Elephants, rafts and waterfall, a nice DAY COMBO tour

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Got up at 7.30 am and quickly took the breakfast as we were supposed to be picked up for the day tour at 8 am by the tour guide. really enjoyed the half day tour of yesterday so were expecting a more adventurous day.

Met with the guide named Mr Egg at hotel lobby and had other 10 group members in the van by next 45 minutes.

basically we took a combination tour of elephant ride, jungle trek to waterfalls and bamboo rafting. two French and an Aussie couple , two girls from England and a couple of thai girls were in the group. went directly to the elephant camp which was like 40 minutes from Chiang mai and had our elephant ride for an hour. Track consisted of a jungle hill and water canal so everyone enjoyed the activity alot. although the seat on the back of elephant was a bit uncomfortable but overall a nice experience of interacting these huge animals. Elephants are basically intelligent and i was really inspired by their acts and behavior. Elephants eat around 300 to 600 pounds of food daily, can eat anything green -- leaves, shrubs, grass, fruits, and vegetables. They are also water lovers, drinking 30 to 60 gallons a day. i clearly noticed a naughtiness on the face of some elephants😊 sometimes i felt like they behave like humans and were more social then most of us😊.

the second phase of the tour was Trek to the waterfall, which was the most interesting one. started our trek from the road where our van dropped us and the guide started telling us about the rain forest, species and about the people and place. i love rain forests, sun light never touches the ground and thickness of the trees and plants leaves an everlasting impact. the whole group interacted with each other and our guide talked the whole two hours making the trip a memorable experience. we had wonderful time with the Aussie couple and remained talking to them regarding sports. trek was not tough but slippery near the falls. first sight of waterfalls was amazing and everybody got excited to reach there. took 30 minutes rest on the falls and came back to the van. went to hill tribe village for 30 minutes and got a briefing from our guide on their culture and traditions.

took our thai vege lunch and got ready for bamboo rafting experience. that was the last part of the tour and everyone was ready to be all wet from the activity. bamboo rafting on the river was a real fun activity and the whole group enjoyed it. we traveled for not less then 40 minutes on the raft and passed through thick rain forest. our guide and van was ready as we finished rafting and we all came back to chiang mai at approximately 5 pm. took shower at the hotel and had an hour rest before going to dinner. i really loved the professional approach of the tour company who provided the group a good day activity at low costs. an arabic styled dinner and relaxing foot massage ended our day. rock climbing school and night safari were our next day targeted places to visit.

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