Mud, elephants, natural waterslides and beers

I woke up today pretty well rested for a night on a train, but as I mentioned I have really started to appreciate sleeper transport. You don’t lose a day but still get a good night’s sleep, nevertheless I am aware others don’t feel the same. Anyway I wake up fresh as a daisy as we arrive in Chang Mai. Once the group load off the train we are ushered into a few, smaller buses. Luckily the one I end up on has a speaker we can connect to, so with Alex as DJ, we have some tunes we can listen to while we head towards our first stop, a gas station for some food. It is a quick stop and as one can imagine not the best food but by this point I am starving, so anything will do. We are then back onto the same bus; the boys and me are sharing with Lars and Jenny the Germans, Dan the American and Ina the Austrian. Once we get to the home stay I find I am sharing a room with five other men which normally I wouldn’t mind while travelling, but in 30+ degree weather in a room with only a couple of fans and no AC, not so much fun. But, hey, that’s what travelling is all about: being in a slightly uncomfortable room with three friends, Lars and Dan. I kind of feel bad for Dan he’s actually paid to upgrade to avoid situations like this but at this home stay he’s unable to have his own room so he’s in with us.

Soon we are heading out for our first activity as a group assuming you don’t count a sleeper train, which I don’t. We are going to an elephant sanctuary; don’t worry, there is no riding or hooks, I know that is a big thing these days. Personally I think if you can ride a horse, you can ride an elephant although I do agree the hooks aren’t very nice. Anyway neither are happening here today. We reach this sanctuary where they have four elephants, including a baby. We have various activities planned but first we are told to put on these red ponchos so the elephants will recognise us as, although they are accustomed to the staff, everyone else that comes here wears the red ponchos. We get the chance to feed the elephants sugar cane – it’s quite fun although I question the effectiveness of the tiny wooden gate in the middle of a field that supposedly is there to stop the elephants yet all the adults elephants seem to abide by the power of this little gate while the baby just frolics around us, grabbing up as much sugar can as possible. Once they have eaten, it is time for a mud bath, the elephants and most of the group gladly jump into this muddy, and I assume shitty, pit in the middle of the field. The elephants love it getting a good mud scrub for most of the time, but I reckon we have even more fun as a mud fight inevitably breaks out with every man, woman and child for themselves. Mud is flung around in every direction and we all become covered. After the great mud wars of 2023 are over, we head to a nearby stream to wash off the elephants and ourselves which of course then leads to a water fight using the little plates and buckets we have been given to wash the elephants with. As if this wasn’t enough of a bonding experience for the group we then head for a massive communal shower to wash ourselves off before lunch and beers during which one of the sanctuary/homestay workers whips out a guitar and starts playing, you guessed it, Wonderwall.

Once our bellies are full and the group has started bonding more and more, we start heading back to the homestay but not before a stop off at a local swimming hole in the river. Although the strong flow of the water doesn’t make it the easiest place to swim, that, combined with the natural smoothness of some of the rocks, means there is essentially a water sluice to go down which means that the we get giddy with excitement and can’t wait to slide down! We spend some time playing around in the water before the group packs up and heads on back to the homestay. It is an amazing place with stunning views overlooking a lush green valley below. Some is cultivated and the rest just wild and free, a contrast to our hot and sweaty room! After a home-cooked meal, it is time for more beers and games. The home stay has a dart board upstairs and a big group of us play a game of around the world where rather than points the aim is to hit the numbers in order from one to twenty, a double skips a number a triple skips two. Hayden, one of the guys on the tour, turns out to be a rather good player but he and a few others, including me, get stuck on the last goal which is to hit a bullseye to end the game. In fact the game takes so long that in the end we are all just happy to walk away without a winner. After the darts some of us stay up having a beer, playing cards and chatting. Jon sits for ages getting a German lesson from Jenny and Lars, before we all head to bed fairly early as we have a full day planned tomorrow. All in all it is a good first full day. Still working on learning everyone’s names but I am definitely starting to get there. I have got the guys down pat but, to be fair, there is only eight of us out of the twenty three and I already knew three of them and I’m sharing a room with two more. But I will get there!!

Mud bath with an elephant

Mud bath with the elephants
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Natural water slide
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Baby elephant
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