My month-long school visit trip to Asia (2/13-3/11/16) has been a series of adventures and puddle-jumping flights between them:
- 2/23/16 Kuala Lumpur to Phuket
- 2/29/16 Phuket to Kuala Lumpur
- 3/1/16 Kuala Lumpur to Phuket
- 3/3/16 Phuket to Chiang Mai
- 3/5/16 Chiang Mai to Hong Kong
A day after I walked with elephants in rural Thailand,
I was in the middle of the high-rise city of Hong Kong, where I've come
to speak at four international schools. I've learned that I prefer
learning about a city once I'm in it; prior to being here, my knowledge
of Hong Kong was barely even this:
Hong
Kong: where airport staff made me take off my baseball hat five minutes
before I reached immigration but did not care when I told them that
someone left two plastic bags on the floor in line at immigration.
Within
hours after arriving, after a nap to compensate for my 3:30 a.m.
wake-up to make my 6 a.m. flight from Thailand, I was on the ferry from
Hong Kong Island to Kowloon on the mainland.
Other sights from my wanderings:
Hong Kong junk:
Ball in the air:
The following day, I took on the Twin Peaks; at 3,000 steps (though they say 1,000), it's a workout with a view. And it's actually three peaks; the first is called Violet Hill. You start right behind here, a complex that looks cool but doesn't seem in close proximity to rolling hills:
The first part of the climb:
Remember that building I started at?
Pretty but precarious:
Infinity path:
The area between peak 1 and 2:
That's as far as you go, little one:
Twin Peak 1 is the toughest part of the hike. But I made it to the top:
Ready to tackle peak 2 (in the background):
My
ride back to the hotel; it may look like a mild-mannered double decker
bus, but the (rather old) driver gunned that thing down the windy
mountain road like he was fleeing killer bees.
Culminating my nine days in Thailand was a magical, mammoth experience: visiting an elephant sanctuary.
Elephants have been an integral part of Thai culture for centuries, but tragically, they are regularly mistreated in the name of commerce (tourist rides, street begging, circuses, logging). At Elephant Nature Park, rescued elephants are respected for the majestic creatures they are.
There is a glut of elephant-themed places to visit, and at first glance, it's hard to tell them apart. But this one came specially recommended in more ways than one, and it earned those endorsements. Even on the drive there we passed other elephant camps that did not look as humane—elephants penned in small enclosures right by the road.
You walk into ENP and it immediately seems like Jurassic Park with elephants. They roam free on the expansive and glorious grounds, gently and unobtrusively tended to by the staff of about 70. (But none of the elephants tried to eat us.)
I chose the "short day" package, which ending up feeling full in the best way. My group departed the office in Chiang Mai at 9 a.m., was driven by van for about an hour to the sanctuary in the countryside, and enjoyed it (including a bountiful lunch) till the 2 p.m. departure. When I made my last-minute booking two nights before, the site said "only 11 slots left." Funnily, my group was only 12, suggesting I was actually the first to book. I was also the oldest in my group by more than 10 years. Mostly twenty-something backpackers, newlyweds, or European vacationers. The only other Americans were a brother and sister from Boston.
At ENP, the ones running things are the elephants. There is no riding, there are no shows, and there are no sticks in the hands of the mahouts, or men (has to be men) who train elephants. An elephant is assigned one mahout, often when the mahout is young, and the two stay together for the duration. In other places throughout Asia, mahouts use a sharp metal hook to control their elephants, and despite what the tourists are told, getting jabbed with it does hurt the animal. But at ENP, it's all positive reinforcement. Nothing sharp in sight.
Most elephants there are rescues. The humanitarian founder of the park buys them out of abusive situations. In one case, the cost was $2,000. In some of the elephants, heartbreaking tics linger; one swings his trunk and rocks when standing. It looks sweet till you learn the reason. To quote our sweet host/guide, Narissa (at least that's how it sounded), at ENP "elephants learn to become elephants again." She told us some of the elephants might cry when we receive them.
Almost a third of the 30 or so elephants there are blind by human means. People who come to ENP already have some spiritual or primal connection to these animals and hearing of these horrific examples of man's cruelty only intensifies that empathy. I found myself continuously thanking a higher power the whole time I was there that there was a there.
At least one elephant was older than my parents—born in the early 1940s. Narissa called some of them "grandma."
Most of the elephants in the park have formed small families—it seems like five or six animals apiece. One, however, has kept to herself in a particular spot—for nine years. While not social with her kind, she does let humans approach—some of the time. Here she is with Narissa, our guide.
The mahouts live at the park in these structures:
In the water, the adults surround the baby both to protect him and to play with him. He spent most of his river time rolling around underwater. See his trunk sticking out?
At ENP, humans follow the elephants' leads:
This is one of at least two elephants who stepped on a landmine near the Cambodian border, which you can see in his mangled front left foot. Narissa said they are lucky to be alive.
The only elephant who accessorized:
The day was so uplifting, emotionally draining, and hot that most of us fell asleep on the way home:
If you ever visit Thailand—or anywhere in Asia—get yourself to ENP. You might even consider planning a trip for this alone.
Thailand footnote: over my nine days, I ate pad see ew—my favorite dish (not just favorite Thai dish, but favorite of all dishes)—seven times:
- 2/25/16 lunch—local place my driver knew
- 2/25/16 dinner—Boat Lagoon Resort (my first Phuket hotel)
- 2/27/16 dinner—BLR
- 2/28/16 dinner—BLR
- 3/2/16 dinner—restaurant delivery to Bike Resort (my second Phuket hotel)
- 3/3/16 lunch—Golden Bell (my Chiang Mai hotel)
- 3/4/16 dinner—Anoma Boutique House (a small hotel café in Chiang Mai old town)
For more than a year, I planned what became monster trip to Asia—seven days at a school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, two days at a school in Phuket, Thailand, and five days at four schools in Hong Kong. The way it shaped up, the bookings spread over four weeks with six weekdays that no schools requested.
While getting a week to tool around Asia would certainly be fantastic, it's not where I'm at in life. I'm already away from my family for too long; on top of that, to then spend rather than earn money for a week did not sit well with me.
The school visits started on February 15. By the next day, thanks to the kind word of mouth of educators who had just heard me present, I began to fill that gap week. Ultimately, I was able to schedule appearances for three of the five days—two schools and a company. Complicating that was the fact that one of the schools and the company were in Kuala Lumpur—but I was already in Thailand. Luckily, Asia has good budget airlines.
My gap week, revised:
- Monday 2/29—rescheduled date for British International School of Phuket; that evening flew (back) to Kuala Lumpur (where I'd been from 2/13 to 2/23)
- Tuesday 3/1—British International School of Kuala Lumpur in the morning, Astro TV in the afternoon; that evening flew back to Phuket
- Wednesday 3/2—Phuket International Academy
- Thursday 3/3—flew to Chiang Mai in the north, Thailand's second largest city, for two days before leaving for Hong Kong on 3/5; speaking of being spontaneous, I landed in Chiang Mai without knowing where I would sleep that night
Huge thanks again to Jeremy Townend at the British International School of Kuala Lumpur, Hakim Amir at Astro TV, and Lynne Nigalis at Phuket International Academy for inviting me on such short notice. Your spontaneity is a gift to your students (and to me). If this proves anything, it's that author visits can be relatively easy (and definitely quick) to put together!
British International School of Kuala Lumpur:
courtesy of Jeremy Townend
Astro TV, a large content provider:
courtesy of Hakim Amir
They asked me to do a selfie with the audience:
Phuket International Academy:
courtesy of PIA
Day 1 of 2 in Chiang Mai; at the gate to the old city, which dates back to the 1200s:
This place is not as exclusive as it might seem:
