A day with the elephants

http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/ADayWithTheElephants#

I know saying I spent a day with the elephants sounds so simple, but it doesn't begin to describe an elephant camp and how it feels to ride an elephant through the jungle for a long time... the "Mahout?" lives and breathes with his elephant for life. Our girl was 30 years old and her mahout had been with her for 8 years. Then they gave us an elephant show. The elephants are so incredibly brilliant. I filled my photo card just on elephants.

There are many opinions about these elephant camps, some say they are wrong, others say that they save the lives of elephants that would otherwise be doomed to hard labor and amphetemines in Burma. Awful stories about injured and maimed elephants. But here in Thailand, they love the elephants and treat them well. They have many hours of rest and play, and a few hours each day doing rides and yes, some silly shows, that are still amazing. It was wondeful, and for the time being, I let the controversy rest and just enjoyed myself.

Later we road peacefully on bamboo down the river for another hour watching the jungle go by, then to an orchid farm and now here at the hotel for our last dinner and to Bangkok tomorrow.
I have been truly and incredibly blessed to experience this trip.

Thailand is a wonder and I hope that every single one of you gets to see it someday.