Save the Elephants

Sawadee-krap (hello)!

What's ups guys, I hope everything is going well back in the states. Things are still going well for me over here. I'm currently in Chiang Mai, which is more toned down than Bangkok. I got here yesterday afternoon after a "journey" of a train ride. So lets start off where I left off. I took the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (as you already know), which in the past month has had three, yes three, derailings.  Did not want to scare anyone by stating that in my previous post. Ha! But like all would, I was pretty nervous about trip. The train was scheduled to leave at 730pm, but didn't depart until an hour after, which is only the beginning. The train is considered a special express sleeper coach, which was pretty cool cause my seat was an actually bed, with a light, and power outlets. Let's just say the ride however was pretty rough, I could see why the train has derailed lately. There were a couple times that I was woken up by almost being thrown from my bed, or my head slamming into the wall. Luckily, I had some awesome bed neighbors that were from London and Ireland, or else the ride would have been worse. Other than having a rough ride and having to stop at multiple stations throughout the night, the train ride seemed to get worse. So the train was scheduled to arrive at 10am, but after leaving an hour late and having some technical issues on the way, the train finally arrived in Chiang Mai at 2:30pm. But hey it's all about the backpacking experience and not caring what time you get there, but at least getting there. The train ride was not all negatives though, I got to see the miraculous views of Thailand that consisted of water packed rice fields, the mountains of Doi Khun Tan National Park, that were filled with bamboo and palms trees, and also the little third world towns that we passed by. 

So after the train ride, I got settled into my hostel, which is located next to a street market. I decided that after what I had to endure on the train, I needed a Traditional Thai massage. So I found one a couple blocks away. The cost? A mere 200 baht ($6.50) for an hour.  And like I heard, which is true by the way, they really beat the hell out of you. 

The next morning(today) is when the real excitement begins, I had scheduled a day trip to visit The Elephant Nature Park. All I knew was that we were going to feed and bathe the elephants. But I got so much more. The park provided transportation to where the elephants live, about an hour and a half out of Chiang Mai in the jungle. During the ride, they showed what the Elephant Nature Park was about. The park is a sanctuary for Asian Elephants that have been abused due to the increasing demand having these animals captive, for tourism in Thailand. So basically, a conservation for these neglected elephants. our group got the opportunity to take care of these gentle beasts.  When we ("we" being my group of six people) got there, we got to feed the elephants and learn more about each one and how they ended up here.  For instance, one of them was completely blind because its previous owner shot her eyes because she would not comply. These stories were endless for each elephant that we got to take care off. It was a great one-on-one experience with them. We got to pet them, feed them, bathe them and learn the story behind them. 

After a little grub, we went to the river near by and got to "play" with the elephants. Man are they playful! After washing the elephants in the river and them washing us right back, I got the unique experience to actually talk to the founder of Elephant Nature Park, Sanduen "Lek" Chailert. Lek is an award winning conservationist, but when talking to her is was more of a mother to these elephants. While the elephants played in the middle of the river, she was telling me how this group of three elephants never left each others side and no matter what, always stayed together. She also gave me a play by play of what "her children" were doing. As they continued to play, she would say look at that one over there, pointing to the blind elephant, as it walked to the other side of the river, that elephant doesn't like being in the water too long cause she gets scared. Then she continued by saying and watch the other two elephants help walk her back into the water. And a couple minutes later, the other two elephants walked to the other side of the river and then, as a group, they walked back into the water and continued to play. I was amazed by the way she talked about them and how she knew every elephant personally. It was definitely eye opening. I even had the pleasure to take a picture with her! After that playful adventure, our group watched a very explicit film of how these gentle giants are being abused.  Also, how these wild elephants, which are considered sacred in Thailand, are now endangered species. Then came another round of feeding them, imagine how much these guys eat. That concluded our day with these Animals. 

Like I said before, it was a really eye opening experience, and definitely something I would do again. It was amazing to have such a one-on-one experience with them. Also, to know that these elephants will be under the care of Lek especially after witnessing that film. 

That leads us to the present, right now I'm waiting to go to a Muay Thai fight later tonight and then tomorrow I will endure myself in a Thai cooking class! I can't wait! Later tomorrow night I will fly to the island of Phuket and then putting myself through the troubles of going island hopping until Tuesday! Well thanks again for reading. 

Until next time,

Peace!!