Riding Animals | Sherry Lachelle Travels

If you’ve been reading along…you know that in 2009 I did a lot of travel. It began with Egypt and Jordan in March–followed by Peru for three weeks in May, and now in December, another G Adventures trip to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

So…for the story–

After checking into my hotel in Bangkok, Thailand…having just traveled 33 hours from the Midwest, I needed a massage. Although it was 3:30am in the morning, I was able to get a massage in my room for $5.00 (from a girl). It was the first of four massages I would enjoy while in Southeast Asia. After sleeping for a few hours I briefly explored Bangkok prior to attending a “get acquainted” meeting with the other tour attendees, who turned out to be a married couple from England on their honeymoon and four women from Germany, California, England, and Canada.

The following day we took a boat ride on the famous canals aka Klongs of Bangkok and visited a Buddhist Temple…one of many to come!

I took some video footage from my trip and made a few movies (for the first time) with my Mac…so if you’d like to see some very aggressive catfish, watch this.

I loved taking photos of the monks…

I didn’t partake of any fried bugs…but if I hosted a travel show like Andrew Zimmern…I would!

We went to the Wat Pho temple where the largest “reclining buddha” is housed!

Riding in a “tuk-tuk” is a fun experience!

Later that evening we took a night train to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I rode an elephant the next day…

And took a half-day cooking class…

For Sale: Painting by an Elephant…

more of the World’s beautiful children…

I have a treat for tomorrow…the dazzling White Temple!

Northern Thailand: Loi Krathong Festival in Chiang Mai & Elephant Nature Park (infinitesatori.org)
Carol Stevenson: Photographing Elephants in Thailand (nikonusa.com)
Wildlife Group Wants Thailand to Ban Ivory Trade (abcnews.go.com)
Wildlife Group Wants Thailand to Ban Ivory Trade (irrawaddy.org)
Wildlife Group Pressures Thailand To Ban Ivory Trade (huffingtonpost.com)
Anything Goes In Chiang Mai – Bangkok, Thailand (travelpod.com)

Riding a camel in Egypt should be on everyone’s bucket list! Although it was a unique experience, once is enough. Having ridden on a donkey and an elephant, I discovered a camel is more awkward and uncomfortable.

Your Egyptian experience is also not complete (in my opinion) unless you partake in smoking some “Shisha” aka “Hookah” aka “Hubbly Bubbly“! A few of us…the restless rebels…would stay up past bedtime…drink Turkish Coffee and smoke the flavored tobacco!

We spent one night sleeping on a felucca sailboat on the Nile River. After dividing into two groups of about 7 each, we boarded separate boats for our adventure. It was quite obvious they split us according to age. The other boat held the 25-34 age group and our boat was the 35-65 age group. What’s interesting to me, is that the “restless rebels”, as I mentioned earlier, consisted of the older age group.

A separate boat called the “service” boat was available for mealtimes and use of the bathroom. The “restless rebels”…stayed up after the others went to bed and were talking on top of the service boat when it became noticeably windier. Out in the distance a huge black mass was approaching quickly…

when we queried the workers, they said it was a sandstorm. The sense of danger and exhiliration resulted in an immediate rush and feeling of…aliveness! We were engulfed in sand for a few minutes. I still remember the sand pelting my skin, leaving a tingly feeling.

We rode donkeys to the Valley of the Kings and if you wanted your donkey to go faster you would say “hopa hopa”.

My donkey liked to go fast…just like me…and every time someone else would say hopa hopa – my donkey would run.

I raced one of the guys and almost fell off.

The Karnak Temple is located in Luxor, Egypt. The entire complex which spans 1 mile x 2 miles, was built over a period of 1300 years, beginning in the 16th century BC, and is the largest ancient religious site in the world. The last three photos are a portion of it…