Feastin' on fried insects

When in Thailand do as the Thais do. You know what that means?! It means you may have to feast on some fried insects. Never, ever in my life would I think that I would eat bugs! I avoid camping because I am not one to commune with nature. I appreciate nature's beauty, but I don't see any reason to sleep on the ground, pee in the woods, and heaven forbid, eat bugs! But, put me in a foreign country, eager for an experience and all of my "I would never do that in my life proclamations" go out the window!

It all happened in the city of Ayutthaya at the night market. We were on a VIP-police escorted rickshaw tour of the city and we made a stop.

If you can't quite tell what that is, it's the fried insect vendor. Our tour guide went to the counter, got a plate, and dared us to try.

 I have no idea what it is on that plate. I didn't want to know. Ignorance is bliss in this case.

Here I am, making a choice. That's my dad in the background. That's his "Who is this daughter that I call mine and is she cra-zy?" face.  Yes, Dad, I really did give it a whirl!
I don't know what I ate. Again, I didn't want to know. My tour guide tells me later that it was a wing of some sort.

This is my face after eating the bug. Can you tell what I thought of it? It was crunchy. Super salty. And, I will never eat one again! But, when in Thailand do as the Thais do.

Elephants!

My family's favorite part of our adventures in Thailand was our visit to the elephant camp. Let me tell you, the Thais are serious about elephants and take very good care of them. At the age of 3, most elephants go to "Elephant University" (yes, it's real!). At school, they learn how to build things, (They are sometimes used to life sandstone for construction projects), play musical instruments, dunk a basketball, kick a soccer ball, dance, and paint. Below are some pictures to prove it, but you have to see it for yourself to really soak it all in and comprehend the wonder of it all.

Soccer

The elephant is painting

The finished products painted by three elephants. I bought the one on the right!

As if the show wasn't entertaining enough, there was more in store for us on that day. A ride on the elephants! We rode 2 to an elephant through the river and up the bank and around for an hour and a half. It was quite a bumpy, but amazing experience!

 The guy sitting on the front of our elephant is a mahut. Every elephant is required to have an identification card and a mahut. The mahut stays with the elephant until one of them dies. It is likely that the mahut will die before the elephant because elephants can live until their nineties. However, they are allowed to "retire" at 65 years old and can just enjoy life instead of having to perform in front of people. Essentially, these animals work from age 3 to 65, and we thought we had it hard!

If you ever find yourself in Thailand, don't miss out on this experience! It's memorable, for sure.

Trunk up = Good luck!

Ahka Tribe

As we cruised around northern Thailand, we stopped to visit the hill tribe village of the Ahka. Carved wooden gates with guarding spirits presiding over them distinguish the Akha village.  The Akha tribe is known for their gorgeous silver headdresses.

The headdress this woman is wearing has been passed down in her family for generations. Her family heirloom was made out of real silver. This is not always the case nowadays as many are silver plated.  Ahka tribal members also wear distinct outfits.

 It makes no difference if you are the matriarch of the family or are one of the youngest/newest members of the tribe, you follow the customs. This little guy doesn't have a silver headdress just yet, but I bet he will trade in his cloth cap for a heavier adornment soon!

The Akha tribe style of house is supported on low stilts with a square living area and a stove in the back.

Fifteen people live in this one house. I would probably feel extremely cramped and disgruntled, but the Ahka people were very happy and hospitable to us. They did a little dance for us and presented their handicrafts for us to purchase.

I don't know about you, but one of the things I enjoy most when I travel is getting a taste of how the locals experience life. The Ahka tribe couldn't be happy to let me into their piece of the world and I am pleased to learn from them.