Adventures as Miss Saigon

This morning it was difficult to get out of bed…it was so cold! I was extremely thankful I showered last night and didn’t need to risk a cold shower on top of things! I changed quickly and made my way out to the elephants by 7am. Breakfast (as with all of our other meals) have been vegetarian, quite tasty and eaten in view of the elephants. After breakfast, I snuck off to have a little one on one time with the 2 month old baby elephant before the crowds of day visitors arrived. At 8:30, we met Bee, our guide, and began our 2.5 hour walk around the fields and property here at Elephant Nature Park. We visited with group after group of elephants and their mahouts. At times, we stood and watched from a distance, sometimes we got up close and personal with the ellies, and other times we had to quickly get out of the way of on coming elephant traffic! The whole time Bee was answering questions and telling stories about each elephant and their relationships with others at the park. We arrived back at the main building in time for the elephant’s snack and our lunch.

Bath time this afternoon at the river was just as amazing as yesterday. I jumped right in with my bucket and got a little wet in the process. Lots of time was spent observing these amazing creatures in such a natural setting.

After bath time, our group walked over to the dog part of the park, where about 400 dogs and puppies are kept. Some have tragic stories of abuse, some were rescued from the Bangkok floods, and some were born at the park. We met Cody (him and his wife are both from Canada) who showed us around and introduced us to all the dogs. On their website, you can sponsor a dog for 1000B (about $35usd), so I’ve decided instead of buying treats and toys for my dog, I’m going to sponsor a dog here (seeing as I don’t think I’d be allowed to bring one home!). I’ll post their link here soon.

I’ve just come back to my hut for a shower, and will head to dinner shortly. Tomorrow, our new guide, Adam, is going to take us on another morning walk and then I think I’ll be helping out in the elephant kitchen washing and chopping fruit! And then sadly, tomorrow afternoon, I’ll have to leave this amazing place.

I’m up to about 500 or 600 pictures, so as soon as I get some decent wifi (likely while I’m back in Chiang Mai), I’ll start uploading some pics. I’m so privileged to be having this incredible experience!!