The elephant sanctuary was amazing and was an experience I won't forget in a hurry. After changing into outfits akin to those worn in detention camps, we started the day by feeding them sugar cane. It was a bit scary at first when you had 3 or 4 gigantic elephants all hurtling towards you when they saw the food. A bit like myself when I see someone open a bag of doritos. Next we took them for a walk to work off some of the food (apparently they spend 16 hours a day eating and the remaining 8 is split between sleeping, exercising and bathing). One of the elephants kept stopping at every tree or bush we passed to eat some foliage. Again, very reminiscent of my time in Thailand so far.
The best part was that we got to see a baby elephant that had literally been born at midnight, so not even 24 hours old! There was another baby there too who was 3
months and super cute. Both babies had different mothers but the same fathers, cause elephants be playaaaas!
Finally we got to help wash the elephants! They absolutely loved the water and it was so lovely to watch them rolling around in it while you scrubbed their back. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face the whole time. Even when they all take a shit in the water and you realise you're bathing in a big pool of elephant dung, you don't give a crap because they're just so awesome!
I could easily have stayed another day here in Chiang Mai as there were a couple of things I didn't get the chance to do. Tomorrow I head to Bangkok. Literally every person I have met on my travels so far has told me how much they hated it, but I'm keeping an open mind and will form my own opinion.
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