In the shade of a lychee tree, Tuesday 26th

I slept right until the alarm went off at 6:00am. Our first real work day of the week, and our new group were heading out to the cornfield for the day. It’s a tougher start to the week than some of the other chores, mainly because of being out in the heat for most of the day, but good to get it done. We sat under the shade of lychee trees to have lunch and continued working until about 1:00pm. A stop at the 7-11 on the return trip for ice cream was a welcome treat and also hot cup of ‘butterfly pea flower tea’ when we got back to camp. The tea was a beautiful blue colour, like a delphinium, but I will need to look that up and see where it comes from. Then off to the river for some tubing to cool off after a very hot days work in the sun. We have four work groups again this week, as we have around fifty volunteers and four volunteer coordinators.

The evening was quiet with a gentle warm breeze blowing through the valley. Annie and I sat and talked for a while and I helped her file some of her photos and video. As I retired to my room, there was an air of expectancy as many of us had heard that this could be the night that Sao Yai’s baby would arrive and we listened intently through the chattering of the regular jungle noises for sounds from the enclosure. 

Return to ENP, Monday 25th

I woke up early in the coolness of my air conditioned room. It felt good to have a deep, sound sleep and I got ready to walk over to the ENP office, just a few blocks away, to start my third week at the park. I got there just after 8:00am and the first bus of volunteers was just leaving. I paid my fee for the week and boarded the next bus filled with volunteers excited at what this next week would bring.

It felt good be 'home' and I knew that I had made the right decision, spending my last week here. As we left the main highway and twisted and turned our way up into the Mae Tang Valley the anticipation grew until finally the first glimpse of the flat pasture of the park filled with elephants and the river, a shallow ribbon meandering to the left.

I toured around with the new volunteers getting to know some of them before we had lunch. It is a more cosmopolitan group this week with volunteers from Canada, USA, UK, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, India, Iceland, Holland and Singapore. As before the largest portion of volunteers seem to be younger women from England, traveling the world, many in their gap year.


This afternoon, I met Lek and she invited me to join her and Navann’s family group over in the meadow. There were six adult female elephants all protecting and fussing over him. It was a great photo opportunity and I had a chance to be close to him again.

The feeling of a baby elephant, who weighs between 500 – 600 lbs putting his front feet on your shoulders is quite an experience, you quickly realize the strength that these wonderful creatures have. I think Navann is almost getting too big to play with me this way, at just five months old, but he seemed to like the company of other males as fellow volunteers Julian and Lewis also received much of his interest.

We headed down to the river with the family for bath time and had some more play time there. Always wary of where his adoring aunties are, it seemed best to stand still and let Navann's curiosity lead him over to you, than try and attract him. The family group seemed less agitated this way, but they were never far away - always watchful.

This evening was the welcome ceremony which is always interesting to watch and this week I managed to take some better photos and video of it. It had been a long and exciting day and I did not stay up too late after dinner, retiring to my new room, which is right next door to the one I occupied for the previous two weeks. Ahn is still here to guard me.

Back to Chiang Mai, Sunday 24th

Sunday morning, the second week was coming to an end and it would soon be time to leave Elephant Nature Park with the rest of the volunteers. We split into two groups, one in the ele-kitchen and one for poo patrol. I opted for poo again, it’s not a nasty job at all and it’s great to be out in the sunshine and near the elephants.

I packed the things I would need for an overnight stay in Chiang Mai and left the rest of my luggage locked in the room that had been home for the past two weeks. I headed out on one of the 1:00pm departures as it was best to get into town early – being Sunday and the night market would be setting up on Ratchadamnoen Road by mid-afternoon and driving in that area would be impossible.

I got to the U Chiang Mai hotel and the familiar peace that had welcomed me to Thailand still hung in the walled courtyard. Almost immediately I set out with my list of things to do; an ATM machine, finding another piece of luggage at the lowest price possible (that looked like it would make it intact back to Canada) - 225THB did the trick ($7) and I then had room for the extra things I had picked up along the way – accidental shopping I’d call it!

Mission accomplished, I picked my way through the stalls being erected for the weekly market and back to my hotel room, treasures stowed in the new bag, there was time for a long hot shower! Several of us had arranged to meet at Girosoles, an Italian restaurant in the centre of old town. I vowed to try and stay on a vegetarian diet and opted for fettuccine with a cheese sauce and tiramisu for dessert. It was a lovely warm evening, just off the bustling crowds of the market, the sixteen of us sat outside and watched the activity just feet away. It was fun talking French with Annie at an Italian eatery in old Chiang Mai. Jon and Tanya who were with us last week, but left on Friday just happened to stop by - Chiang Mai is not that big of a city (it was great to see you guys again!)

I was ready for a good nights sleep in the tranquility and luxury of my hotel and fresh to start the final week of my trip.

Oh What A Beautiful Morning …. Wednesday 20th

The corn was indeed as high as an elephant’s eye and we spent the best part of the day out in the cornfield, about a 40 minute drive from the park. 

 

We had lunch in the field and after we had finished work we went down to the Mae Ping River (about a 500m walk) with the idea that we’d go for a swim. The bravest waded across to a sandbar, some of us ventured ankle deep, but my instinct said that this wasn’t a river to go swimming in. It was a bit murky and there were too many unidentifiable floating objects sailing by!

We returned to camp and after a quick clean up went to help unload the banana truck (which didn’t show up), so we unloaded and stowed the pumpkins and topped and tailed the pineapples ready for tomorrow. It had been another hot day and it was great to go tubing again after all our work had been done. The Mae Tang River seemed so much clearer and cleaner than our attempt to have a dip earlier and there was always the added advantage of relaxing with a can of Chang beer to round off the day. 

We landed back at the Elephant Nature Park with just enough time to change before founder Lek Chailert gave a talk to all of the volunteers. Listening to her speak so passionately about her life and work was mesmerizing and she held a captive audience for almost two hours. It becomes very clear what Lek is trying to achieve and educating frieinds, family and coworkers who may visit Thailand in the future about making the right choices. Any elephant who performs tricks, be it painting, walking a bamboo tightrope or dancing has gone through a cruel and torturous 'training period of 4 to 14 days. Google the word 'Phajaan' or 'elephant crush' but be prepared for some horrifying and disturbing video.