Jess & Jude's Adventures in Thailand 2004

Sunday 13 June
Mae Taeng Elephant Camp

We were both up at 6.30am this morning. Had to look for a place to have breakfast. It is a perfect day for the tour, sun is shining and no clouds in the sky. We walked down to the Suriwongse Hotel then up along Loi Kroh Road one block. We stopped at the Cafe De Siam and shared an American Breakfast (eggs, bacon, ham, croissant, jam, juice and coffee) all for 110bt. Coffee was good and the food delicious, another place to recommend.

While we were there we ran into our foot massage lady, she was on her way to church. We spoke a little Thai with her and she told us her name was Abat (not sure of spelling and pronounced with a silent T).

Back to the hotel by 8am to pack for the days tour. We were picked up from the hotel at 8.30am by our tour guide "Way". There were 10 in our group and we got the front seats of the minivan. The trip to the Mae Taeng Elephant Camp took 1 hour.

On arrival we bought some bananas for 20bt to feed to the elephants. The mahouts brought them out of the enclosure so we could get up close. A rogue baby elephant was running amok amongst the tourists.

All the elephants went down to the river for a swim. The mahouts went in with them and gave them a scrub. Some of the elephants sprayed the tourists from the river.

It was show time after their bath. They demonstrated logging and various commands from the mahouts. They played musical instruments and kicked footballs. One even did a slam dunk with a basketball.

After the show it was time for our elephant ride across the river and through the jungle. Jess and I shared an elephant. We had a great one hour ride, it was rather hot but they provided umbrellas for shade.

Our elephant ride finished in a Lisu Village. We were able to wander around the village and also look at their handicrafts for sale. We returned to the camp by an ox drawn cart. We were treated to a sumptuous Thai buffet for lunch. Lots of yummy dishes to choose from.

After our delicious lunch we moved down to the river to board our rickety bamboo rafts. The raft trip was rather boring due to the river being up from all the rain. This meant there were no rapids to go over. It was very hot on the river, luckily they provided big shady hats. It was a different experience but the 1 hour trip was too long.

Gladly we got back into our air con minivan at 2pm for a 1/2 hour trip to the Orchid and Butterfly Farm at Mae Rim. On arrival we were given a short demonstration on how they grow orchids, then we were free to wander around. Got some great macro shots of the butterflys, orchids and one enormous Atlas Moth.

Our drive back to the hotel took 1/2 hour and we were back at our hotel by 3pm. Jess and I had a cool shower to freshen up then made our way to Den Duang for coffee and internet therapy. It had been a wonderful day and the weather gods had been kind to us.