2017 - Thailand (Part 3 Chiang Mai)

Temples and elephants.

Friday 25 August 2017 - Sunday 27 August 2017
View 2017 Thailand on nzhamsta's travel map.

Friday 25 August

Caught the bus from Ayutthaya to Don Muang airport. Very nearly a disaster in that I left behind in the guest house my day bag which had all the important stuff in it (passports, money, tickets etc). A very quick run back to the guest house (in jandals and the heat) saved the day.

The one hour flight was fine. A short tuktuk ride to the hotel and up to a suite (cheap at this time of year). A bit of an oddity in the hotel was a shrine to a very famous Taiwanese singer, Teresa Teng, who died in the next room in 1995.

Afternoon swim and dinner at a very good restaurant in the night market called the Lemon Grass.

Saturday 26 August

A morning walk around the old part of the city, looking at temples etc.

Wat Phra Singh.

Wat Phant Ao.

Wat Phra Singh.

Afternoon swim, and dinner at the same place. Also found a lot more of the night market.

Sunday 27 August

Early start and was collected for our trip out to the elephant sanctuary. The is was run by Elephant Jungle Sanctuary and they are dedicated in rescuing working and tourist elephants, letting them be elephants and breeding them.

We arrived two hours later in a jungle area next to a river with groups of elephants wandering around.

Feeding time.

Watch out, they have a habit of grabbing food.

Us and the elephants.

Feeding time.

Mother and daughter.

Spot the elephant.

Bananas at the ready.

Here come the bananas.

Heading towards the food.

Hung and the elephant.

Hmmmm. Bamboo is lovely.

Yep, very tasty.

Elephants like water so they had a quick bath before lunch.

Another group arriving.

Bath time.

Carefully now, it might be cold.

He just pushed past.

From there we walked up to the camp site where we could rest and have lunch. The boss gave a very informative talk about what they do, how they have rescued the elephants, how they are treated (no riding as elephants backs are not designed for heavy weights on them), how they employ local Karen villagers and so on.

Feeding another group.

The pathway to the rest area and facilities.

The two groups mingling.

Setting up for lunch.

After a relaxing hour or so (lunch for us and making treats for the elephants), we got changed into our swimming clothes for both a mud bath and washing the elephants in the river.

Making elephant treats.