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What can I say? We checked out of hotel on Lampang and rode 45 minutes in back of Yoyo's open air taxi to the elephant conservatory. As soon as we got here and checked into our grass hut we put on our official mahout suits and headed to the elephants. Within minutes of our orientation we were on the elephants. The first time was literally terrifying but I got the hang of it quickly. My elephant is still a baby only 6 years old and his name is AI which stands for artificial insemination. He was the first in-vitro elephant born here in Thailand. He's a little feisty and rougher to ride than the older ones. We learned how to get on and off and then took them to the river for a bath. That was crazy! They were squirting each other and us and dunking us in the cold water. We walked them up to the arena and proceeded to be in the show for the audience. My elephant plays the drum and xylophone and paints. He painted a picture of some flowers which I bought for $500 baht which is about $15. I heard you can buy them in the US for hundreds.
We actually put on 3 shows today and then walked them about 30 minutes into the jungle where they spend the night. Everyone is so sore we can barely walk. After a family style Thai meal at our huts we listened to the mahout band play some music on our porch. I'm now laying on my cot trying to get comfortable on the hardest mattress I've ever laid on. It's really more like an outdoor seat cushion but not even that soft. It should be an interesting night with no air conditioning, dogs barking, roosters crowing and elephants wailing in the background. We get up at 6:00 and walk to the jungle to get our elephants and do one more show before heading to the airport for our flight home.
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