Today was the day we went to see the elephants! We had decided to book the half day which gave us this morning to sort some bits out.
We had found a photo shop close to us so decided to get our photos done ready for tomorrow. While these were being printed we went for some breakfast and then went back to pick them up. When we got back to the room we realised that although we had asked for the larger visa size photos they had only printed passport size again! Hopefully this will be okay so we don't have to pay for yet more photos tomorrow when we get there!
After a bit of a wander and a sit around the room we headed downstairs to wait for our pick up at 1.30. When they arrived we were told that we would only be picking up two more people, which meant it was a nice small group and also that we would be able to have our own elephant for the afternoon!
We drove a little while into the mountains to their camp which was amazing to actually drive by and see elephants just wondering around on both sides of the road! When we arrived we were thrown straight in, with the elephants literally just outside the minivan! We were given sugar canes to feed them and learn some basic commands for opening mouth and to say good job! We then changed into some traditional mahout (elephant trainer) clothing and taught some more commands for riding the elephants. Then we were taken to our elephant to feed them some more before using the command to get the elephant to allow you to climb onto it. Luckily their trainer was on hand to help when we couldn't say it properly! Then we started a trek across a river and through the mountains which was amazing! The views whilst being so close to the elephants was incredible. We eventually stopped near a river where the trainers led the elephants into the water while we changed into our swimsuits and followed them in. We spent quite a bit of time in the river washing, swimming and splashing around with them. Unfortunately it was soon time to dry off and climb back on the elephants for the trek back to the camp. We fed them once more and told them what a good job they had done and to end the day they then let the 7 month old baby and its mother out for a wander so we could get up close to feed and play with them! After this it was time to drive back to the city. It was such an incredible experience and we think we even enjoyed it more than last time!