After spending five days at the beach, we headed to the mountains near the city of Chiang Mai. We arrived at the airport and took a quick taxi to our hostel, D-Well. I really enjoyed the atmosphere at this place and highly suggest it to anyone staying in the area.
s soon as we unpacked, we began our search for food downtown. As always, the sounds of engines lingered in the background wherever you went. Within two minutes of walking through the streets, the engine roars stopped and everything went completely silent. This was unusual for Thailand. We didn't think more about it and continued walking the city streets. A couple of feet further and a policeman adamantly told us to stop and hide our cell phones. Puzzled, we weren't sure to listen or to disobey. I was very curious so I asked the cop what was going on. He continued by saying "The princess is coming! This will be over in 10 minutes and please hide your cell phones". The police told us to stand further back and to stay put. After 5 minutes two police cars and several mopeds passed by. Then a whole caravan of nice cars including Mercedes zoomed one by one. Once the last car passed, the roads were flooded with Tuk Tuks and mopeds just like they had been before. Thailand has a monarchy that garners the utmost respect in the country. Unfortunately, the last king passed away in 2016 but his son continues his legacy. We were fortunate enough to experience the Princess that day. The next day Lyle and I were picked up to go to an Elephant-care Project Sanctuary. During this half day tour we had the opportunity to help out the caretakers by feeding, mud bathing, and cleaning the Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) (Probably the biggest and heaviest metazoan I will see on this trip). Their eldest elephant, Ploy, was about 60 years-old. There was also an elephant mother named Natalie who was 28 years-old elephant and her baby: Pi was only 2 months-old. I also met two more juvenile female elephants. We got handed a bag filled with bananas to feed the elephants. We were later introduced to all the enormous hosts. Their titanous frame towered over all our small bodies, but their innocence made them seem smaller and gentle. This made me feel uncomfortably, comfortable. They had the delicate touch of a butterfly when they grabbed bananas. After feeding them, we went to the mud baths. This is where their gentle touch vanished and the spirit of a small child emerged. They were throwing themselves on the mud, while all the volunteers covered their ears, face, and body with mud. People who know me, know that I would never miss out on an opportunity to have a mud-fight with an elephant. Meanwhile I was trying to get one of the juveniles as dirty as possible, one of the keepers came behind me and gave me a luxurious (very expensive) mud-mask. To show my gratitude, I repaid the favor. We then washed ourselves, ate lunch, and continued to the river. Here the two juveniles came with the encrusted mud all over their skin, expected to be washed and cleaned. We all got incredibly wet as the elephant were also bathing us with their trunks. The tour came to an end, but quickly became an unforgettable memory. I was very happy to see and experience the shift in tourism concerning elephants. In the pass, tourism in Thailand use to have a large demand for riding and trekking with elephants. But, after videos showing the treatment of these animals came to light, the demand for riding them has dramatically dropped. Now Eco-tourism has exploded, causing elephant sanctuaries to open. Allowing everyone to help take care of the elephants during their daily routine.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Author
Archives
May 2017
Categories |