Today was one of the days I have been most looking forward to on this trip. I was able to book a day trip to a project of Elephant Nature Park—an elephant conservatory known for being extremely humane and caring—to see and walk around with four elephants.
Bryden and I woke up early, still slightly tired from the previous busy days motorbiking. While waiting for the park’s van to pick us up, we had a quick breakfast in the hostel of toast which was fine, but not quite as good as the sticky rice and pork we had the first morning. Soon the van arrived and we were whisked away. We picked up the rest of our group (about 10 of us), and started the drive south.
We were heading towards a project the Elephant Nature Park was working on. This organization seemed to be the best way to visit elephants in Thailand. They have their own property which hosts about 75 elephants, all suffering from physical or abuse-derived handicaps which make it difficult for them to survive in the wild without assistance. Elephant Nature Park also works with private elephant owners, many of whom inherited these animals from parents or grandparents before them, who want to treat their elephants in the best way possible. We were going to visit the property of a woman with four elephants who works with the Park to take care of her animals.
After a quick stop for coffee, we continued to the property. We went from our van into the back of a pickup, and after ten minutes of bumpy driving caught our first sight of the animals.
The elephants were spectacular! When we arrived they walked towards our truck and reached for the buckets of chopped pumpkin we had for them. We were able to feed them a lot, as they are required to eat between three and four hundred pounds of food a day. They were all friendly.
Eventually they were full from their snack, so they went up to some fields and grazed. We were able to follow them, and observe and learn about the project and the animals.
One of the interesting things was the interaction between the elephants and their mahouts. A mahout is a person who cares for an elephant, and these elephants had grown inseparable bonds with theirs, trusting them more than other elephants. It was also great to see the enthusiasm of our guide and the mahouts. They were taking photos and smiling constantly just like us tourists were. This entire project is truly driven by passion.
We then walked down towards a river valley where we were served a great meal. Our guide showed us how to make papaya salad, and we were served some excellent vegetarian khao soi (spicy curry based noodle soup), sweet and sour fried vegetables, rice chips, rice, and pad thai.
After eating we waited to see the elephants come down to the river to bathe and cool down in the midday heat. Their daily routine is very predictable and involves them eating a ton, and bathing and covering themselves in mud each afternoon to keep cool.
Afterwards we fed them again, and headed back to the truck, tired after a full day of activities. We headed back to Chiang Mai, showered and got some work done in our hostel, and rested.
Once we were hungry we headed back to the same market we had been to the previous day, however it was much larger and more crowded as it was a Saturday night. The food was extremely good again and we filled up.
Another traveler had recommended a place that had live jazz, called North Gate. After eating we walked across the city towards the northern gate (where aforementioned North Gate is located) and found a seat. Although the audience was mostly foreign, and half the band appeared to be expat, they were great.
I talked to a Singaporean woman for a while on the drive from the Elephant Nature Park who regularly does business in Thailand. She explained that Thai culture seems to lack most forms of creativity. In business, those who are pioneering new technologies or leading progressive leaning organizations are always foreign. Original art and music is rare as well. I am not sure if this is due to a lack of education (public school is generally quite bad, and private school is very expensive) or just the conservative nature of the country, but it is interesting.
This was our last night in Thailand. Tomorrow, we will wake up early and head to Mandalay, Myanmar via Bangkok to begin a very different part of our trip. Thailand has become a country we both love. The friendly nature of the people, the excellent food, and the vibrant and diverse cities really make it an incredible place to travel. It also seems to be a place that offers something to every type of traveler. After spending only a week here, I would love to return already. As always, leave any comments or questions below, and expect to see a new post soon covering our flights and first afternoon in Mandalay!