Elephants, Tigers, and Orchids, oh my!!

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A Memorable Day of Elephants, Tigers and Orchids

If you've ever visited Chiang Mai, you've probably gone on an elephant tour-there are many to choose from! Some offer more than others (for more money, of course), and I figured hey, an elephant's an elephant, so I went with the cheapest option. Of course, I considered that the price of these tours could possibly help the animals in different ways, but then the fact remains that despite the cost, these animals are most likely overworked and underfed regardless of the price I'm paying. And where does that money really go? So, I took the cheapest Elephant Tour I could find, and I had a GREAT time!!!

Here's another plug for the Montrara Happy House and its staff! The front desk guy arranged for the tour company to pick me up at 8am, so I came downstairs and ate a leisurely breakfast (cooked fresh by the owner's wife), and made sure I had my camera charged, ticket ready and sunblock applied. We drove about an hour north and arrived at the elephant reserve.

First thing we did? Took a (questionably-crafted) bamboo raft down a lazy, winding river that was so shallow the water would have come up to my knees at most had we needed to bail. The water level made me feel much safer as I hesitatingly stepped onto the raft, clutching my camera and the mandatory provided sunhat at the same time while reaching for the hand of the guide. It's an interesting experience traveling alone, (did I mention I was traveling alone?), but you're constantly reminded that you are a single traveler as soon as you need two people for something. Sitting two by two, for example, to keep the weight of the raft even, was one such case. The two couples and the driver of my raft were great, especially the Australian couple who sat in front of me. The driver was really relaxed, didn't speak any English except to tell us we could take this river all the way to Bangkok, which was clearly not true in 8inches of water....questionable English or joking guide? Hard to tell. We all got to "steer" the raft and he took pictures of us-- it's a keeper for sure.

After surviving the raft and enjoying the sun, we took a van back to the initial starting place upriver. We were given a lesson about how the elephant park recycles the animals' waste, and actually turns it into paper. They sift through the excrements, run water through it, and then let it dry on big sheets. I'll post pictures because clearly the explanation process didn't stick with me haha.

We then got to watch a show where the elephants and their individual trainers played soccer, basketball, painted beautiful pictures with their trunks, and played musical instruments (tambourines, drums, and xylophones) with their trunks. This was one of the things I was really looking forward to, and that I first learned about while teaching English to Japanese students out of a National Geographic. I made sure to take tons of pictures to show to my students-- the textbook is REAL!!! Look, I went here!!! You can go here too if you learn enough English!!! haha. Motivation? For some, maybe. Even if one student wants to visit Thailand after seeing my pictures, it's enough for me!

Riding through the jungle on the elephant's back was quite an experience, as I was paired with a 68year old single German man who spoke no English but made some pretty funny sounds. How he was traveling through Southeast Asia with no English baffled me, but good for him! I managed to tell our elephant's trainer (who was perched on the neck/ears), that he was not my boyfriend. Or my father. Or my grandfather. At the word father the German man started laughing, and I proceeded to convey to him that I am 25 years old. He just started laughing. It was a short experience, but one that I will definitely remember because it's not every day that you get to sit on the back of an elephant with a silly German man old enough to be your father. Or grandfather. I should mention that we also had a buffet-style lunch at the elephant park, which was awesome and unexpected!!! It was amazing Thai food again, mass-produced this time, but still damn good!

After the elephants, the tour bus took us to Tiger Kingdom, which was an optional part of the tour. I opted NOT to enter the park, because I could take pictures and see the people perfectly through the viewing area and safety bars and nets. AKA, no, I do not want to pay money to have an enormously powerful, teethbaring, unpredictable animal put its head in my lap. No thanks. I'll stand behind the wall and take pictures from afar and say aren't they cute, but that's about it. We spent about 30minuts at tiger kingdom, which had a beautiful coy-fish pond out front, where I threw grass and made the fish jump. It was fun and relaxing and reminded me of Japan a little. Except it was 100degreesF, about 34C.

After Tiger Kingdom our group processed to the Orchid Farm, where we were told we had 30 minutes to enjoy the orchids. We walked around, I took a lot of pictures, and was finished in about 4 minutes. There was an interesting part of the farm that was sectioned for butterflies, and they were trying to attract butterflies with the orchids and sweets (pineapple particularly). Unfortunately this didn't work so well, and several of the butterflies had died as the pineapple had caught their wings underneath....I left that place immediately and joined my other tour members in drinking a coke and waiting for the bus to leave.

What a day! I got back to my hostel around 5pm, hungry again but happy that I got to spend time in nature and with the elephants/tigers/orchids. A beautiful day in a beautiful country!

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Photos

Montrara Happy House Breakfast
A freshly cooked breakfast every morning, with choice of coffee or tea.

2-1-2
Floating down the river on the raft

The Real Captain
"We go to Bangkok. This boat. Go."
Umm, no thank you!!!

Captain Jess?!
this is not my hat. they made us wear them. or wanted us to wear them.

Elephant
They held the paintbrush with their trunks-- a similar picture is in the National Geographic textbook!