Brachiatin' with the Gibbons

Brachiating--Tarzan-like travel through rain forest by swinging from tree to tree.

According to Wikipedia: Brachiation (from "limb" or "branch") is a form of arboreal locomotion in which primates swing from tree limb to tree limb using only their arms.

Gibbons--monkey creature without a tail. For Natasha Pilipchak (if she reads this...): Gibbons are "a kind of..." monkey. :) hahaha!

According to Wikipedia: Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae. The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates, Hoolock, Nomascus, and Symphalangus. The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related to the Hoolock gibbons. Gibbons occur in tropical and subtropical rainforests from northeast India to Indonesia and north to southern China, including the islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java.
Also called the lesser apes, gibbons differ from great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and humans) in being smaller and pair-bonded, in not making nests, and in certain anatomical details in which they superficially more closely resemble monkeys than great apes do. Gibbons are masters of their primary mode of locomotion, brachiation, swinging from branch to branch for distances of up to 15 m (50 ft), at speeds as high as 56 km/h (35 mph). They can also make leaps of up to 8 m (27 ft), and walk bipedally with their arms raised for balance. They are the fastest and most agile of all tree-dwelling, non-flying mammals.
Depending on species and gender, gibbons' fur coloration varies from dark to light brown shades, and anywhere in between black and white. It is rare to see a completely white gibbon.

The gang went to Flight of the Gibbon this weekend. Funny story--Friday night when I was kickin' it with Jern-Jern...we were watchin' t.v. before Ae and her husband came back from fetchin' chow. We were watching a channel(?) AXN...and on AXN was a show called 'The Amazing Race: Asia'. Guess what the racers did on the show? They went to Flight of the Gibbon! And I must admit that it was more amazing than they let on during the t.v. show!

Our tour guides were Clash and Champion. I don't remember how many platforms we ziplined to. But I think there were three repelling stations. The first was six meters long. The second fifteen meters. And the third was forty-five meters long! [Champion suitin' me up!]

[Clash actin' a fool!]

I was the brave soul who went first. I could have done this tour all day, everyday. Maybe I should apply for a job?!?! [=

Suited up and ready to brachiate! Before shot.
After first brachiation. Success.
The ground is a far way down when you are at the top of the rain forest on a mountain top. No fear. None. Whatsoever.
Enjoy breathtakin' scenery.

Me pictured with Nate (who was actually a student in Justin's class Fall 2008 semester when I TA'ed. I also think he looks somewhat like Mel Gibson!) and Stanley (from the U of U...and quite frankly, the funniest kid on this trip. I heart him. He usually makes my day.)
Ziplines, repelling, and bridge crossings. They should hang gibbons crossing signs from the trees. haha. That would be classic. Which would be more amusing? 'Gator crossings or gibbons crossings?
The boys...laggin' behind. As usual.
A little trekk up the mountain with my 'break' before I accidentally dropped it off a platform....oops! [=
My buddy, Ralph. He's the professor at BYU whose office I have been inhabiting for the past year. He's been takin' sabbatical for a year in Southeast Asia. Now I am kickin' it with him. He's a blast! I'm excited to work with him in the future. SSA, grad. school...we'll see what is in-store.

Just a-swangin'.

That's Ralph in the background gettin' reeled in by Clash. He's just zippin' over the rain forest. Such a rockin' day!
This is the six meter repelling station that we first experienced. Or was this the fifteen? Either way...a small drop down a tree at the top of the rain forest. Exhilaration.
Small creek below from my angle zoomed in.
Girls monkeyin' around on a bridge.

More is on the way--but I need to go to bed. I'm tired. Enjoy what's here and I'll add more photos later. After the ziplinin', they feed us lunch...which was pretty incredible. Then we hiked up to a waterfall. I have a million (not literally) photos from the hike. Then they drove us home and I hung out with Ralph for the rest of the afternoon. We even had mango cheesecake! Yum! Pictures pending...

We were crossin' the bridge to zipline to this huge t-shaped tree...and this was suppose to be a picture of me and the tree. I'm gonna fire my photographer...whoever it was... [=

The beautiful t-tree. [down which we repelled 45 meters...just so ya know...that's far!]

Top of the t-tree once I got to the platform.

Your's truly stretchin' out on the t-tree before the big drop.

Yes, we repelled from up there. Cool beans, huh?!?!

I don't know why Alex always makes this creepy, seductive face. I don't know whether to laugh in hysteria or be weirded out? Either way--I decided to wear Mrs. Nancy's tie-dye! I figured it would be a good security precaution...just in case I might somehow fall from the top of the rain forest to the ground far, far below...the rescue crew would be able to locate my remains. Or at least the shirt. [=

I'll post the waterfall shots in a different post, ladno? Enjoy!

Dhamma Bike goes to Tao Gardens

Peggy from Tao Gardens organized a meeting with a few Bike Club leaders in Chiang Mai to meet with the Dhamma Bike committee on Friday.

Here is my buddy, Ae, givin' a presentation.

This is the group that attended the meeting. Here's me with the group. NyRon took the picture.

Fun times. Several hours of nonstop Thai.

Ya Darn, Cotton-Pickin'...

This past semester, Michael asked the class if anyone actually made anything they were wearin' (clothing, jewelry, bags, etc.). A few students would raise their hands and say, "Yes, I made these pants...blah, blah, blah," whatever. But Michael would ask did they buy the fabric they made the article with...or did they make it themselves. Everyone always ended up makin' their items from store bought materials. Michael even said that he himself thought he was once all crafty and thrifty when he made his own bead bracelet. But then he realized that he didn't make the beads themselves...he bought them.

Well, my friends, I have helped grow cotton; pick cotton, fluff cotton, spin cotton, dye cotton, and weave cotton. Soon we will make bags, etc. from the fabric that I wove. Now this is pretty cool beans! Check it:

Field Trip with Poppy

Poppy is the head English teacher at Pasang School where I volunteer once a week and teach English. There are about 1,200 students in the school in grades M1 from M6. I will get to teach each student before I leave Thailand.

Either way, Poppy decided to take me on a tour of a special Wat (Buddhist temple) that holds significance to her. [Name of Wat is pending...my Thai isn't so hot just yet. Sorry.] The Wat has a footprint of the Buddha. It also has a wax model of a very famous and special monk who died and who's remains are buried there at the Wat.I thought this wax figure was the authentic man...

And there is five Buddha statues together. According to Poppy, this Wat is the only one in all of Thailand (and the world?) that puts five Buddhas together.

Asian Rodeo: Mountin' Water Buffalo!!!

Kimi was out of town with her host family. They went on a trip to Bangkok. Ralph flew to India to set up future internship opportunities there. Neither wanted us to do anything too fun while they were absent from Chiang Mai.

So the Brother that drives the Roat Dang recommended going to the Water Buffalo Farm. (Funnest time EVER!)

Often times when I find myself in a foreign country with other Americans...I realize that the Americans shock me more culturally than the natives of the foreign country. I guess I just assume that other Americans are like me. But APPARENTLY "we aren't ALL from Louisiana!" (Quote from Stanley when he once exclaimed that "We are eatin' in the back of a truck!"--inferrin' that he was livin' life on the edge! Bein' wild and adventurous! And I replied, "You've never eaten in the back of a truck?!?!"--ya'll can imagine my dismay!)

Well, it was the same sort of experience at the buffalo farm.

First they taught us about commanding the buffalo. Then how to mount. [Quite exhilarating I might add!]
After the mounting station, we went to an area where they hook the buffalo up to some ropes and a wood-majig. Then he walks around and around and churns/grinds brown sugar (which we got to try...sort of like sampling at the Commissary...but not quite.) Then we went to an old rice field that was filled with water/mud/old rice stalks. They let us get in with the buffalo and plow the field up. After we plowed up the field, we were able to plant rice anew. They said in three months we could come back to collect our rice. :) Excellent! I will be comin' home in three months and want to bring some Thai delicious rice with me!
At this station, Chelsea refused to participate...Heaven forbid anyone get dirty! The boys were good sports, but I was shocked and amazed (rather just baffled!) that they didn't know how to act when they got out of the mud hole. "How do we get clean? Where is the water?" Thankfully my southern rearin' and six years of military training prepared me for this moment of demostration! I showed them that they needed to get out of the water...then bend over and scoop some relatively settled water into their hands and splash it on their legs to wash the mud off. Eurika! Quite a genius concept...that didn't seem all too difficult until I found myself in the midst of South East Asia with a bunch of high so. peeps. haha. After this station, we went to a HUGE basket. They wrap the rice stalks in between two sticks. Then you hammer/bang the rice stalks into the basket to separate the rice from the blades. After the separation of rice from stalk, you gather the grains from the basket into a bucket. Then you use your foot with this wooden hammer-majig to beat the coverings (?) off of the rice. After rice beatings...we feed the buffalo the grass stalks. Then we mounted up and rode the buffalo around. [Even though I don't believe in reincarnation--if it happens to be true...I definitely don't want to come back as a water buffalo. Poor creatures. :( ]
After the buffalo had a hard day of entertainin' us, they let them swim in the little lake like 'gators. I wanted to ride my buffalo in the lake...but that wasn't an option. Proceeding the buffalo farm we went up to some mountain somewhere [name is pending] and climbed up ten waterfalls. In the tenth and final waterfall, we swam in the pools. Quite beautiful and relaxing. And then everyone decided it was a good idea to jump into the pool from the high rocks...and I freaked out and went a little postal on Alex (I cussed at the poor kid! Then spent the rest of the weekend apologizin'. Blame it on PMS?)

All in all: MAGNAMIMOUS excursion!

P.S. Afterwards, we went to the Street Market in Sankamphaeng and bought dinner from different vendors. It was my first time to have mangos and sticky rice. I'm a fan.