elephants, oxs and bamboo rafting

i have just ridden on an elephant! the day started with seeing the elephants and having your photo taken with them, before watching them washing in the river. i was surprisingly intimidated by them! they were so big! we then had an elephant show which was very touristy and quite cringy. the elephants did various tricks- including kicking a football into a net, painting a picture of a tree on canvus which they did well, moving logs onto a raised pile, and other things. the elephants would bow after doing any of these in time with their master. next we got an ox cart ride, which was bumpy and not very exciting! they are ugly creatures! then we got on an elephant. i sat in the basket with Yvonne; Dan and Claudia went on an elephant infront. we went along a little track through a jungle area and into the river. the elephant tipped forward down the muddy banks to get into the river, and i thought i was going to fall out! but i got used to it and it was quite good fun! i think we had a slightly rebellious elephant as it wanted to go down different tracks than the others, and at one point it raised its head in arguement so the Thai guy had to kick it behind the ears to behave!
we ate a really nice buffet, which we all got carried away with, then onto bamboo rafting down the river. this was relaxing, but the river was low so there were no rapids. we ended with a look at an orchid and butterfly farm as part of the day package, but it was disapointing as i have seen far better butterflys just sitting outside the hostel in Laos or at the crag.
back to the campsite now by taxi and 3 more days of climbing before we hit Bangkok.

elephants, oxs and bamboo rafting

Chiang Mai, Thailand