Chiang Mai - Elephants

 We got up early for our planned trip to the Elephant Nature Park. From our research on Reddit one could not just go to any elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai…it had to be an “ethical “ sanctuary where the elephants were treated respectfully and not made to perform for the visitors. ENP fit that criteria so off we went. It was about an hour ride from our hotel into the hillside forests outside of Chiang Mai. It was a huge place…over 300 acres with over 300 employees most of whom seemed engaged in the primary activity of feeding the elephants. There were over 125 elephants all of whom had been rescued from various logging camps…failed elephant camps or wherever. They milled around in groups of 2 or 3 looking around for food. Each elephant had a backstory… this one had a broken leg… that one was blind…another had mental issues and couldn’t socialize with other elephants…and so on. The visitor activity amounted to walking around with our guide (Joe) in 95 degree heat and watching each small group of damaged elephants get fed. After an hour or so of avoiding stepping in elephant poop or getting trampled by a foraging elephant we opted to complete the tour by riding in a golf cart that Joe ordered up when he saw we were flagging. I should mention that in our group of 8 the next oldest was 24.

After a vegan lunch we headed back to town and a welcomed nap. 











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