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Today might have been our best day yet. We decided to go to the elephant nature park which is for elephants which have been rescued. It was also on a national geographic programme and is considered one of the ways to interact with elephants in Thailand. www.elephantnaturepark.org/ lots of places in Thailand which have elephants are unethical and the animals are not treated well. They include rides on the elephant and metal hooks are used to manipulate the elephants. Anyway, the place we went to focuses on rescuing elephants or all ages and allowing them freedom, there are no fences and the elephants aren't chained up at all. They day started with us being able to feed the elephants hand which was really cool. The trunks and so much stronger than I imagined. Then were had lunch and then we all went down to the river to wash the elephants. We could only so this with certain elephants however, as some are too easily spooked or might become distressed. There were no camera flashes allowed and the mahouts (elephant handlers) made sure noone got too close to certain elephants. After we'd done this we got to stand on a platform and watch as other elephants (there are 37 on the park) have their turn in the river. There were two male elephants that were brought down, one called Hope and one called Jungle Boy. There are both 15 and are very naughty and like to charge at new people (us). Hope was born in the wild but his mother died while he was too small to take care of himself. As a result he is the most wild of the elephants. It was funny watching Jungle Boy with his mahout. He didn't want to go in the river and when the mahout tried to encourage him he sulked off to the other side of the river. After this the elephant family was brought down to the river. This was made up of two babies (2 years old) and two mothers and another female. We were able to get really close to these elephants (not the babies) as the mahouts were feeding them. We took millions of photos and even got an elephant kiss off one of them. We were then shown a video of how elephants are treated in Thailand and the work that goes on at the rescue park. We both learnt loads about elephants and how they live in the natural environment within families. It was a real eye opener and we were really glad to go this one opposed to one which had different scruples. There were also lots of rescue dogs at the park which just sleep and get fussed and are very at ease with the elephants and vice verser. It was a really really amazing experience. When we got back we went out for Mexican (again I know I KNOW) and then for our first Thai massage. It was good fun and a points quite painful and invoked Dennis being walked on by a tiny thai lady.
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