Goin' to the animals...

After our exciting elephant trek adventure we continued our 'animal' theme for the day. We visited a monkey training center not terribly far from the elephant center. Here we learned all about how monkeys are trained to help harvest coconuts. Their training begins at about the age of 6 months old. They only train the males to perform these stunts because once the females start having offspring they are totally devoted to raising their young.

They start the training by teaching the monkeys how to hold coconuts. Then they teach them how to spin the coconuts on the ground. Then they spin the coconuts while elevated a few feet off the ground. Then they tether the coconuts to frames and teach the monkeys to spin the coconuts until they 'pop' off the frame. Eventually they work all they up to the monkey climbing the palm tree and retrieving the coconuts and returning them to the ground. Interesting work. Apparently monkeys can pick coconuts at a rate exponentially faster than humans.

The rest of the monkey show included monkeys that could do backflips, ride tricycles, play basketball, perform magic tricks, untie knots, retrieve objects from the bottom of a pool and sell 'monkey balm'. Here in this photo the monkey unties a rope that's been knotted around trkr & my hands. Once the monkey completed this task he bowed and thanked us. Very cute!

...

Our next stop was an orchid farm. Hmmm...how might orchids fall into a post about animals you might ask? Well, if you don't fall asleep through this post you might get a chuckle with the PG-13 event we experienced during our visit to the orchid farm that I'll describe towards the end of this post.

First, we learned how they propogate orchids. We see these tiny seeds--microscopic compared to the size of a mustard seed. We learn about how they sprout. They drop the sprouts in these glass bottles that serve as 'cloches' by creating the perfect environment for the young seedlings. The orchid plants mature in these bottles for several years. Eventually the bottle is broken and the orchid is transplanted into hanging planters in rows.

Here we stand amid a couple of rows of these blue orchids. These rows went on for several hundred meters. There must have been a couple dozen rows and at least 20 different varieties of orchids. They were gorgeous!


The colors were incredible! Burgundy & lilac.


Firey red and blazing orange.

Buttercup yellow and pinkish fuchsia.

This blue hybrid is the one for which Chiang Mai is really known.

We meander around all the little hidden pathways of the orchid farm and eventually stumble on this butterfly. It was about 8" long and was just emerging from his chrysalis! As we looked around more carefully we noticed these large butterflies tucked into many nooks & crannies. It was amazing. Their chrysalises were 7"x4"--quite large to ones we've seen before and they appeared as dark as tobacco leaves. The various butterfly colors ranged from blacks, browns, coppers and oranges. Gorgeous!

The next part is every parent's nightmare. RnrB & trkr had some flexibility during this adventure through the orchid farm--as we were the only folks there. While we were studying the orchids--rnrB was wandering around the trails snapping the occasional picture with Trekkie's camera. This X-rated photo is what she came up with! Now try explaining that to your kids.

There were definitely some ruffled feathers around the orchid farm! Both the ducks & us parents!!! ;) Of course the questions kept arising the rest of the day--what were they doing? ;)

...

We continue to explore the farm and notice many other interesting things. An odd collection of old vehicles--from model-T type cars to modern 60s era classics. We see some kennels for various breeds of dogs and cats for which Thailand is famous--it included Siamese cats, of course. Upon leaving the farm, we walk past rows & rows of orchid pins and necklaces. We just figure they're porcelain or glass and think nothing of it--until we've almost left the facility and stumble upon a display that explains how they're made. We've seen these orchid pins before--especially in Hawaii and never realized how cool they really are.

They're actually orchids that have been dipped in copper, painted and lacquered--then mounted on gold pins or on chains as pendants. We study the various pins and see hundreds of different colors. They're beautiful. Then we look a little bit closer and see butterfly wings, entire butterflies and other unique 'oddities' that can be dipped in copper.

...

We return back to Chiang Mai and hop on a 'tuk-tuk' to head over to the Sunday Market over near "Old Town's" gates, red brick walls and corners such as Katam Corner. A tuk-tuk is a small motor-bike equipped with a large seat in the back with a cover and colored lights much like Christmas lights. We search for the urban GC but the place is still closed. :( Then it's off to the market where we haggle for some more items--mostly wooden toy puzzles (like the original rubik's cube) and a purple shell necklace. We grab a bite to eat at an Italian caffe--where we finally break down and order something 'non-Asian'. It's been a long time! We enjoyed a Pizza Margharita, hamburger, mango shake & homemade mango ice cream. Mangoes are in season right now and we're loving every minute of it!!!