Time sure flies when you are having fun, and before we knew it we were at the airport for another long weekend adventure. This time we were heading for Chang Mai (500 km north of Bangkok). We got to the airport extra early since "you never know with the traffic" and had time to check out the map of the city...and locate our hotel.
We booked late and since it was Chinese New Year we had a tough time finding something with a room. We ended up here in this huge hotel!!! You get pretty good at searching out the local deals.
And not a bad place to hang out.
Vince and I saw our first Thai elephant at the Taronga Zoo in Australia so we figured that we should make an effort to see one in it's native country. During one of our recent trips we met a Canadian veterinarian who works at the Elephant Nature Park (ENP) in Chang Mai which is 500 km north of Bangkok. She is an animal advocate and a spokesperson for the rights of animals which explains why she is working at a rescue centre for elephants (plus dogs and cats). The park educates people on the cruelty associated with training elephants and putting them on show.
We were 6 people and three elephants. The first part of the day was at a site a couple of km away from the nature park where a lady has three elephants which she recently rescued. The idea is that we would go for a walk with them. We each had a satchel of bananas which made it really easy to keep those pachyderms moving.
Vince made a fast friend.
The view from my perspective. There was some serious hot air coming out of this trunk plus he had banana breath.
Food.....easy way to make a friend.
No more.....he didn't believe me.
We went for an hour walk (stroll) with the elephants and stopped for a great lunch overlooking the nature camp where they have a family of elephants which has been rescued from various places.
Our animated guide who used to be a math teacher. We were telling math jokes...lol....not really.
Oh, the water is lovely.
Beautiful hills.
Yum...bananas.
Oh, I am so itchy.....where's a tree.
Can't you feel the relief?
Hanging out before lunch.
Vince, the elephant whisperer.
Does my butt look big honey?
Looking across at the Elephant Nature Park where they have a family (herd) of elephants
Check out the cute little baby in the middle.
Our gang.
Heading back to their "home". Each elephant comes with a mahout who is the caretaker of the elephant.
Arrival at the Nature Camp. You can spend a full day here but there are many more people. It was nice to be 6 for most of the day since we got to chat and get to know each other...oh except the guy who was sick and threw up most of the time. He wasn't that sociable. We were four Canadians and two South Africans who were originally from China.
Nice walkway.
Meet Naughty Boy. He aptly named and was going full tilt when I took this picture from a safe distance. He is young and likes to fight a bit so they keep a close eye on him.
He ran right through to the river for his bath.
Here is the rest of the herd....a grandmother of 65 yrs on the left.
And the cutest little 6 month old.
Meet Lek...the real elephant whisper and the founder of the park. She has a way with the elephants and wins them over with positive reinforcement.
She sings this one a lullaby at night...and then he was trying to push her to his home.
I did say cat hostel too.....
Some city scenes. Chang Mai was a walled and moated city. Here's the wall...
...and a moat.
Am I in America?
I don't know what is with the Thai sidewalks....usually impassable.
Chang Mai from our hotel room.
Oh yeah, we then did a 1/2 day bike trip in the country which was fun. Can you tell I was thrilled to be out of the city?
Rice paddies all over the place.
What's a trip without a Wat (temple)?
Yeah, they had a bike big enough for Vince!
In the distance is our gang. In total we were 6 Dutch, 2 from Hong Kong and I was the lowly Canadian. I counted Vince as Dutch in this one...he got to practice.
......more rice paddies. So, good to be in the country.
Drying onions.
We stopped by a place where they make elephants out of wood. Okay, I guess that was pretty obvious.
Real cows!!!!! We have been wondering where the milk came from. Apparently there's a Thai-Danish history and the main dairy is near Bangkok. Hmmm, I feel a day trip coming on.
Don't judge us.....sometimes MacDonald's tastes good. Did I just say that?
But don't get too excited about the prospect of an apple pie.....they are a little different here. Pineapple of course.
Toasting Kaitlin and Mike on their engagement!
Funny how you get used to travelling in the back of anything with 4 wheels.
This one is for Lucas. Pimped up camo!
Rough afternoon deciding what massage to get and opted for a 90 minute foot, back and shoulder. Well, after biking all morning I fell asleep only to be awakened by some familiar snoring in the chair beside me. I guess we were pretty boring customers.
This place might have the worst coffee in Chang Mai...or maybe even Thailand. It was owned by a German man so I was ready for a "good German coffee" like I have heard Grampa O'Reilly say for so many years. Sadly, I think we drank dishwater...hahaha.
Looks like a fun trip!
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