Elephants- if you don't like elephants avert your eyes now

You know that feeling when you wake in the morning and it is finally THE day? It is finally the day you have been looking forward to for months and their have been count downs and day dreams about this day and how exciting it will be. And it is finally no more sleeps. This was the feeling of excitement when we woke up only a week ago in Chiang Mai. It was finally the day we were going  to the Elephant Nature Park 

There is so much I could write about how great this place is. It is a couple of hours out of Chiang Mai and it is a huge National park where the rescued Elephants can roam around freely, swimming in the river and gorging themselves on fruit fed to them by volunteers from all over the world. It is indeed a very special place. 

(I love their feet. )

The park rescues Elephants that have been mistreated  or abused by buying from the owners and relocating them to the park. See this ( above) Elephant on the left- she has a broken hip and she drags her back right leg- you can see how it is dragging in the picture she was rescued after she was injured when she was working clearing the forest. The stories- which you can read on the website will break your heart but their is a silver lining for these lovely beasts. 

they are loved deeply by their carers and and their sponsors from all over the world, the herd always welcomes new members and I think there are 37 Elephants living at the park now. 

they line up  for feeding more than a few times a day - look at their saggy bums: 

After they have been fed they like to go for a swim- it was our job as volunteers to throw water on them with buckets- we all got very wet but it was so fun. Someone threw several hundred bucket loads of water on those elephants and was very determined to make sure that elephant was nice and wet and cooled down. 

It was amazing that by the end of the day we were actually very comfortable with the Elephants and having such huge beasts around us. Busy who threw herself straight into it as soon as we arrived and was a huge hit with the our guide and the elephants carers was the first one to start feeding them and learnt quickly how to put the food in the curve of their trunk so they could literally toss it into their mouths. 

 This is Lek. She started the park in the early 90's. We watched her being interviewed and I took this photo as we watched in awe as all the Elephants hurried over when they saw her and started hugging her with their trunks - like she was their mumma- which she kind of is- it was quite a sight to see.  


And see that gorgeous creature below: She is "our" Elephant! Her name is Sri Nuan and she is blind in one eye and she is enormous and lovely. We sponsored her, you can sponsor an elephant too ( would make a great Christmas present I reckon) your dollar goes a very long way in Thailand and this park relies on donations to keep it going. 

 

This little lady had a lovely time too. In fact it was one of those days I don't think any of us will ever forget. 

Home

I don't even know where to start in telling you about our Thailand adventure.  We had such a fabulous time. We did things we have never done before and we saw things that we have never seen before. We smelt things that we never want to smell again. We laughed and cackled and cried tears of joy. We were humbled by the generosity and kindness shown towards us- particularly to Busy and we had fun. So much fun. I will let the pictures do the talking:

Bangkok tuk tuk- I really want one. 

about the only authentic thing about the floating markets was the people selling food to the stall holders selling tourist crap. So disappointing.

street food Bangkok style- did you know Bangkok was also known as the Big Mango?? The street food was fascinating to us, so much was served in a plastic bag. 

street art- Bangkok- love it. 

we went swimming every day and after about the first week Busy could swim! by herself! 

Busy spent the first few days in Bangkok like this. I was mortified then later just let her do it.

The first few times we left the hotel in Bangkok Busy was not coping, it was hot and it did smell and she walked around like this a lot. She was much happier in a tuk tuk so we caught a lot of them.

Spanish architecture in Phuket (or as we called it Poo poo ket)

our hotel pool with swim up bar at Phuket- what a bloody great invention that is. I discovered Mojitos here. Love.

Phuket. Hmmmm. Lots of backpackers and parts of it had a very seedy feeling- even in the middle of the day. We didn't see it at night a lot as we were tucked up in bed with a sleeping Busy watching cheap DVDs but I shudder to think. I saw way too many dirty old men with young Thai girls and instantly assumed the worst and spent a lot of time scowling. Wondering how young they were? were they Ok?? It was too confronting.

feeding monkeys

they make me very nervous

they just look sinister to me! 

sunset at Krabi- it doesn't get better than this



When we arrived in Krabi I felt like I was really really on holidays. We stayed at the most beautiful resort- we got a great deal - and the staff were so lovely and kind.  I think seeing those big rocks jutting out of the water with my feet in the sand while we gorged on soft shell crab  and watched the sun set was indeed a highlight. Busy was immediately adopted by all the staff and was greeted with great excitement every time they saw her she was  given little presents allowed large servings of icecream and patted and adored by all  - it was so luxurious this place- far beyond anywhere we had ever stayed. I did not want to leave.

long boats ready for the days fishing

millions of crabs on the sand

this island was all ours - for a few hours anyway...

cruising on our long boat - it was one of my favourite days

feeding tropical fish

deep fried bugs anyone?

our glorious room at Koh Samui with our own pool overlooking the beach.  yes it was awesome. 

beautiful rickety wharf at Koh Samui

Buddha was everywhere including a huge gold statue at Koh Samui. It was hard to explain all of this  to busy as we have so far not gone there with religion. 

13000 people die each year in road accidents in Thailand . I learnt this fact when we watched The Hangover 2, set in Thailand. We saw a woman breastfeeding on the back on a motorbike. It was not uncommon to see 3 people on a motorbike. No one seemed to hold on to the person driving. No one wore helmets. No car seats in cars. It gave me heart palpitations. 

yes, Busy is really feeding a tiger cub. Koh Samui zoo

see that little baby elephant? It is one month old- it was so little when we were feeding him he couldn't yet use his trunk properly. the cuteness was too much for all of us. I cried! Koh Samui zoo


We were forced to make choices we didn't want to.The zoo one was most difficult. We had heard things about it that sounded pretty bad but we also knew you could pat a tiger and see Elephants and Busy was busting to see an elephant again.  We had to weigh it all up and eventually we decided to go.... it was better than I thought and Busy loved it so much. The animals seemed well looked after but as if I would have a clue really. A few days prior to this we had seen some elephants on the side of the road near Krabi

But seeing this one month old baby elephant made it all worthwhile. He was so cute. Tears again. Lip tremble. 


I realised very early on I am not a backpacker anymore. I want luxury with my adventure these days I work hard so I want to indulge when I am on holidays. I like coming home to a made up bed and clean towels, air con  and room service if I want it. I think Chef could probably rough it easily but not me, I have been there and done that.  It was interesting to see how not a lot had changed yet so much had. Backpackers have laptops these days and sit in cafes using free wifi posting pictures on facebook.  But they still have golden tans, dirty feet and hangovers. 


 I like holidays with lots of markets and lots of good food and a bit of street chaos. This had all of that. It really was something for everyone. It was easy to get around and we had a few hilarious moments where there was major communication breakdowns - it was so funny- as it almost always involved Chef. We got use to saying things like 'lets get a tuk tuk' and bargaining with people about the price of everything. I bought Busy a beautifully embroidered skirt and when the people at the hotel saw it and asked how much I paid they said " too much"-in a nice way. But when I explained it cost me less than I pay for a coffee they couldn't believe it!   I didn't barter for a lot of things as I was completely happy to pay $3 for a dress for Busy etc.  We had amazing massages and I had my first ever pedicure- I am converted- loved it - and manicure. 


We started talking in broken English to each other which was weird but were surprised how many people spoke English and how well they did. We learnt to say hello and thank you in Thai and this was appreciated especially  when the small blonde curly one did it.  Busy was happy to swim every day and just be with us. It really is the land of Smiles.


I have lots more pictures. I haven't even got to our favourite place yet.