Our Adventure Tour

We booked a second tour with our new friend Vincent.  This tour took us to the south of Chiang Mai.  We began with elephants!!  We were taken to an elephant camp where only a few tourists go.  Vincent advised us to take this tour because it wasn't so populated with tourists.  When we first got there we saw an 18 day old elephant calf!!  She was the sweetest thing ever...so small!!  I guess the night before the mother and calf escaped from the camp, and the owners found them way up in the hills!!

Riding an elephant isn't the easiest thing in the world to do!!  I thought the beasts would walk on a dirt packed road!!  But, instead they slowly manoeuvred up and down a rocky and sometimes slippery or steep trail.  I had to desperately hang on to the basket I was sitting in so I wouldn't fall out!!  And, if you fell out, not only would you fall from the height of the elephant, you would also tumble down the jungle cliff!!  Hoss was able to ride on the elephant's neck, same as the mahout or elephant trainer. 

It was an awesome experience, and I would do it all over again in an instant!!

Our next stop was bamboo rafting.  Cameras weren't allowed because it was a very wet experience!!  We had young Thai men manning the rafts who took great pleasure in making sure everyone was drenched after the 45 minute float down the river!!

We then had a delicious lunch that was prepared and waiting for us!  Then off to the hill-tribe people!  The children are masters in their selling techniques.  Hoss doesn't stand a chance against these wee ones, his heart is too soft!!  So after he gave them a few baht, and told them to use it wisely, they gleefully trotted off to the next unsuspecting tourist!

We then journeyed by foot to the waterfall. It was a beautiful trail that led us through hill-tribe farmland, parched jungle that is desperately awaiting the rainy season, and a river that led to a small but refreshing waterfall and pond.  Our swim cooled us down and washed away the sweat and heat from our trek.

We then worked our way by foot back to the minivan that whisked us back to the city.  The tour was great!!  Not too busy, and I didn't feel like I was on the gringo trail!!

                                        Mother and Baby Elephant!

                                         This is how tourists are loaded and unloaded on elephants!

                                          An elephant bath!!

                                         Our elephant ride!  These young Brits are in front of us!

                                           Hoss...the mahout!!

                                         And as Jim Morrison from The Doors would sing...
                                        This is the end...

                                          Now for a snack and a rest!!

                                         Our lunch! 

                                         Hill-tribe people...this is their home.

                                          Pet or pork??  Maybe a little of both!!

                                          Corn crop

                                         Here's Hoss losing the battle!!

                                         
                                          Homemade crossbow

                                          This is called a homestay.  You rent a hut and live like
                                          local!

                                         Rice...another crop of the hill side people that has replaced
                                         the poppy and opium industry...or is it just out of site and
                                          scaled down!

                                         Termite nest in the trees.

                                         Termites on the ground

                                         More walking

                                         And finally the prize... the waterfall!

                                          Now the walk back to the minivan.