Chiang Mai feat. Elephants

We jumped on a morning flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and arrived in just under an hour.

Chiang Mai is a city in Northern Thailand which is popular for Thai and foreign tourists alike. 

Our hotel was really lovely and located near the North Gate of the Old Town. We arrived a right at lunch and were ready to eat - I was keen to sample Khao Soi, which is a famous northern Thai curry / noodle soup.

I’d found a spot on Google Maps that was close to our hotel, and little did we know it was one of the most famous Khao Soi places in town. We lined up, ordered and then waited over an hour for our food. It was an absolute bargain at $3 a dish, and fortunately it was delicious! I really liked the coconut curry flavor and crunchy fried noodles on top. We also tried longan juice, which was quite tasty - somewhat similar to lycees. 

From here, we went on a sort of self guided temple tour!

Temple # 1: Wat Phantao

An ancient wooden temple.

Temple #2: Wat Chedi Luang

This complex has several buildings - starting with this beautiful gold and white temple. The dragons lining the front stairs were amazing!

The actual Wat Chedi temple is famous for its tall chedi (pagoda) which is measured at 60m high. It was originally much higher (85m) but much of it was destroyed in an earthquake and its only been partially restored. 

Coffee break.

Temple #3: Wat Phra Singh

This temple complex includes the second most famous Buddha in Thailand. 

It also has these amazing (and very reflective) gold chedis, as well as The viharn Lai Kham is the most famous structure of Wat Phra Singh (which dates back to 1345). 

Temple #4: Wat Rajamontean

We happened to walk past this on our way home, it’s not especially famous but I thought the staircase leading up to it made it look pretty spectacular. 

That evening we headed out in search of some street food and Michael secured his first Pad Thai! This was just a small night market near the North Gate of the Old Town. 

We then decided to go for ‘a little walk’ - well, this escalated into another 30,000 step day! It was New Year’s Eve and everyone in Chiang Mai was out and about. We walked through endless markets and street food - the whole city seemed lit up and ready to celebrate.

We eventually ended up on a bridge with a DJ!

I’d read online that there was a possible lantern release at midnight - turns out this may not be 100% legal. All around us people were buying / carrying lanterns around, whilst police tried to confiscate them.

People then started lighting and releasing lanterns - and trying to do so before the police could intervene. Every time a lantern made it into the air before the police could stop it, the crowd would cheer. It became a real police v lantern event.

By midnight, the lanterns had won! I know it’s not the safest or most environmentally friendly tradition, but it was pretty fun. 

With an early morning get up coming, we wanted to head home after midnight, but the crowds were so huge that it took us almost an hour to walk home. 

The next day we were up early, after a solid 6 hours of sleep, and off to Elephant Nature Park for an overnight stay.

Their website describes it best: Elephant Nature Park (ENP) is an elephant rescue and rehabilitation centre in Northern Thailand, founded by renowned elephant rights advocate, Saengduean Chailert, known by her nickname Lek. It is the first ethical elephant sanctuary of its kind established in Asia and currently provides a caring home to many elephants. Many of the elephants living in the sanctuary of Elephant Nature Park have been rescued from street begging, elephant riding, and circus shows, where they often sustained both physical and psychological injuries. The park’s herds include blind, crippled, orphaned, and senior elephants who are now free to live a peaceful life in natural surroundings, where they are loved and respected.

I’ll start by saying that this whole experience was one of the most incredible things either of us have ever done!

We spent the morning walking around the park with our guide, Bancha, who was fantastic. He started by introducing us to two grandma elephants who are best friends and spend each day together. They were both so gentle and sweet. 

He explained that, as an ethical sanctuary, tourists shouldn’t touch the elephants, aside from the few that don’t mind it, and the mahout (elephant caretaker) only touches them ‘with love’. The only way they can tell the animals off (if they are being naughty, which they are sometimes), is with their voices. 

At ENP every elephant is assigned an individual caretaker, whose job it is to feed and care for the elephant each day. They all seemed to have a special bond with the elephant they were responsible for and cared deeply for them. Many of the caretakers and workers at ENP are refugees from Myanmar / Burma who have fled across the border to escape the violence there. 

The elephants at ENP form their own little family units - some are in pairs, whilst the largest family they have comprises 7 elephants. Some are actual family, but others have just bonded and formed their own family.

About 85% of the elephants at ENP have disabilities or injuries from working in the logging industry, for circuses, or for tourism. Many of the elephants who were recused from elephant riding organisations have injuries from being hit or chained up, and many are missing patches of hair off their backs from wearing a saddle every day.

We pretty much spent the whole day walking around to different groups of elephants and hearing their stories. Our guide knew them each by name, and knew their histories, any injuries, and their personalities or habits - it was heartwarming to see how much he cared about them all. 

ENP predominantly cares for female elephants as they are generally very docile and get along with other elephants well. Male elephants can become quite violent and cannot be sterilised - the park does not want to become a breeding centre; only a rescue centre. 

Our accommodation was amazing - right on a river that we got to watch elephants walking along!

The next morning we got to help feed the elephants and it was amazing! We visited the family of 7, who are all very familiar with people and very keen to be fed (elephants are quite possible even more food motivated than dogs). They are so gentle and will pluck the food from your hand - their skin is soft and warm when it brushes against your hand.

They were insatiable though - they just wouldn’t stop eating.

None of the elephants are forced to eat in the way - they are welcome to come get some food, but don’t have to if they choose not to (but as our guide said, “food = friend”). 

We then wandered around and visited some more elephants in this area. One of these ones (I think next to Michael) is called TikTok because, during Covid, when everything was shutdown, TikTok (the company) paid for this particular elephant to be recused. 

I’ve forgotten the name of the girl in the below photo but she was sniffing everyone who went near her - checking for food!

On the way back to the main part of ENP we also stopped by Cat Kingdom and this guy chose me!

As well as elephants, the park also rescues cats and dogs - they have around 1,000 cats and 700 dogs. The cats have their own ‘kingdoms’ where they play, laze around, get petted, and eat all day.

Our final activity of the visit was making an ‘elephant cake’ (mushed up rice and banana with fruit decorations) and serving it up to a family of elephants.

Of course, the baby male elephant decided to wreck the pretty cake! 

I cannot speak highly enough about Elephant Nature Park - the centre is amazing, and the overnight stay included amazing accommodation, great food, and our guide was fantastic! 10/10!

We arrived back in Chiang Mai tired but fulfilled. 

We had enjoyed everything about Chiang Mai - the next day we were off to Chiang Rai but would have more time in Chiang Mai shortly!