Countdown to Peru!

Wow! Only 1 more week left until we can depart from our routine city working life to the mysterious South American country of Peru. This trip has definitely been overdue as it has been over a year since we left for Cambodia and Thailand last May. 

I'm actually surprised that I was able to withhold from traveling for so long but with the uncertainty of if I was going to quit my job at the end of August and with my sister's wedding this past weekend, the trip planning was a bit delayed and was up in the air as to what will happen.

Richard and I were committed to go, but Rebecca was uncertain what her plans were with her friend Rana and if they were going to travel to Bolivia while Richard and I go to the Amazon.

Richard and I only booked our flights at the end of July after we loafted around and enough was enough, we had to go to Peru no matter what. Unfortunately, this time it is only for 2 weeks for myself and 10 days for Rebecca as Rana will not be able to join us and Rebecca will not be joining us for the Amazon tour at the end of our trip.

Also, our friend Chris decided to join us on this adventure! WOO! Who would have thought that Chris would do a backpacking adventure or even travel anywhere else besides Las Vegas LOL. Every time he talks about going somewhere, he mentions Vegas and is constantly looking at deals online. I can't wait to take Chris on this adventure and to expose him to the world of backpacking and to explore the world.

Then a few weeks ago, my high-school friend, Kim, decided to join in on our adventure as well! Kim has been traveling the world ever since high school and has even lived in Australia for a few years.

I'm so glad that we got a group of friends to come on this adventure. Its unfortunate that a lot of my other friends who were interested couldn't come. Jane was going to come but she has to take some French courses in Montreal. A year ago, I threw the idea out to Eugene so that we can finally reunite after my Euro trip back in 2011 but with me not confirming when the trip is happening, he just came back from Yacht Week in Greece and Egypt,Jordan, Dubai and HK. There will always be another time to meet up again.

Anyhow, this trip is going to be EPIC! It's going to be an action packed/always on the go trip as we only have 2 weeks to do it with many locations to travel to. It is definitely not enough time as it would be nice to be able to stay in each spot longer than a day or two. There is so much to see in Peru but I think our itinerary hits all of the key spots and has some fun activities to go along with it! I need 2 months!!!

I will share more information about our itinerary and activities soon..

The countdown begins! Time for some last minute shopping this weekend!

Weekend Getaway in Haliburton: Snowshoeing & Dog Sledding

This past weekend, Steven and I stayed up north in Haliburton for a fun weekend escape, dog sledding with Winterdance tours! We had been talking about going dog sledding for a while, but never had the opportunity to get around to booking the tour. Steven, being the wonderful boyfriend that he is, booked a half day dog sledding tour as well as a one night's stay at Sir Sam's Inn (ski resort),  as a birthday present for me.

Our weekend getaway in Haliburton was spectacular. It was exactly what we needed; a break from the busy streets of the city of Toronto. We needed that escape "into the wild" once more...to be in touch with nature and surrounded by wonderful animals! We tried snowshoeing for the first time, relaxed at the WaterSpa, and spent an incredible day with huskies. It was a perfect weekend! 

DAY 1: DRIVE TO HALIBURTON, SNOWSHOEING & WATERSPA

Haliburton is approximately a 3 hour drive north from Toronto. Although it's a bit of a long journey/drive, the nice view makes it worth it -the iced lakes and snowy trees looked beautiful. However, you must watch out for deer! Steven almost hit deer that appeared out of nowhere!! It was in broad daylight when three deer decided to run across the roads, one after another, causing Steven to slam on his brakes. He almost had a heart attack!

When we arrived at Sir Sam's Inn, it was around 1:30pm. We happily ate a red deer sausage and mushroom poutine with a side salad. By the time we finished eating, our chalet was ready.

The chalet was beautiful and had a cottage feel to it. It had two levels, where the top floor was a balcony bedroom overlooking the living room, a second bedroom on the main floor, fireplace living room and a full kitchen. For two people, the chalet was very spacious.

After we unpacked our things, we geared up for snowshoeing! Instead of joining a tour (we missed the last tour, anyway), we decided to take the snowshoes and explore the resort area on our own. It was just before it was starting to get dark, when we walked toward a frozen lake that was by our resort. We knew that the lake was frozen because there were a few snowmobiles that drove over it. Seeing that it was safe, we decided to walk over the lake, toward the center (woo! walking on water!). We just stood there, appreciating the scenery....

After about an hour and a half of exploring, we decided to head back to our chalet and get ready to go to the waterspa. The sauna and waterjets from the pool was so relaxing. It was the perfect way to wind down and be carefree...

DAY 2: DOG SLEDDING WITH WINTERDANCE TOURS

Our dog sledding adventure was scheduled to start at 9am at Winterdance tours (about 30 minutes drive from Sir Sam's Inn). Once we arrived, we spent a few minutes to meet and greet the other people on our tour, as well as watch some of the huskies wake up from their nap. To my surprise, the huskies were sleeping in cages that were in the back of a truck.  Some of the cages fit two huskies in one. I have to say, it looked pretty cozy in there -especially on such a cold day!

Shortly after that, we gathered around our tour guide to listen to the rules and instructions on how to operate the sled. For the most part, there were two important commands that we were instructed to use on the huskies. “Hike” was the term used to instruct them to go/run, while “whoaaa” was used to indicate that they should slow down and prepare to stop! It's important that the sled driver only calls out the command once, at any given time. Too many voices hollering repeatedly, "hike, Hike, HIKE" will confuse and frustrate the dogs. Our instructor used a work analogy to explain the reasoning; it's no different than if your boss repeatedly told you to "work harder, Work Harder, WORK HARDER". It would only frustrate you, and therefore cause you to become less motivated to actually, work harder. So, calling out "hike" once will do the trick just fine! We also learned that huskies have a very acute sense of hearing (their ears can rotate 180 degrees), and therefore we needn't shout or scream out the commands loudly. They can hear perfectly fine if we talk at a regular tone.         

When going downhill, we were instructed to brake at all times to prevent the sled from hitting the huskies back, and to keep the huskies from running too fast as they may sprain their ankle or get injured. When going uphill, we were told to get off the sled and help push the sled up the hill. Huskies are team players and will work hard, but only if you work hard as well! If they catch that you're not helping them push the sled uphill (which they will, because they peak over their shoulders once in a while to make sure!), they will stop pulling and sit down. 

For the driver, it is also their responsibility to make sure the huskies do not get caught or tangled in the rope line. The huskies are attached to a main rope by their collar and back. If the dogs get caught in the main rope, they could be seriously injured if the rest of the dogs are running and pulling the rope tighter. And sometimes, their legs may crossover or get caught over the ropes. If this occurs, the person sitting on the sled will untangle the dog or call for an instructor to help!     
 

In total, there were about 7 teams of two on our tour. Each couple had 5 Siberian Huskies on their dogsled team, one driver, and one person sitting on the sled. The driver and rider can alternate positions after the break! 

Meet our team!

(1) Martini, a beautiful white haired blue eyed husky as our team leader (note he also pees very frequently, about every few minutes or so), 

(2) Demon, alongside with Martini in the front row, is a light and dark brown haired male, 

(3) Garrett, an outgoing blue eyed grey husky who loves attention and likes to howl (note his howls were unlike any of the other huskies, sounding almost like a Native Indian call!), 

(4) Link, a quiet blue eyed light brown and grey haired husky (shown on the left).

(5) Louna, a friendly light brown and grey husky girl with brown eyes (shown on the right). 

Link and Louna were side by side with each other, and excellent teammates! I'm thinking that they must be best friends because they are a great pair. Without a doubt, we had a rockstar team! They were full of energy, very friendly, and very obedient.

For the first half of the tour (before the break), Steven decided to be the driver, while I sat on the sled. We were the fourth team from our group to lead out to the trails. The trails were narrow, with enough room to fit a sled and a team of dogs, but not enough room for another team to drive beside you or cut ahead of you. The scenery was beautiful with the snow covering the tall pine trees, as it almost felt as if you were out West! Watching the dogs run with excitement with your sled was an amazing feeling! They were full of energy and truly happy to be outside, running. I loved their curly and flurry tails, so cute!!

Unfortunately for us, the team ahead of us had a slower set of dogs (I wanted to cut in front of them, badly). This caused a lot of stop-and-go traffic for us which was very frustrating. The dogs were frustrated as well as each time we stopped, they would look back at us as if "Why are we stopping, again!" Our strong team of dogs were running into the team ahead of us. So, Steven had to make sure to brake and avoid collision. Later, we found out that the day before, the team had a bad driver who kept on yelling Hike, so they were not very motivated to pull today.

For the first half of the tour/trail, there were a lot of hills along the way. Unlucky for Steven, he had to endure a lot of uphill running. For every hill along the trail, Steven had to push me and help the dogs each time. If it was the other way around however, there would be no way I would be able to push Steven up the hill for the duration that he pushed me! I'm almost certain that he enjoyed a good workout and enjoyed being part of the team with all the uphill pushing, as he was really into it! :P For me, I enjoyed sitting on the sled and looking at the view of the huskies running.

At break time, the instructors pulled into a path surrounded by a large open field. This was where we parked our sleds to enjoy some hot chocolate and some danishes. Steven and I took the opportunity to pet and take pictures with the huskies on our team, as well as those from the other teams. 

On our journey back, we took the same trail as before. This time, Steven and I switched places and I was driving the sled. Lucky for me, it was all downhill from here! I have to say, driving the sled is MUCH MORE fun than sitting on the sled and having someone else do it. Certainly, there were moments when I wish we could have drove off-track and ran free with the huskies! But, there weren't many chances for the dogs to run during the tour, mainly because the tour organized the sleds by having one after the other (which stopped us from riding at a faster pace). There were moments of absolute fun however, it was the stop-and-go traffic that caused us to lose the thrill (for instance, if one team stops, the other teams must stop and wait until the others catch up). Understandably, that was all part of the group tour experience. 

If only we were allowed to dogsled in an open field with the dogs by the sunset...

Winterdance has a total of 150 purebred huskies in their kennel. Hank and his wife, Tanya are owners of the company who are extremely passionate about dog sledding. Steven and I had the chance to talk to Hank about his dog sledding and racing journeys. In the past, he participated in Alaska’s 1000 miles Iditarod and the 1000 mile Yukon Quest, which was deemed as the “toughest dogsled race on earth”!

At the end of our tour, we watched Hank set up his raceteam of 15 huskies to get ready to head out for a run. He was prepping for the upcoming 2014 Yukon Quest! Unlike the dogs that we took for our tour, Hank's team of dogs were much stronger, faster and full of desire of run! It was a great moment watching Hank run off with the dogsled.

Good Times at Tiger Kingdom, Orchid Farm, and Cobra Show!

This morning at 9:00am, our taxi driver picked us up from our hostel to drive us to Tiger Kingdom at Mae-Rim, Chiang Mai (pre-arranged taxi cost us 500 baht for the day)! Tiger Kingdom breeds the endangered Indo-Chinese species of tigers, where guests at the park are allowed to pet the tigers that are between 3 months to 2 years (tigers older than 2 years are too dangerous). Prices for petting tigers vary depending on their age and size (smallest, small, medium, and large). Generally, about 10- 15 minutes is given in each enclosure with the tigers. NOTE: They no longer allow guests to play with new born tigers, what a bummer! We were only allowed to take photos of them for a far. Deals for petting more than one age group of tigers were offered. We decided to take advantage of the group deal and see the smallest (4 - 8 months), medium (9 - 12 months), and large tigers (1 - 2 years) for 1,200 baht per person. Playing with the smallest tigers was my favourite, even though all but one was sleeping. They're so precious and adorable!

Although there`s controversy over the issue of drugging (sedating) the tigers, Tiger Kingdom claims that they do not do that (which is one of the main reasons why we picked this tiger zoo over the others). Even though most of the tigers that we pet were asleep, I didn't get the impression that the tigers were harmed or drugged in any way (tigers usually sleep during the morning/day, which is when we visited them and possibly the explanation for their tiredness). The staff there were all very friendly and seemed to have built a strong bond with the animals (I witnessed a staff member calling out to a tiger, which walked right up to him to rub his head on his face to say hi, aw!).

From my observation, Tiger Kingdom offers a decent living environment for the tigers. Although a bit small, the cages seemed very clean and well kept for the big cats. And from watching the tigers, I noticed that they were very calm, tame and non-aggressive. The reason why these tigers are comfortable with humans is because they are trained to act that way around people, since birth. Overall, our day visit to the kingdom was very exciting and fun! I wish we visited the tigers later in the evening though, because most of the tigers were asleep. Still, it was a very memorable and enjoyable experience!

                                         Yum, fresh Tiger kill for lunch.

By the time we left Tiger Kingdom, it was around 1:00pm. We still had some time to kill before catching our overnight train to Bangkok at 5:00pm, so we decided to stop by the orchid garden, which was about 5 minutes away, located in Mae-Rim. Entrance fee at the garden was 100 baht per person, which included an orchid flower pin/boutineer per guest (which I thought was a cute touch), along with access to the entire garden. It was a great opportunity for Steven to practice his photography skills, haha. The garden featured rows and rows of orchids and other various plants around the land. It was a very beautiful and relaxing place, as we were surrounded by hundreds of fully bloomed flowers. We were hoping to see some monkey orchids at the farm, but no luck! I didn't really have high hopes though, because monkey orchids are a rare find!

At 2:00pm, we decided to head over to watch the King Cobra show which was also about 5 minutes drive away! The fee for the snake show was 200 baht per person, which also included access to the snake farm and the opportunity to take a picture with a snake!

The show was a lot of fun (at the same time very scary) to watch! The commentary for the show was excellent (the lady spoke in English and she was very funny)! The snake handlers were extremely brave, as one drop of cobra venom will kill you in about an hours time! At one point, a cobra escaped out of the stage and slithered toward the audience!! Luckily, the snake handlers caught the snake just in time (although, I think that was all part of the act to scare us!) The show lasted for about 45 minutes, where four different types of snakes were presented to us. Two different sized cobras were shown first, where the handlers interacted with them by kissing, throwing, and dancing with the snakes, Ahh! It was such a thrill to watch them perform, as I felt so nervous and scared at the same time! The two other snakes that they showed us were not poisonous (water snake and the 'jumping' snake). Again, the snake handlers perform dangerous tasks including: playing with the snakes, poking them, and putting their heads in their mouths! At the end of the show, a demonstration as to how snake venom is collected is shown using a clear jar. I highly recommend watching the King Cobra show in Mae-Rim, Chiang Mai. It's certainly worth your time! We had an excellent day there!

By 3:45pm, we left the snake farm to head back to our hostel to pick up our bags, and finally, head to the train station for our long, overnight journey back to Bangkok!

Posted by Rebecca

Elephant Sanctuary and Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai!

After reading great reviews of Ran Tong's Elephant Sanctuary in Chiang Mai from tripadvisor, I suggested to Steven that we should definitely check this place out! When deciding which elephant camp to visit, I was very particular on picking a place free from animal harm! More specifically, I was only interested in camps which offer elephant rides on their bare backs, rather than the uncomfortable and tight strapped chairs that can harm to spine of the elephants as well as cause pregnant elephants to suffer miscarriages. Above all, I didn't want to pick a place where making money was the camp's primary concern (versus the care of elephants). There are many elephant camps available in Chaing Mai that offer guests the opportunity to ride elephants for a much cheaper price (I saw some for as low as 1,500 baht), however I decided to go with Ran Tong's training full-day (8:30am - 4:00pm) camp experience at 2,400 baht per person. Why? Because Ran Tong's elephant camp's mission is to save the elephants! They offer one-day, two-day, and three-day training camp services and volunteer programs that teach you how to take care of elephants, understand their behaviour and intelligence, as well as experience life with them in their natural habitat. I don't think the other elephant riding camps are as comprehensive as Ran Tong's full-day experience, in my opinion. Included in the full-day package is: transportation to and from the camp, a training course which teaches you the basic commands for controlling the elephant, lunch, a ride through the forest with the elephants, bathing and hanging out with elephants by the waterfall, as well as a CD full of pictures from the day!

Our journey began at 8:30am, when a driver from Ran Tong picked us up from our hostel. Along the way, we picked up more guests before heading to the camp! The drive Ran Tong was about 1.5 hours (one-way), which included two stop overs at the market to pick up fresh bananas for the elephants as well as soymilk and snacks for the baby elephants! Our ride, was simply a pick-up truck with seating/benches placed in the trunk for us to sit in! We were pretty packed back there with 10 of us squished in the trunk! 

On our way to the camp, we passed by some rice fields which were pretty cool. Some of the fields were yellowing (I assume from the extreme heat and sun). Once we arrived, we petted and fed some of the elephants soymilk and bananas. The baby elephant at the camp was adorable and very friendly! Pregnant Asian elephants require a very long care process because the duration of pregnancy lasts approximately 2 years (having only one elephant born at a time). We were lucky to arrive at a time when the camp had a baby elephant on site! The elephant trainers were able to get the baby elephant to perform cool tricks such as, saying hello by bowing down and kissing our cheeks with their trunks!

The view from the camp was spectacular and beautiful! Up on the hill where the camp was situated, was a view that overlooked Chiang Mai. You could tell that the area was very secluded for the elephants because there were a lot of trees and forestry surrounding areas. Once we were finished meeting with some of the elephants, we were given clothes to change into (provided by Ran Tong) because we were going to get muddy and wet! I thought it was cool that they offered a change of clothes. The clothes were very raggedy, which I thought added a nice touch to the experience, haha! I was ready and felt geared up to enjoy a day with the elephants!

Once we were settled in with our clothes, we met up once again with the elephants to learn some of the elephant commands (spoken in Thai). Each of us were given time on an elephant to practice the commands that we learned (right, left, lay down, forward, back, stop)! Riding on the elephant for the first time was a little bit scary as the elephant rises up pretty high when it's fully standing. At times, you feel as though you're going to fall, but after awhile, you get used to it and feel more comfortable riding! 

 

We were each paired up with one elephant, so Steven and I shared an elephant for the two of us! For our first journey around the camp, Steven sat in front, while I sat in the back (which I found was much more comfortable!). It was such a fun experience riding the elephants! The elephant that we rode was very obedient and listened to all the commands that we gave. It was such a relaxing and exciting adventure! Although, I'm sure Steven didn't find it as relaxing as me because he sat in the front (going down hill must have been scary for him, haha!). Our first ride on the elephants lasted about 10 minutes before we headed back for lunch! 

For lunch, the camp provided us with rice with vegetables, chicken tom yum soup, a bowl of exotic rambutan fruit, and sesame jelly dessert. It was a very satisfying meal. At the same time, we were in plain sight of the elephants, so we were able to enjoy our lunch while observing the elephants! After lunch, we rested for a bit and had some extra time to pet some of the elephants again.

Shortly after, we were instructed to help prepare lunch for the elephants. At first, we were asked to place medication tablets inside the bananas for the elephants. We watched as the trainers gave the medicated bananas to the elephants, only to find them picking out the pills from the bananas and spitting it out, haha! According the the camp, the tablets were for the wild rescued elephants to help them stay healthy! After that, we headed over to a large wooden food crusher which uses a peddle that is stepped on to crush food in a large bowl. Long sticks were used to help mix the food in the bowl and help the food crusher mush up the food better. The ingredients that we used to create elephant food mix included tamarine paste, bananas, and some sea salt. Once the mixture was at a good consistency, we formed balls out of the food and let it sit out in the sun to dry out for a bit before feeding the elephants. 

Following lunch, we took the elephants for a ride to the waterfall! It was bathing time with the elephants! This time, Steven and I picked a different elephant for our journey and I decided to sit in the front. Our elephant was less obedient than the other because he always stopped for food on the side of the road and slowed down the line of elephants! It was all fun though, because I secretly let him eat the leaves on the trees! 

Bathing the elephants was a lot of fun! It was exciting to play with them while they enjoyed the cool water and blew water out of their trunks! There were about 5 or 6 elephants with us in the water as we scrubbed and poured water on them! It was a remarkable experience! The baby elephant also joined us for bathing! After bathing them for a while, we all had the opportunity to take some photos with an elephant before riding the elephants back to the main camp area and head back to the hotel.

Our day at Ran Tong made me realize how amazing and intelligent elephants really are! It was such a great experience to get the opportunity to spend time with such wonderful creatures! While you're riding an elephant, you really feel as though you build a connection with them. And unlike the other excursions you may book in Thailand, we didn't feel rushed or forced to tip the staff at Ran Tong (which I thought was very nice). The people at the camp seemed very genuine about their work and seemed like they cared a lot for the elephants. Before we left, the staff thanked us for helping them prepare the food for the elephants and for bathing them! It was such a wonderful gesture for them to seem so appreciative of the time we spent taking care of the elephants!

At around 4:30pm, we arrived back at So Hostel to shower and get ready for some shopping and dinner at the Night Bazaar! The Night Bazaar is a night market situated in the east end of Chiang Mai (only 5-minute walking distance from our hostel) and open every day of the year! The entire night market spans across 1km of land, filled with vendors of delicious warm foods, snacks, drinks, souvenir gifts, clothes, and massage services! It was outside, and decorated beautifully with lanterns and lights hanging above the shops. It was shoppers paradise! We ended up bargaining quite a bit and as a result, bought most of our gifts from the Night Bazaar! At the end of the night, our crew enjoyed a relaxing full body massage (Only 150 baht per person)!

Posted by Rebecca