Author: Ellie Ashbrook

Program: CIS Summer in Thailand

Since my first week in Thailand, I have been more adventurous (and a bit rebellious) than I have been in my 20 years of living. There are a large number of stray dogs in Thailand because there are no kennels to host them. The monks of the Buddhist temples will provide the dogs with food and water but otherwise they roam the streets looking for any scraps to survive on.

Each weekend there is a weekend market with lots of food and homemade goods to purchase. There are always dogs roaming the streets of the markets and you need to be careful that they don’t lick you or your wounds. There was this one Chihuahua, and I didn’t think twice when he began licking me. I kept a positive mind, and thankfully, I have not experienced any signs of rabies.

I have talked to people about traveling the world and a lot of  that responses I get are about being afraid of the unexpected. I had no idea what bad things I would run into when visiting Thailand, but so far, I have had a great experience. There will always be things to be aware of, animals with rabies for instance, but there are ways to keep you safe.

This past weekend, I visited the Baan Chang Elephant Park in Chiang Mai. This was one of the coolest experiences of this trip. The park gave us the chance to feed a basket full of bamboo pieces and bundles of bananas to the elephants.

Honestly, at first I couldn’t get myself to approach the elephant because of their size. I got over the fear of how big these creatures are and reached my arm out. As soon as I did, the elephant swung his trunk towards me, and I was face-to-face with his nose. I couldn’t believe that I was feeling the air coming out from this elephant’s nose. 

After feeding the elephants, we were told that they could give kisses.

Yep, that picture with me screaming is during the kiss.  Once we were covered in elephant snot, we were provided with a Thai lunch. The lunch was Pad Thai (a Thai favorite). As soon as we finished lunch, I started to feel very ill. I had been feeling sick since the morning, but the Pad Thai did not settle well with my stomach.

Once everyone’s lunch settled (except for mine), we were given directions on how to control the elephants while riding them. Riding an elephant is a difficult thing (especially when Pad Thai is not agreeing with your stomach). I tried to enjoy every minute of that ride, but it was quite difficult when trying to focus on not falling off a two-story high elephant. The ride home was about an hour back, and every minute of that ride, I could feel the bumps in the road and the Pad Thai slowly coming up. I’ll make this short and say that I’m thankful for good friends.

The day after the elephant park, I went zip lining in the mountains of Bann Wang Hang, Maeram. This was my first time and will not be my last. The adrenaline rush that I felt through my body while flying through the jungle has been the greatest feeling by far. The zip line adventure included several obstacle courses that also gave me a rush of adrenaline. Look up what abseiling is (but my abseiling experience was without any ability to stop myself). Our guides of the zip line adventure made the trip even more enjoyable (our guide called himself Crazy Man).

The Zip Line Gang

Crazy Man, the guide

Thailand has been so good to me, and I still have so much to experience on my trip. It is normal to be afraid of the unexpected, but once you get over that fear, the reward is remarkable.

Author: Ellie Ashbrook

Program: CIS Summer in Thailand

Today will mark my first full week of living in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Since being in Chiang Mai, I have visited many historic sites and have learned so much about the culture that it will be difficult to share every detail about my experience.

Before I tell you about my first week of my Thailand experience, I want to reflect back on my first post and why I chose Chiang Mai. I have always had in mind that I wanted to experience something different from what I experience every day in my home country. I knew that Thailand would be an opportunity to achieve this. The way of life in Thailand versus how it is in the United States is completely opposite. The people of Thailand have a different way of driving (you are playing leap frog every time you need to cross the street) and have a different way of living.

The View from My Window

A few values that I learned about Thai people are that they find it very important to spend time, effort, and sometimes money to maintain relationships. Another value that Thai people strongly have is that they are present-oriented and look for fun and happiness in everything. They don’t take anything too seriously.

Every day since I have been in Chiang Mai, I have experienced the way Thai people value relationships and value the present versus the future. This past Wednesday, I had my first day of orientation at the Language Institute at Chiang Mai University. That night, we were invited to eat dinner with the staff at a place called, “Sip Song Pan Na Khantok” in Chiang Mai.  In Thailand, a traditional “Khantoke” dinner is a way to introduce northern food and performance to foreigner friends. They provide you with endless portions of food, so you will not leave hungry or be hungry for a few days. As we ate dinner, several boys and girls performed from the drama school at Chiang Mai University and towards the end of dinner, we were able to dance with them. It was a great way to break out of your comfort zone.

Khantoke Feast

One of my favorite activities that we have done is learning how to cook Thai food. The first day you are in Thailand, you will either eat noodles or rice. These two foods are everywhere! We drove to a local market (there are markets on almost every street in Thailand) and were shown the various foods that are included in Thai dishes.

Street Market Food: Chiang Mai Gate

From the market, we were driven to a kitchen farm. Our Thai cooking instructor gave us a list of foods to choose from that we could cook. Before we began the class, we enjoyed a welcome snack (Meang Khum), which is made with: roasted peanut, ginger, toasted coconut meat, chilies, shallots, sliced lime, a betel leaf and syrup which is drizzled on top. How to eat it: fold the betel leaf as a cup. Put all the ingredients in the betel leaf cup. Top with the sweet syrup. Eat the whole betel lead cup in one bite and chew it slowly. You will touch all flavors at one time.

Meang Khum

The purpose of this welcome snack was to introduce all the flavors of Thai cooking. Thai cuisine is known for being spicy, so this is a balance of the five fundamentals: hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty, and (optional) bitter (this was the first time I have tasted all of these tastes in one bite)…I recommend trying! Once we had our welcome snack, we began cooking our Thai dishes. Our cooking instructor made sure that we understood the rules…always smile even if your food becomes inedible.

Stir-fried Chicken with Cashew Nut (Kai Pad Med MaMoang Him Ma Pan)

I cannot wait to share more of my Thailand experience with you!

How to make the syrup for Meang Kim:

Ingredients: palm sugar, salt, sliced shallot, sliced ginger, and water

Mix the ingredients well.

Heat on low until it becomes sticky.

You can book your own Thai cooking experience with asiascenic.com