ELEPHANTS!

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today was so awesome! we went to the elephant conservation centre, which is the sole reason we came to lampang.

the elephants put on some shows and they were so cute! they played instruments and raised flags and did tricks, and displayed the skills they use in the forest when working. they also painted pictures! there were two little ones who were so adorable. when the elephants walk in a line, they hold on to the tail in front of them with their trunks. at one point we were watching the elephant train walk and it stopped, but the babies weren't paying attention and kept bumping their heads into the bum in front of them! hehe

after the first show (where they had a parade with a flag and drums), we bought paintings done by elephants. i've always wanted one of these! also got a tube made of elephant dung paper to protect them. we are going to send a package home from chiang mai, so we'll send them then.

also met this irritating german couple who had something to say about everything! the lady seemed to think she was part of the elephant show and totally excempt from all the 'staff only' signs and railings the rest of us had to stay behind.

the first show was really good. the elephants played instruments (xylophone, drumes, chimes) and showed off talents (like puttin ga hat on the mahout's head, pushing and walking along logs, bowing, laying down). then we fed them bananas and sugar cane.

the elephants did paintings in the show, but we weren't quick enough to buy those ones. the elephants did a dance for us too, while the announcer sang!

after the show we piddled around and did some souvenir shopping, and kim tried her hand at making elephant dung paper.

then it was the elephant bathing show. the people who were doing mahout trainging got to ride their elephants in to the river and splashed water everywhere. one elephant decided he wanted to lay down and dumped his mahout trainee in the water. took a ridiculous number of pictures! after they were getting out of the water, kim and i were watching the baby elephants and a giant eli snuck up behind us!! we screamed so loud! hehe the mahout did it just to scare us.

then we went to the elephant hospital. poor elis!! they came from all over asia, some were malnourished, others had infections or broken legs. several had stepped on land mines! there was one that got elephant rage about once a week. apparently it's normal for them to get it once a year or so. i think it's called musth or something.

then we went and saw the new born elephant! only 2 months old! his nick name was AI (for artificial intelligence. yeah i don't get it either). sooo many pictures!
headed back to riverside and ate at the restaurant. mmm!

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