Törröööööööö!!!!

From Chiang Rai, we continued by bus for 3 hours to Chiang Mai. Here, my big dream was finally fulfilled, to spend a day with the elephants!

This experience was on my "Top 5 To-Do List" for our trip =)

We booked the tour online at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. At 45€ per person, it was not cheap, but the price was absolutely okay for what we got.

Shortly before noon, a small pickup truck picked us up and we drove together with 4 other nice people for an hour and a half into the wilderness. When we arrived, everyone was handed a huge bag of bananas and we took a 10-minute walk to the elephants. When we arrived, everyone got a fancy outfit and stuffed some bananas into their pouches. And then they came... huge, majestic, simply incredible!!! Five elephants eagerly approached the visitors, allowed themselves to be touched, stroked, hugged, and photos were taken... almost everything you wanted. In return, we delighted the giant animals with bananas and sugar cane! My initial fear quickly turned into absolute affection for these animals. But that wasn't all.

After about 45 minutes, we all put on our bathing suits and took a walk with the elephants to a huge mud pit. Unfortunately, the animals didn't seem to have much fun with the mud today and after a few minutes, they didn't feel like it anymore. But then we went straight to the river for a well-deserved cooling off. It looked incredible as the huge pachyderms stepped into the water and could completely submerge their bodies. Elephant gone...!!! We were also allowed in the water, but had to struggle a bit more with the current compared to the elephants. Bathing with elephants is truly one of the most amazing things we have experienced so far (right after our swim with the sharks=)

Later, we had a delicious Thai meal and everyone was happy. The elephants simply walked freely on the premises and could do whatever they wanted.

You don't always have to ride an elephant, just spending time with the animals and getting to know them better was enough for us and was a great experience that we will remember for a long time!