Elephant Park in Chiang Mai

Well I arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday by bus. Arrived at 6 a.m. and had to sit outside the guesthouse until I figured out what door to knock on to see if a room was available. I waited for one hour when a fellow traveller showed me the way.

Last night there was a terrible thunderstorm and I thought I hope that I can still make it to the Elephant Nature Park located 1 1/2 hour drive from Chiang Mai. Thankfully the rain stopped! Thanks to an article by my friend, Rob Selna, I was able to learn about this amazing place where a woman called Lek (meaning "small" in Thai) has adopted/rescued over 32 elephants from the tourism and logging industry. There is one wild elephant named Hope. He was adopted after his mother died from disease. The elephant park also has two baby elephants and one pregnant elephants. The gestation period for an elephant is 22 months - but I wasn't sure how far along the pregnant elephant was.

If anyone is interested in learning more about elephants, I strongly suggest making the journey to the Elephant Nature Park. For more information check out their website -- http://www.elephantnaturefoundation.org/. There is no riding and no shows, but you do get to feed the elephants, assist in bathing them, and get pretty darn close to these gigantic creatures. They are very amazing. There is also a short video at the end which shows the brutality involved in breaking their spirits - so it definitely makes you think twice about (1) ever riding an elephant and (2) checking out a show where the elephants play instruments and/or paint. There is also a problem with elephant begging in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I never saw it, but I haven't spent much time exploring around. I have to get ready to hope on an overnight train (no sleeper available), so upright seating only to Bangkok to catch a flight early afternoon to Phuket, and then off to Koh Phi Phi to meet a fellow traveler I met in Siam Reap, Cambodia. I have met some of the most interesting people traveling. So many people who are on either 6 month or 1 year trips around the world. I wish that was me! But these past few weeks have been amazing.

I also enjoyed my short stay in Chiang Mai, it is a more laid back place than Bangkok for sure. Internet down in 5 minutes, so have to make it short. See photos below. More to come later.