From Wat Nong Boa, Prapum and Ajarn San organised a trip for us by mini van to the see an Elephant craftsman and later some caves.
Pulling outside the Pretch Wiriya's office (a two storied house) we were greeted by a life size elephant statue. Inside the house was wall to wall elephant carvings, mostly wooden, in all kinds of depictions: birth, death, herds, mating and embryonic states. We walked outside the house with the monks and watched the workers create yet more elephants. Apparently Mr. Wiriya's company has created over 80,000 elephants.

After the fine elephant crafting we were off to the caves.This was our first real introduction to the difference of the way Thai people drive compared to New Zealanders. Firstly, there is no aggression but the Thais like to use an imaginary middle lane to over-take slow moving vehicles. A blind corner is still no to using this "middle lane." It was a somewhat eye-opening experience.

There seemed to be no other tourists around when we arrived at the caves. It was a good steep walk to get to the entrance, but once inside it was good to escape the heat. We wandered around inside the caves for over an hour. There were many shrines and areas of worship, but I remember being cleansed of sin when I stepped into one particular cave—well that's woman tour guide said.

We arrived back from Chiang Rai and Prapum had a special surprise for us on our return. He had organised a short stay at the luxury Dusit Hotel, on the top floor—an area reserved for very special guests and royalty.
We dropped our bags and we were taken out to Wat Rong Khun. This temple was probably the most memorable of the temples that I saw in Thailand. It was the vision of the artist Chalermchai Kositpipat. Wat Rong Khun is a white temple; inside it contains murals and paintings of the Buddha image and a painted enamel ceramic floor. The temple is not yet finished, the exterior looked complete but the interior was still quite some way from competition. The outside is created with lime sculpture with Thai designs decorated with small pieces of mirror that made the building sparkle under the sunlight. Close by to the temple is an art gallery featuring some prints from the artist. These are very modern photo realistic paintings depicting spirituality of the Buddha. I thought that these were created in a Photoshop, but they were hand painted by brush.

The next day Sam fell ill to a fever and requested to stay back and rest. Meanwhile Ben and I met with Guy, and he took us along a river to go elephant riding. Before the ride however, our long tail boat pulled up outside a hot spring reserve. We disembarked and had a hot bath. Ben and I weren't prepared for this, so we had to wait around in the sun in our boxers trying to get dry before going any further. There were no towels!

After some time we pulled up alongside an area next to the river, home to about a dozen elephants. The elephants we chained down (at their ankles) and standing in the heat. There was a special platform, a spiral staircase that allowed us to get on the back of waiting elephant. I would describe the sensation of riding an elephant as uncomfortable. It required a little bit of forearm strength while being jolted around on the seat. It may have been better with two people sitting side by side, but as stated Ben and I had separate elephants. My elephant seemed to have a cold. It would sneeze sometimes spray a small cloud of mucus directed upwards in my direction.
Apart from this the ride was an experience, but I would have hated to be back in the old days when Thai people would spend days on the back of elephants. It would have been most tiring. We returned to Chaing Mai by our boat.

We hired a tuk-tuk to get back to Dusit Hotel. The tuk-tuk was the Ute type, that is, an enclosed cabin for the driver with a flat open deck for the occupants. One thing that must be pointed out at this time of year is the Songkran—Buddhist New Year. It involves large amounts of water being hurled around, and tourists are usually sought after as targets. Already we had noticed on corners of intersections, gangs of kids armed with water hoses and buckets dousing vehicles as they drive by. Needless to say, we arrived back at our hotel drenched.

This is definitely the highlight of being in Chiang Mai; the biggest water fight in history. Chiang Mai has organised this water festival by dividing the event into three days: April 13, 14 and 15, by naming April 13 Wan Maha Songkran meaning the day marking the end of the old year. April 14 is called Wan Nao, meaning the first day of the New Year. April 15 is called Wan Thaloeng Sok, or the day marking the new era. People believe that water will wash away bad luck.

We took part on the last day around the streets alongside the old city’s moats. There would have been at least one hundred thousand people on the streets. We followed a procession of vehicles on the back of our 4wd. Ajarn San had organized a family to take us along for the entire day. Unfortunately, we couldn't take photos but there are plenty on the internet. We had Super Soaker water guns and a large 44 gallon water drum. Along the streets there were vendors selling ice that you could drop into the drum for extra punch.
An awesome day out.