Elephants & Snakes

So what do elephants & snakes have in common? Nothing unless you happen to be in Thailand!

Akiko & Taka came to visit me last week & I was able to meet them in Chaing Mai for a couple of days. They told me that they wanted to ride elephants & see a temple so I got things arranged.

We went to an elephant show first. Here we are waiting for the show...

And the elephants entering the arena.

Here they are playing the harmonica & hula-hooping.

And what's better than watching elephants play soccer (or footbon as it's called over here).

After the show, it was time to ride some elephants.

When the elephant ride was done, our driver asked us if we wanted to see anything else in the area...they had a snake farm, a monkey farm, and a lot of other cool stuff. Akiko wanted to see the snakes...I have to say that this guy was crazy...I wanted to ask him how many time he had been bitten, but I didn't get the chance.

Yep, those are cobras he's playing with!

And of course I have video!

Here he is playing with a python.

And the kissing cobras.

After the snake show, we had lunch at an orchid farm.

After that, we headed to Wat Doi Suthep. It's a beautiful temple & the view is amazing, but the climb will kill you.

That night, we had dinner on a river boat which was really neat. Akiko & Taka had to go to Bangkok the next day, so I didn't get to see very much of them...I wish they could have stayed longer!

I just wanted to add this last photo. I was on the bus at the Chaing Mai bus station waiting to head back to site & I saw this guy. What's he doing you may ask? He's collecting oil that has dripped from the buses...and is storing it in the water bottle. He has quite a bit & $10 says it's going in his motorcycle when he gets home.