Phuket and ChiangMai - Baanchang Elephant Daycare

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15-22 July Phuket

On Wednesday 15th of July we were up early for a 6.30 am pick up for 9.45 am flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Don Mueang then to Phuket arriving Renaissance Phuket. We arrived at the Resort & Spa at 4pm. We had a lovely room on the 3rd floor with a large bathroom and balcony. In the evenings there was Happy hour with 2 for 1 cocktails and the option of Sushi and Sashimi. There were amazing breakfasts which were included so we made the most of it and occasionally snaffled food for rest of day! They even served ice cream! Tom went to gym several times and we chilled by the pool overlooking the sea. I had 2 Thai massages Tom had 1 Thai Massage, 1 Hot Stone massage and 1 Asian Fusion. It was a blissful week of R&R! Love Thailand and love the people!

22-27 July Chiang Mai

On Wednesday 22 July we flew to Chiang Mai , arriving at 16.00 where we booked into the Pornping Tower at £19 a night incl breakfast! I chilled in the room and Tom went out for supplies - namely, Gin!

On Thursday 23 July it was Elephant Day Care in Baan Chang -a fantastic day caring for an elephant - bit like own a pony day but bigger! There was no riding involved - it was the opportunity to spend a day as a mahout. After about an hour and a half our party of 8 arrived at the sanctuary. On arrival we changed into the same blue uniform worn by the staff to ensure the elephants feel comfortable, given many have suffered abuse at the hands of humans prior to being rescued. After a detailed talk from Puca about the elephants ( 47 of then currently, 40 females and 7 males) and the aim of the sanctuary, we then met the elephants, fed a mother and baby some bananas and sugar cane and were given an introduction to their anatomy. Our first hands-on task was to hose down our elephant which was great fun! After a brief visit to the clinic, where we saw vitamins and medication, we walked 3 elephants to a field of grass. Each elephant had a rope tied loosely around its neck for us to hold - to be honest a little redundant as no one would be able to stop them if they decided to go their own way! We were told to encourage them to walk forward the command was something which sounded like ' Mah!' Which has to be said with some conviction if you want the elephant to take you seriously! You are advised to walk in front of your pachiderm, and after being repeatedly batted around the back of the head by an elephant's ear, I can see the logic behind that! After 30 minutes of grazing, and Tom finding a new use for the food bag, we prepared diet supplements for the elephants: sticky rice, sugar cane and bananas. We ate lunch, fish all soup and Pad Thai, then prepared 'loofahs' for bathing the elephants by beating branches and removing the bark. After feeding the elephants sticky rice, which they were very excited about, we took them for a hike in the mountains and allowed them to roam with their Mahout. They were quite happy browsing until something spooked the youngest at which point the three of them came running down the hill with their mahout in hot pursuit! It had started to rained quite heavily so our return journey to the sanctuary was very wet and muddy, not helped by our elephant insisting on scraping up mud and throwing it over herself and us! Our last task of the day was to bathe the elephants in a pond using buckets and the loofahs we had made earlier in the day. Fortunately it had stopped raining by now but we couldn't have gotten any wetter! So, we waded into the water and got stuck in- elephants clearly enjoy a good scrub and having bucketfulls of water thrown at them It was a bit like trying to wash a car which occasionally tried to move! A brilliant end to a fabulous day! After a shower we were taken back to our hotel, tired but exhilarated!

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