Chiang Rai, Thailand: home to elephants and jungle covered hilltops
One of my favorite days in Thailand was the playful interaction we had with the elephants. We got to touch them and feed them bananas and sugarcane. All tamed pachyderms have a single, lifelong human companion who cares for them and trains them. The elephant and Thai "mahout" live together and interact daily with each other for their entire lives. Each mahout's verbal queues are unique to their forever elephant friend. These animals are trained to do a variety things. Some do hilarious tricks and then saunter over to the applauding tourists in hopes of money, which they promptly grab and hand up to the mahout. To touch an elephant is an exhilarating experience. Their skin is surprisingly rough, thick and wrinkly. Their trunks are powerful and kinda gross.
yes! this elephant painted this picture
Sitting atop an elephant was not as smooth as I thought. With it's lumbering walk we were often violently thrown from side to side.
Next Up: Siem Reap, Cambodia
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