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Published: January 30th 2012
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on our elephant!Today was a big day, so we had to set our alarm for the first time to make sure we were ready to be picked up at 9.30. We had our usual breakfast from our friendly little Thai man - bagels (for rach) and pancakes(for me) and waited eagerly for our day to begin- well rach waited eagerly and I waited a little nervously! First stop was the butterfly and orchid farm. We saw some nice orchids that we knew nanny would appreciate so we took some photos for her, then hunted for butterflies, and hunted, and hunted. In the end we found ONE, one tiny butterfly in a butterfly farm –what’s with that?! As we got back into the back seat of the van (the downside of being picked up last) we hoped that the butterfly farm was not going to be a reflection of the rest of the day. We had a very annoying, spoilt French girl sitting next to us too which didn’t help - she was either sulking, or non stop talking very loudly!
Next stop was the elephant show. We bought some bananas to feed the elephants, which was
a little scary at first, cos they are SO BIG! Tricky to get a photo cos their trunks grab the banana out of your hand the second you start to offer it! Next, we saw the elephants bathing which was just like we imagined, with them spouting water threw their trunks...great! The elephant show followed and we couldn’t believe just how clever they were, they could put a hat on someone’s head, kick a soccer ball into the goal, and best of all one of them painted a picture, and the picture was of an elephant, with trees, and he even painted his own name! It was totally unbelievable!!! Got some great pics!
Then we jumped into the van and stopped a couple of kilometres down the road to ride an elephant! As soon as we were off I realised that the elephants were actually on the other side of the river, and to get across we had to walk across a swing bridge, high above the river. To most, this is just a walk in the park, but to someone terrified of heights, it’s a major issue! BUT, we did it, Rach ran across, and I gingerly stepped
slowly, one foot in front of the other, careful not to look down! Then we lined up to get onto the elephants.
We were last in line to hop on an elephant and as our turn came two elephants slowly plodded their way towards us, one small (ish) and one whopper of an elephant! I suggested to the lady we go on the small one, but NO, and we found ourselves climbing aboard the biggest of the lot! We also had the leader of the instructors, who played music and sang all the way round, as he sat on the head of our big boy; and when all the other elephants followed one another along the track, our big boy was led up and down these steep narrow slopes, where we thought we’d fall...which of course we didn’t! I’m sure our instructor was laughing at us! Half way round we stopped and fed the elephants, then started on our trek back, this time through the river. Half way back, our instructor jumped off and told rach to slide down onto his neck, which she excitedly did! I stayed very firmly planted in my box saddle! We expected the instructor
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aaaand im riding him bareback! to hop back on and guide him, but he didn’t! Rach rode us back to the start, with elephant ears flapping her legs...it was AMAZING...way better than we had imagined!
We were fed some thai stuff for lunch, very average, but it stopped the hunger pains! Next adventure for the day was an ox cart ride. Strange looking creatures, who lead such a boring life, just carting things and people from one place to another.
Next up was a ride down the river on a bamboo raft. Very peaceful and quite safe with a guide up the front and at the back guiding us with their sticks.
Then we jumped in the van, back seats again, next to the annoying French family! Next stop...long neck village! This was every bit as amazing as we had imagined. Apparently it’s not their necks that are long, but their shoulders that have been pushed down, and their bodies shorter which makes their necks seem longer. It’s only the women who wear the rings on their necks, and the girls. The girls all looked so unhappy as they tried to sell us their scarves that they had woven themselves. They were
amazingly good at allowing everyone to take photos....fascinating people. The neck rings are much heavier than we realised too.
This was the end of our wonderful day, and we were dropped back to our hotel, where we went straight to our fav massage place to get another massage...another great way to spend an hour!
Because we were leaving chiangmai the next day, we decided to get a tuktuk into the night bazaar markets..heaps of them! The most exciting thing was rach having a fish spa, and this was a big deal because her feet are SO ticklish! She sat for 15 mins with little fish eating dead skin off her feet and ankles.
Eventually we got home at about 11pm, exhausted, but having had an incredible last day in chiangmai...what a wonderful city!
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