Part 35: The Elephants.....
As I sat in the lobby, wondering once more what would be in stall for me, I noticed that no one else from the Hostel were preparing for this particular trip.
Unlike me, they were all sleeping soundly, probably for most of the day I would expect, trying to shake their hangovers.
I on the other hand, was on the verge of embarking on yet another adventure, that I seemingly knew nothing about.
Barely enough time passed for me to clear my groggy head, because at that precise moment a 4x4 truck pulled up with a couple of bohemian looking guys in the front.
This vehicle looked like it had done some mileage, covered in dried mud - a taste of things to come possibly.
Obviously Gina knew the area well and what typical expensive tourist sites to avoid. Instead preferring to recommend, or organise authentic trips for the travellers staying in her hostel - she really knew her stuff.
This was essentially just a lift to some of the better must see sites and having the freedom to do what ever you decide when you get there.
After climbing into the opened back truck we were on our way. I felt exhilarated and excited tinged with nerves at what lay ahead.
One of the guys joined me in the back to fill me in on what to expect - it sounded great.
The first stop was to pick up a couple of nervously giggling German girls, then to head for breakfast at an orchid farm - a gentle start to the day.
It took us around 30 minutes to get there and was wonderfully located amongst lush cooling trees and neatly cut bushes.
Thailand is justly famous for its many beautiful orchids, or 'Gluay Mhai' in Thai.
Previously I knew nothing of these tropical plants, but learned plenty just wandering around reading the information.
Who knew that there were over 1000 different types in Thailand? me now!
Afterwards relaxing in the outdoor cafe was perfect - actually I cant think of many better ways to cure a hangover, than being surrounded by hundreds of different lovely coloured orchids in the shade, sipping coffee.
I finally talked to the shy German girls on the way back to the truck.
They had just come from 2 months on the road hitch hiking around New Zealand. It sounded amazing and prompted me to add this as 'a must thing to do' on my bucket list.
I was suitably impressed, especially since they were only 18 too - good for them!
Next stop was the monkey forest - about a short 20 minute drive away.
When we got there, we parked on the sandy, bumpy ground near several giant coconut trees where I looked up to see monkeys jumping in-between the branches. If I didn't know any better, they appeared to be showing off, picking coconuts from the branches, and nonchalantly throwing them to the ground - it was awesome to see their agility.
One quickly zipped down the bark, suddenly leaping on to my shoulder - next thing I was face to face with a cute brown furry monkey. This little fellow seemed to like me, I could not stop smiling at him. He was as light as a feather, just walking across my shoulders, then onto my head, and had the softest fur.
Luckily the German girls took a few pics before he leapt onto another guy, who didn't really appear to have the same playful affection for the monkey as I did, instead letting out a wimpish scream, and scaring the poor little thing half to death!
Next we watched a guy expertly open the freshly picked coconuts up with a huge blade, spinning them with his left hand before swiping down with his right, turning them into cups for us to drink from - very refreshing indeed.
I couldn't help but notice the laid back attitude of our driver and his friend, who were happy to let us dictate the pace of the day, content to smoke rolled tobacco and wait for us.
Although we were just about ready to move on after we took a few more pics of the monkeys.
The next part of our trip was more of an off road journey as we made our way to an authentic elephant sanctuary. But first we stopped at the long neck tribe village.
I will be honest and say, this was something I wasn't sure of and deciding instead to stay in the truck while the Germans went in. Not wishing to be rude, I explained to the driver my reasons after reading about how they were exploited.
He was totally respectful of my views, however explained that the village and tribes were completely self sufficient, relying on tourist money to live, selling many of their skilfully hand made jewellery and craft. He continued to tell me they previously lived in the mountains only to be exploited by the opium drug industry. His majesty the king rescued them and helped to build the village, to start a new life - they have been here ever since.
This certainly made me feel a lot better, but by then it was time to move on anyway.
The trip at this point was getting more rugged and up hill as we headed to the elephant sanctuary, we were being thrown around a fair bit in the back of the truck.
The sanctuary around 50km from Chiang Mai in the Mae Taeng district was absolutely gorgeous when we reached there. The guide told me how this one in particular was really authentic, unlike some of the packed more touristy ones.
Set right in the middle of a stunning valley of green forested mountains and jungle, offering people the unique opportunity to feed, wash and care for the elephants, then afterwards take a ride on them through the hills and jungle.
Its hard not to fall in love with these amazing friendly creatures and watching them in their completely natural habitat was a fantastic experience.
It wasn't flooded with tourists or big coaches either, making it feel really unique. There would have been nothing worse than that for me.
After a short talk we were led straight to the elephants to feed and wash them in the river - this was fantastic. You could see they were enjoying the attention and playing up to it, spraying us with water. My elephant had a particularly cheeky playful personality, and I had her all to myself.
Looking around me I was witnessing a truly special place. The sanctuary provides protection from abuse and elephants roam around freely in a very large area, that properly replicates a wild habitat. They form groups, have families, becoming happy here and to see this first hand was amazing. It was easy to forget how beautiful the scenery is all around whilst you are so taken in by the elephants, especially the babies closely following their protective mothers - talk about adorable.
I'd heard of elephants endlessly walking backwards and forwards in a straight line all day, being driven insane carrying tourists and was so relieved to hear we would be trekking through the jungle and river in their own habitat.
This was definitely a first for me, and making my way onto the huge elephants back was fun, climbing down from a big bamboo frame and onto the seat was not easy, but what a great feeling once we started walking - my smile was so wide.
The barefoot keeper, sat just in front of me and was calling out instructions - I just sat back holding on really tight enjoying the ride as we trekked through the jungle, with the mountainous back drop.
Then on passing through the river I was sprayed with water that she sucked up through her long trunk. Soaking me through to the bone, much to the delight of the keeper.
We passed some lychee trees where the the keeper handed me a few branches full of the sweet ripe fruit, which I peeled and ate, they where absolutely delicious.
This amazing trek lasted nearly 2 hours before we returned back to the camp for a freshly prepared lunch overlooking the mountain range.
Sharing conversation with some American travellers doing voluntary work here was interesting hearing their stories, again reminding me of the camps authenticity. It got me seriously thinking, and I took down several contact details. This whole experience so far had been nothing short of incredible.
The next part of the day led us further up the mountains to a small settlement. It was really steep and quite perilous to reach, I was holding on with both hands to stop being flung out of the truck. Looking down was not for the feint hearted with some seriously steep drops.
The settlement was completely self sufficient and the villagers friendly, they gave me some delicious honey to taste which they collect from the many hives in the tall trees.
I noticed several forest fires looking down, but they explained to me it was normal this time of year from the heat.
Looking around I thought, what an incredible view to wake up to every single morning, admittedly we were miles from anywhere but this was quite some life they lived.
This was only a brief stop but an equally enjoyable one before heading even higher up the mountain on a tight perilous and jagged road.
The truck could go no further and we continued upwards on foot through the jungle which I thoroughly enjoyed, taking in all the spectacular views.
After about an hour, we reached some low trees and thick bushes, which we had to duck under, then head down a rocky steep pathway.
I looked below bringing in to view a secluded waterfall and lagoon - my jaw hit the floor!
Oh my goodness! this was beautiful.
There was nobody there, which made it even more spectacular.
We stepped down onto a wobbly bamboo platform before all stripping down to our shorts, and leaping in - It was freezing and so refreshing instantly cooling us down from the sweltering heat.
There was a small cave behind the water fall which I made my way through with a bit of difficulty.
The water gushing down was forcing me downwards, and the rocks were really quite slippery. But once there, It was like stepping into an ice cool air conditioned room, and was heavenly.
We then leapt down into the water from a high rock into the deeper part of the lagoon - this was the stuff dreams were made of!
I was in no rush to leave this magnificent place that we had all to our selfs, and neither were our drivers or the German girls.
Then just laying on the bamboo platform for the afternoon, relaxing taking it all in, having yet another little moment all to myself was pure bliss.
Before finally and reluctantly making our way back to the truck. I could have just stayed here for days, but the walk back was equally memorable with a different view looking down the path, my camera was doing overtime!
We weren't quite finished yet said the drivers - there was another part to our day and they drove for about an hour back down the mountain to the edge of a river where a bamboo raft was awaiting to gently drift us through the jungle and mountains to watch the sunset.
This would be a perfect end to the perfect day.
I sat on the edge of the raft with my feet in the water in awe enjoying the sweeping views - life does not get any better than this.
We passed several elephants just freely roaming, local children playing in the river, huts and small settlements until the sun came down.
I managed a few more captures before my battery died on my phone.
You will just have to take my word for it, that this was just wonderful.
Until we reached the end where the truck was waiting for us for the drive home.
We picked up some of the drivers friends on the way home which made the trip quite lively, they all had me in stitches as we joked all the way the back to the hostel.
Words cannot even begin to describe the day I had just experienced, from the moment I stepped into the pick up truck to the last.
It was what reminded me why the world is such an incredible place.
And no quote summed up my day more perfectly
“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travellers don’t know where they’re going.” – Paul Theroux.
Today I hoped I'd earned the right to be called the latter....