Spring Break In Thailand!

This is the beginning of our two weeks of spring break! We are spending the first four days in Chiang Mai. We took a flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. As we were driving to our hotel, Chiang Mai reminded me very much of Mandalay. There was a huge brick wall with a moat around it separating the old city from the new city. When we arrive at the hotel, we check in and then get some rest for a fun day tomorrow.

Day 1: Today we will go white water rafting up in the mountains. We had a quick breakfast because we were picked up at 9:30. We were on the bus for two hours and 30 minutes. As we were driving up the mountain, we could see many elephants in the river and on land. Once at the river, we had lunch and had a quick lesson on how to maneuver. Then we got in the rafts.

I went in one raft with my brother and our teacher behind us. He taught us how to stand up while rafting.
He also let us jump in the water and float down the river.

On the last part of the river, we passed many local families having picnics on the riverside while their children played in the water.

When we went past them, they would spray water all over us to make sure we were sufficiently wet. We also saw elephants crossing the river. After two hours of white water rafting, we got back into the bus and drove back to our hotel.

Day 2: Today I am very sick and unfortunately, we will not be able to visit the city today. We stayed at the hotel and worked on homework.

Day 3: Today we walked around the city and visited many temples.

Chiang Mai is a beautiful city, and I loved the beautiful temples.

Day 4: Today we will drive to the golden triangle. We drove six hours to our hotel. Halfway there, we stopped to see the white temple. The temple is painted completely white and is covered in glass.

The sun reflects off the glass, making it very colorful. After the temple, we went back to the bus to continue driving. Once at the hotel, we dropped off our bags in our room and had an elephant education lesson. The elephant is the largest animal on land. Elephants are usually nine feet long and they are very social and smart animals. Elephants are keystone species, which are species that help the habitat. For example, elephant poop has many rich nutrients in it, so little plants start to grow in them. There are only two types of elephants: african and asian. The closest living relative of the elephant on land is the Rock Hyrax and in water it is the Manatee. The trunk of an elephant has 40,000 bundles of muscles. They use their trunks to spray water, grab food and water, communicate, and smell. In the Asian elephant, only the male elephants have tusks; the females do have tusks but small ones that usually break off.  A common misconception is that elephants are very loud walkers, but they are actually very quiet. This is because of a fatty cushion underneath the heel of the elephant; it quiets the step. Elephants are vegetarians, like me! Out of the 6,000 elephants in Thailand, 4,000 elephants are in captivity. The reason we had this elephant education class is because the hotel is located right next to an elephant rescue camp.

At the camp, there are currently 24 elephants, most of which are females. After the elephant education class, we went back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep.

Day 5: Today we will be walking with the elephants. First, we feed the elephants some sugar cane and pumpkin, their favorite snacks. Next, we start to walk. We walk next to the elephants in a circle around the camp. Once we arrive back at the camp, we wash the elephants.

We turn on the hose and spray the elephants’ backs, legs, stomachs, and trunks. After their long walk, they are very thirsty so they continuously ask for water. Then we feed the elephants their favorite snacks, and walk back to the hotel. Once there, we have lunch. After lunch, we receive our elephant-riding clothes, which are a loose jean shirt and pants, and go to meet our elephants.

The elephant that I will ride is called Dunsri. Next, we learn the different ways of mounting and dismounting the elephants. My favorite way of dismounting was to slide down the trunk of Dunsri. When I get on her, I notice that she is covered in spiky hairs that are not visible when you are simply looking at her. Then, we start riding. We ride around the camp and make our way to the river.

This river separates Thailand from Myanmar. To get to the river, we have to climb down really steep steps with Dunsri stopping every few second to eat something. Once down at the river the elephant’s mahout (the person who trains and takes care of the elephant) gets on the elephant behind me. We walk down into the river. The elephant wades into the water until the water level goes up to his stomach and my feet are in the water.

Dunsri sucks in water with her trunk and sprays it back onto me. She does this many times until she is satisfied that I am soaked enough. Then, we get out of the river and make our way back to the camp. There I take a picture with Dunsri, Max, and Jatong (Max’s elephant). While we were taking the picture, Jatong’s trunk came up behind us and lightly poked us; we all jumped! This is an experience that I will never forget.

Week 2: Today we will drive back to Chiang Mai to take a flight to an island called Phuket located in the Andaman Sea. Once there we drive to the port and take a 45 minute boat ride to an island called Yao Noi. On our way to the island we see the limestone rock formations that cover the sea. We will stay in Yao Noi for a week. During that time we go snorkeling to see the limestone formation and the peaceful coves that they create.

We also did Batik painting and Thai boxing. While we were in Yao Noi, we celebrated the Water Festival.

I loved the time we spent in Yao Noi and all the activities we did. I will never forget this wonderful spring break!