The 1st tour in the travel group - Doi Inthanon National Park, Wachirathan Waterfall, Twin Royal Pagodas and feeding and bathing at the Elephant Sanctuary

Today, we got up a bit after 6:00 AM. This time not on our own, but I had booked a day tour during my booking frenzy yesterday. So I was picked up from the hotel shortly after 7:00 AM, rubbing the last sleep out of my eyes, unsure if I had made the right choice booking such a small group tour... Maggi, the friendly tour guide who spoke good and clear English, greeted me with a smile, and off we went on our mini-bus tour... After a first stop to grab breakfast (finally, a decent baker), we headed to our first stop, the Wachirathan Waterfall. With a slight mist from the 80m-high waterfall behind us, a rainbow shimmered in and out in the sunshine... Then back in the minivan and off we went to the 'Twin Royal Pagodas' (Queen and King Pagoda). A very impressive area with beautiful gardens and many details to discover... After wandering around the pagodas for 1.5 hours, we went for a hearty local lunch and then set off on a wild ride with seemingly endless curves to the 'Elephant Sanctuary' in the jungle, a type of rescue station for elephants without riding or anything like that, with a huge area for free movement and no constraints. But the provided clothing for the tourists promises conditioned feeding, and there are various tricks to see. After feeding and bathing, the elephants retreated to sleep, and we drove back for about 1.5 hours to Chiang Mai... Today's group trip was quite pleasant. It would have been quite challenging to do this independently with a scooter, etc...