seriously there is no better way to describe it).
Cheese!
Quick long-boat trip across the river to Wat Arun. Not going to lie, E and I were white-knuckling the 5 min journey. I watched a TV show once where a girl was riding a similar boat somewhere in Thailand and water accidentally splashed up into her mouth and she got really sick and died. I probably shouldn't have told everyone that story. (we ate dinner on the water right back there at Sala Sunday night! the view of the Wat at night was outstanding)
One more temple...plus a hike.
After our last day in Bangkok, we all flew back to Singapore for a feast of delivery Indian food and Varsity Blues. What an amazing, memorable, weird, fantastic trip. We can't tell you how much we enjoy it when friends and family come to Asia to visit. Until next time...
XO,
CD
No comments :
Post a Comment