One day in Chiang Mai!

Wow what a day today was!

We started our day having some breakfast in the Travelier hostel then headed to Hua Lamphong station (Bangkok) to catch our night train. To get to the station we took a Grab. Grab is basically the equivalent of Uber in Asia, I would highly recommend it for anyone who is thinking of visiting. Makes travel a lot easier and you know that you’re not going to get scammed and overcharged.

The night before our journey we made sure that we bought some snacks for the train journey e.g. crisps and some seaweed to try! Then before leaving Hua Lamphong station we went to a cafe and had a big lunch to set us up nicely. Our train departed from the station at 1:45pm for a lovely 15 hour journey to Chiang Mai. The journey started rather nicely, we departed on time, had our own seating area and our seats turned into bunk beds!

However it was a very long 15 hours with very little sleep. We arrived in Chiang Mai at roughly 4am and had several hours to kill before our day at the Jungle Elaphant Sanctuary.

The four hour wait felt endless but we just kept telling ourselves this day will be worth the lack of sleep and waiting round. For the first 2 1/2 hours we played cards at the station, bought a cold drink and snack. Then we booked a Grab to the Jungle Elephant Sanctuary office ready for our day, then we had another small wait before our journey up into the jungle! Whilst waiting at the office we met a lovely Canadian couple who we later sat with for lunch. It was now our turn to meet our driver and guide ready for the day and head towards the jungle. We had a nice open back, Jeep looking car to take us through the winding roads into the jungle. Having travel sickness is not fun for journey like that but I was too excited to worry about that.

Upon arriving at the Jungle Elephant Sanctuary we were given complementary water then we headed to our base camp for the day, which was camp 7. Our first port of call was to put on our traditional Karen clothing then begin by feeding the elephants. We were told when feeding the elephants if you shout bonbon they know it’s feeding time.

After feeding the elephants it was feeding time for us too! By this time I was so ready for food which was great because there was loads to choose from. We had a buffet type lunch of rice, potato and chicken curry (red curry), chicken on the bone, roasted vegetables with tofu and some additional tofu on the side, then some watermelon for after.

Once lunch was over we had about 20-30 mins relaxing in the heat and drinking some water before we made the elephants medicine balls. The main ingredients of the medicine balls was rice, dried rice, bananas and sticky fruit plant. To be honest they smelt rather nice! We then headed back down to feed the elephants the medicine balls again starting by shouting bonbon!

Next it was time to scrub, bathe and clean the elephants and ourselves too. This process starts by covering the elephants in mud and then using brushes and our hands to rub it in. Then we proceeded to walk along with the elephants down to the river and waterfall, which was stunning. We washed the elephants off using bucket type things and slashed water over them.

After we headed back towards camp said goodbye to the elephants an had showers before heading back to the Jungle Elephant Sanctuary office to collect our big luggage then head for some dinner before our bus journey back to Bangkok.

Our guide and driver was amazing and as we were discussing places to go and eat we asked for his suggestion. He said to head for the shopping mall across from the bus station as it would be nice and convenient. Then he offered to drive us there with our bags then meet us after an hour or so to take us over to the bus station. We left Chiang Mai at roughly 8pm for a 10 hour drive back Bangkok. By 8:30pm we were both fast asleep and didn’t really wake up until we arrived back in Bangkok. Definitely needed sleep after the previous night.

Only having like 3 hours sleep was not ideal but the whole day was 100% worth it!