Thailand Part 2, Elephants, 2016

On our second day in Chiang Mai, we did a 8 hour "elephant owner for a day" program. This was the highlight of our trip!! Seriously, it was so cool. We started out petting the elephants and taking a lot of pictures because I mean, how many people actually get to touch an elephant?! This was a momma elephant and her 3 year old and 2 month old kiddos.

Of course my favorite was the baby.

Ryan is a brave soul!

They loved eating that sugar cane! It made quite the crunching noise when they were snapping it with their teeth. 

I got to hold this baby (350lb) elephant on my lap. I tried to stay upright, but he was too strong and pushed me to the ground so he could lay on me/snuggle me - just thinking of that makes me smile! It was fun to see the elephants act like a dog or cat would as far as playing games/reacting to their owners. 

Next, we were each given an Elephant to take care of for the day. My elephant's name was Patwo. First we fed them sugar cane & bananas.

Then we smelled their poop (not stinky!) and learned more about the different commands (go, stop, lay down, etc.)

And then we rinsed them off so that there wasn't any dirt to rub into their skins while we road through the jungle. How cool is this picture?! A rainbow AND me washing an elephant

Patwo was good at giving hugs! 

We then mounted the elephants and went on a ride through the jungle! 

We made it to the waterfall/water hole where the elephants played in the water. 

We had a quick coconut rice snack - so good!! 

Then we got in the water to give the elephants a bath. We used a brush and scrubbed their entire bodies. 

This place was beautiful!! 

Our elephant tour group. The elephants were using their trunks to spray us from behind 

Then we played with the elephants in the water - trying to sit on them while they kept trying to lay down. Much harder than it sounds?! 

Finally, we had an amazing lunch with fresh fruit and Thailand food - loved all of it!!

We had a short ride back and said goodbye to our elephants. Love this picture - like I said, Patwo was a good hugger!

Before we left to go back to the hotel - beautiful scenery. Once in a lifetime experience!!