Waking up in Chiang Rai on our first full day we knew there were a few things we wanted to do whilst here - elephants and waterfalls. Awoken with a smiley breakfast, we knew the hostel was full of friendly and funny people.
With very little idea of where to acquire elephants or waterfalls, we turned to the hostel front desk. They offered a custom tour of the elephant park, the waterfall and some general sight seeing for the day. We were told that the owner of the hostel would take us. In both our minds, we conjured up a slightly old Thai person who is grumpy and a strict owner. What we got was Joe - a young, smiling and incredibly friendly Thai man who made us feel like welcomed locals for the day. We drove around Chiang Rai asking questions, chatting and doing a lot of laughing. It was a fantastic way to see the sights!
(Elephant photos are all on camera, but we rode elephants through the river. I promise. We did it, and it was great)
Moving from the elephant park, we headed for the Huai Mae Sai Waterfall. One of the further out waterfalls, we found ourselves getting lost and asking for directions along the way. When we finally arrived, we found that it was just us and the locals, drinking beer and jumping off the rocks. This was all halted though when I saw one of the local tribe girls sitting out of the water on a rock with handfuls of blood.Having jumped off the rock, she met with a rock in the water and sliced open her toe. She did a really impressive job of it.
But never fear, as I came prepared for exactly this sort of thing. My first aid kit was full of all the things that one might need for this situation. If only it wasn't sitting back at the hostel in a cupboard. Shit. "Do you guys have anything that can help!?!?". In my bag I rifled through to find a make shift first aid kit consisting of:
1. A few tissues
2. A small Bandaid
In retrospect, I'm really not sure how I thought Iodine and bandages were going to help if I didn't carry them with me...
When the bleeding had stopped and the very careful surgery of applying the bandaid was finished, the girl painfully hobbled to her feet before thanking me with a bow and hopping off down what was a very rocky descent.
The waterfall and elephants left us exhausted and Joe offered to take us to a local place to eat before returning to the hostel. Once we had eaten and returned to the hostel, we made our way to the Saturday walking market to dance with the locals and eat the street food.
