My Learning Jungle!: Our Happy Place- Thailand October 9-18

This month the Cambodians celebrated Pchum Ben, also known as Ancestors' Day or 'Hungry Ghosts Festival'. It is a 15-day Cambodian religious festival.

In Khmer Pchum means 'to gather together' and Ben means 'a ball of food'. Pchum Ben, also called 'Brochum Ben' is the most important festival in the Khmer religious calendar. The day is a time for Cambodians to pay their respects to their ancestors of up to seven generations.

The Pchum Ben festival dates back to the Angkorian period when the people of the area followed animism (the belief that natural objects, natural phenomena, and the universe itself possess souls.). Eventually animism was replaced by Buddhism as the prominent religion in the region, however Buddhism and animism both emphasised respect for ancestors, so the ancient customs of Pchum Ben continued and flourished under the newer religion.

It is said that on the first day of Pchum Ben, the gates of hell are opened and the devil releases all the ghosts, some of who are ancestors of the people.

There are four different kinds of ghosts released: those who eat blood and pus, burning ghosts who are always hot, hungry ghosts and the Pakrakteaktopak Chivi, who can receive food through the monks.

The first three types of ghosts cannot receive food from their relatives until their sins are reduced to the level of Pakrakteaktopak Chivi.

For the first 14 days of Kan Ban, people will take turns offering gifts of food to the monks in their local pagoda, with the hope that their offering will earn 'merits' that will then reduce the sins of the ghosts of their ancestors.

The people don't know the outcome of these offerings, so this means it becomes an annual tradition to ensure the wellbeing of their ancestors and almost all Cambodians will attempt to make at least one visit to a pagoda during the festival to make these offerings.

The offerings of food during Pchum Ben are welcomed by the Buddhist monks as Pchum Ben usually falls during the heaviest part of the rainy season which makes it harder for the monks to leave their pagodas and receive alms from the local people.

The food offerings are usually 'Bay Ben' (balls of sticky rice and sesame, sometimes flavoured with coconut cream.) and are offered to the ghosts at dawn, as it is believed ghosts with serious sins are not able to receive food during the day.

While the Cambodians busied themselves in the pagodas we used the Holiday to visit Thailand. The last time I was in Thailand was in 2009 when I volunteered in the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project in Phuket. I had yet to experience Bangkok or the Northern regions of Thailand so I was excited to explore.

 We flew from Phnom Penh to Bangkok on Friday after work. Although the two countries are neighbours I experienced some culture shock as they are no where near similar. Arriving in Bangkok was like entering a first world Country compared to what we are used to. It is incredibly clean as the Thai people clearly care about their Country and are very hard working and proud people. Even the order and ease at which we got a taxi startled us since we are normally assaulted by Tuk Tuk drivers on a daily basis.

 Our hotel was perfectly located on Khao San road, which is referred to as the backpackers ghetto as it is the place to be when passing through in order to enjoy some cheap food and lots of cheap shopping. Sharon wanted to meet up with some friends for a drink near by but I ventured to enjoy a massage on the street near by before joining them (definitely the best massage I've ever gotten for four dollars!). It was an early night after a long week at school, but we couldn't call it quits before getting in a little shopping at least. Sharon shops similarly to my mother and bought four of the same sweaters in different colors, while Codi and I took a back seat to prepare for our major shop the following day.

 Bangkok hands down has the best shopping I've ever experienced... It's a good thing I don't live there or I'd be broke. The weekend market, Chatuchak (or Jatujak) Market is the largest market in Thailand! It has more than 8000 stalls which are separated into 27 sections that span over two football fields in size. I wouldn't even call it a market compared to Cambodian standards. These were more like mini boutiques! After five hours of shopping, and one massage break, we were shopped out. Although after a quick nap I could have kept going! Too bad we didn't have longer in Bangkok but I'm sure it was best for my wallet... Although everything was under $6 so I beg to differ.

Next up was Chiang Mai, where the hills are endlessly green and breathing is made easy. Sharon spent some time here last year and still has friends living here so we spent this leg of the trip with them. It was so nice meeting up for dinners and having game nights with friends. Rather than feeling like we were visitors passing through we felt very much at home. It was also the coldest it's ever been there so we spent lots of time wrapped up in Sharon's new multi sweater purchases so buying in bunches paid off.

Our first day we met up in a big group and leisurely strolled through the weekend markets as though it was a typical Sunday in our hometown (also making me think of the farmers markets in Penticton during the summer time). The following day we drove to a lake and bundled up in a hut to play cards and eat good food (although we got shut down by the guard because they thought we were gambling). That night we were invited to our friends Rachel and Luke's apartment for some thanksgiving tacos and card night. And again the next day we spent with them as they toured us up the mountain to see the Doi Suthep Temple and for Codi to experience her first waterfall.

Time went too fast and we said goodbye in order to venture to Pai. The road almost killed me with its 700 turns into the mountains and it took most of the day for me to recover my equilibrium. But once intact we rented some mottos and met up with more friends of Sharon's to take in Pai's beauty. Laura and Mike already had a motto to share so I hopped on the back of Sharon's bike while Codi drove her own motto for the first time. We did the hot springs (note to self when recently car sick hot springs are not the best idea), and found an incredible waterfall to swim in (another First for Codi). Thank goodness we did most of our sight seeing on day one because fate would interfere the following day. Unfortunately when driving our mottos on day two we turned a corner and suddenly the paved road became dirt which had been washed awayby the rain sending Codi to the ground. Sharon and I had been behind her and were able to stop in time but Codi was scratched up and her thumb was at an odd angle, but after a trip to the hospital they told us it was just sprained. To top it all off I somehow managed to get the entire accident on camera from the back of our motto!

While Pai ended bittersweetly we were back to Chiang Mai which brightened our spirits because we had previously booked the Elephant Sanctuary for our final day in Thailand!

The Elephant Sanctuary is home to over 60 Elephants spanning over 250 acres of land. We started off by feeding the Elephants right from the dining hall before gathering our group and setting off to meet some Elie's up close and personal. Although I've don't the Elephant Sanctuary in Cambodia I still can't get enough of these incredible beings, there's just something so profound in being up close to them. It breaks my heart knowing how badly they can be treated and yet they still carry so much compassion and forgiveness towards people. After walking around and taking some Elfies (elephants selfies) we had lunch. The highlight of the day came after lunch when we bathed the Elephants in the river!! Our Elephant couldn't have cared less that we were throwing water on him as he was solely focused on his basket of food and once it was empty he took off to high jack the Elephants food next to him.

This Sanctuary is fortunate to have some babies on sight as they accumulated some Elephants when they were already pregnant (they don't allow any breeding once they are at the Sanctuary). We couldn't get too close to those herds though, as they are extremely protective of the babies, but we did get to see them bathe themselves in the river. The one baby had the best personality as it trampled around climbing on the backs of the others whilst in the water, and sticking up its tiny trunk to catch a breathe of air like a submarine. The older elephants didn't seem fazed at all as they too splashed about in one big cuddle puddle. We even got a glimpse of their protective sides as we got too close to them and one Nanny elephant made a warning call and approached us, forcing us to take a clue and move back. The other baby was in a different herd and they were busy eating so we were able to get super close (food is always a good distraction for them). This allowed for some prime selfies to be taken before we had to say goodbye to our long nosed friends.

It couldn't have been a better day, and it was the perfect ending to an amazing trip!