Chiang Mai, Elephant Farm

Well to start off our great Thailand adventure the night before Ben proposed to me. By now I am sure you all have heard. We are very excited and are planning on July 2012.

We left Abu Dhabi on December 18th very early in the morning. We had a layover in Qatar and when we got on the plane we learned that it was Qatar National day an that we would not be leaving on time. I was annoyed but had a tone of movies in front of me so I didn't put much thought into it. But then Ben turns to me 2 hours later when we are just taking off and tells me we will miss our flight to Chiang Mai. So then I was annoyed for 6 hours. Well we did miss our flight and we had to buy another ticket, not happy but we needed to get to Chiang Mai that night so we could go to the elephant farm the next day.

Our first day in Chiang Mai we went to Patara Elephant Farm. This is a place where they are breeding elephants because the elephant population is dimensioning in Thailand very quickly. We got there put on our trainer attire and met our elephants. The first thing we had to do is feed the elephants so they would be happy. They are happy when there ears and tails are flapping.

After that we had to look to see if the elephant slept last night by looking at sleeping marks on either side of the elephant, this is to check if they elephant is healthy. Then we had to check to make sure the elephant was sweating, the only place it sweats is by its toes. Then one last to check if it was health was to see if the poop looked healthy. Elephant poop actually doesn't smell and if it does it means the elephant is sick. It was very interesting!

Ben smelling poop, I think he likes it :)

We then had to clean off our elephant by brushing the dirt off its back and then washing it in the river. After that we learned how to get on our elephant. One way is to get on my using their leg and then climbing up. The second way is to by climbing on to their trunk and then they lift you up on to them, then turning around. I was the first one to try and took the trunk method. Its amazing how strong these animals are! It was nothing for my elephant to lift me up.

We then went on a long walk a waterfall where we could swim with the elephants and they could drink. The owner of the farm told us that elephants and can smell if the water is polluted and wont drink if the water is polluted. He said that a new resort was built near the farm and now the elephants wont drink the stream water near the farm they used to drink.

When we reached the waterfall the elephants got in and they just go right under and don't seam to come up. They loved playing in the water. We got in and also played with them. Every time we tried to sit on top of them they would turn sideways and dunk us.

After a swim we had lunch and the elephants got to eat the leftovers. We then got back on our elephants and walked about 40 minutes with them on some very steep narrow paths but it was nothing to the elephants. They were so sure of foot on these trails. We then took a little rest so that the elephants could eat some more. Then Ben and I shared an elephant and rode back to the farm to say goodbye. We gave them some more bananas and said goodbye to them and our trainers that were so helpful.

It was an amazing day to say the least. We learned a lot about elephants and I was glad we got to see them in a safe and healthy environment. There are so many places in Thailand were they aren't treated right and then live shorter lives. It is an experience we will never forget!