I hope you're not getting tired of our trip yet! We had two outings at the end of our trip - the elephant sanctuary and Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Let's start with my favorite animal - the elephant!
I would have loved to ride an elephant - until I learned about the conditions the "tourist" elephants are kept in, and the mistreatment that forcing elephants to carry humans for hours a day will cause. If I really love elephants, I can't support tourist traps that allow riding. So instead, we went to an elephant sanctuary, which rescues those elephants!
We spent a little over an hour riding in a truck to the tribal lands that make up the sanctuary. In Thailand, anyone can buy an elephant - there are no requirements or restrictions. So the sanctuary raises money to buy elephants from the groups that mistreat them. The elephants then get to wander the land, being spoiled with sugar cane and bananas.
There are 8 elephants at this sanctuary - this one is the baby at 2 years old. It surprised me that the elephants are covered in hair, and their eyelashes are ridiculously long! I had never touched an elephant before - their skin is thick and rough, and their trunks are so muscular.
When we arrived we got to feed bananas to the elephants. They knew the treats were coming, and weren't shy about reaching those trunks out!
The elephants lined up at the fence, but the fence doesn't keep them in - there are no fences on either side of the pergola. The elephants wander around, and after feeding them we rubbed mud all over them in the mud hole, then washed them off in the river! We couldn't take cameras to the mud hole or river unless they were waterproof (ours wasn't), so I don't have any photos.
This girl, at 72 years old, is the oldest elephant on the grounds. She was delighted by a guest's toddler daughter, and nothing fazed this old gentle soul. I could have stayed with her all day.
On Monday, we went to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, an iconic temple in the mountains. When you arrive, you are greeted by 306 steps up the mountain. Sure, they've got a cable car, but part of the experience is wearing yourself out on the climb up!
And when you reach the top, you are greeted by gold! The temple itself was large, with many tourists roaming around. I bought a "singing cup" (a bell) from a shop just to the left of that temple below, as the perfect souvenir.
Of course, you can leave the bells there, as most people do, since the bells represent Buddha's voice in Buddhist Thailand.
The view from the mountaintop - hazy and smoggy, but still a beautiful sight.
Coming up next - our last stop, in Singapore!
No comments:
Post a Comment