We had big plans. Elephant trekking was supposed to be a sure fire good way to spend our Christmas and we opted for the special package to not only ride the elephants, but to also swim with them.
We were very excited and we hurried down to breakfast at the hotel restaurant but realized we were a little too early so we walked down by the rocks and climbed to the top to get a nice view of the cove. The tiny wood ladders were slightly scary to climb but once reaching the top the view was amazing! We were able to watch the sun as it continued to rise into the sky.
When the time was right we headed to the open air restaurant, which had an amazing view of the water. The breakfast was tasty. It combined Thai and western styles and the variety in everything down to fresh tropical fruit was amazing. But most importantly, the deep dark flavor of the fresh cup of coffee was heavenly.
We headed to the front desk near the Christmas tree and waited for our ride to arrive to take us to the elephant farm.
When we arrived at the farm we saw all of the elephants eating sugar cane and palm leaves. The conditions were nice and we were told that this place takes care of the animals and it is a certified animal preservation camp. We loaded up on the elephant right away and took off for the jungle.
The man who was 'driving' the elephant sat on the elephants neck and we sat in a seat rigged up on the elephant's back. Our elephant's name was Nam Than and he was 37 years old. He was very friendly and the man from the camp treated him well. We were trekking through the trees taking occasional breaks for him to have a snack of leaves or other nearby foliage.
To my surprise, the driver hopped off about 20 minutes into our 2 hour adventure. He directed Gordon to the elephant's neck and let him drive. He instructed him to steer the elephant with his feet by jiggling the ears with our foot on the left or right to turn each way.
I continued to ride on the top in the seat, which made me feel like some sort of old school princess. However, this feeling didn't last long and of course I wanted to be the driver! I was jealous! I convinced Gordon to switch with me and I drove him onto the road and down to the river. The water levels were low because apparently there had been little rain in Thailand last year. Due to the exposed tubes I am pretty sure that water is being pumped upstream to fill the watering hole where the elephants swim. We got to the water and hopped off onto a platform. After taking off clothes and getting the carriage off the elephant's back we hopped into the water and went for a swim!
The elephants were very happy to be in the water and they were splashing and playing. We were instructed to stand up on them and when we did our elephant threw Gordon into the water. Over and over again, repeatedly the elephant threw Gordon off each time but loved to have me on him. We were friends!
After the swim we loaded back up and headed back to the camp. Upon our arrival we met with a woman from America that volunteers there three months a year every year. She explained to us about the camp and all the good they do. They also told us that there were small charms for sale that are made of the tusks of elephants that had died of disease or natural causes that the money would be used to help the elephants.
It seemed very legit compared to many other elephant places that we checked out. I am def. glad that this is what we chose.
For our christmas dinner, we decided to have food outside at the hotel. The setting was very special and perfect for christmas. We headed over to the BBQ and selected the fresh seafood we wanted for our meal. We chose a lot of GIANT prawns and some other meat.
The meal was scrumptious. After, we headed upstairs to our room to rest up for the next day of travel. We were heading to Cambodia the next day!
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