Chiang Mai Elephant Sanctuary, An Amazing Experience and Turning Point

Today is the day I visited the elephant sanctuary! The entire reason I made this city a stop on my journey, to engage with these angelic animals. I booked a tour the day prior that was not only a visit to the sanctuary, but also one that took me to see the sticky waterfalls. This was something I wanted to do but it wasn’t absolutely imperative during my time here. Now, I am glad to say that I gratefully didn’t miss it. It was the first stop of the day, and all of us in the tour were unsure what to expect for these falls. Our guide didn’t join us for the actually scaling of the falls, instead intently guarded our cheap water shoes at the top. I somehow found myself at the front of the pack, leading the group barefoot down this long winding wooden staircase, each step another few inches south, making me weary the trek up would be even more difficult. We went to the bottom of the falls, and then we began our descent. 

I had such a good group that joined me for this day trip. I was one of the last to get picked up, and when I hopped in the van I looked back to see a pack of girls around my age and with kindness in their eyes, I had a good feeling about the day. We were also joined by this couple, meaning the group had one guy to lead the way. Thankfully he was a bold, outgoing, and adventurous British man that when we got to the start of the falls, he was the brave one that blazed the trail for us girls to follow. 

These waterfalls are called sticky waterfalls for a reason. There is some sort of natural process that occurs where the build up on these rocks from the water passing by doesn’t make them slippery, but instead quite gripping that you can walk up them without worrying of a fall. But, they aren’t sticky in all places, just where the stone is white, hence why we wanted the guy to go first for him to be the victim of any misfooting and give us a fair warning. He gladly did it and we gladly followed. 

It was actually so much fun climbing up these waterfalls, and the view was pretty cool too. I got to know two girls from the UK pretty well during this trip and we swapped taking photos for each other, grateful that being solo didn’t mean being out of the capturing the moment. Once we got to the top, we got to look out on the views, be proud of our ascent, and reflect on the fact it wasn’t hard whatsoever, and instead just really really fun. There were some ropes there for safety to help you get up the falls, and I am glad to say I made it to the top uninjured and unharmed. 

Our next stop was to get some lunch. The whole ride there I was talking with my tour mates. It made my day to get to chat to some people, and the whole conversation was mainly about travel which always lifts my spirits. I also snagged a crucially good spot at the lunch table and was able to be surrounded with the UKers (the other half of the group was 4 girls that just graduated from UT-Austin, but they kinda kept to themselves more so than the English people). I had a great time at lunch and was really solidifying some of these friendships for the day to come. 

With ants in our pants, we were finally headed to meet and hang with the elephants. This was what I was most excited for. We walked in, changed our garb into these blue shirts, as elephants struggle to see color but blue is very easy for them to see. We had to wash our hands so that we didn’t have any residue on them when grabbing their food and feeding them. And then we went to a table next to the elephants to get learn about their history and where they are now. 

I learned so much about elephants and I hope you don’t mind as I share some of those facts with you. There are only three species of elephants, and one has gone extinct, so the two left are the Asian and African elephant. You can probably guess that we had Asian elephants. This specific place had priorly been a riding camp, but during covid they transitioned towards making it a sanctuary to prevent further harm to the elephants that comes with riding them. What made riding so inhumane is that they would be saddled up, and sharply poked in order to keep moving at a quick pace to get through more rides (meaning more money) each day. They weren’t allowed to eat during the rides and to restrict their reach towards the grass, a sharp hook near their ear was used to pull them back towards the path. They were used primarily for work and generating profit, a sad life for these adorable elephants. That is just a few reasons why it is becoming less common to ride elephants (illegal in fact in some places), and instead play with them for the day.

We also learned about their eating habits, in fact that they love to eat. We got to make medicine balls for them, chop up sugarcane, and rip the bananas off the stem for them to easily feed on. After we prepared the food, we fed it to them. Either you could put it on near their trunk and they would grab it from you and put into their mouths themselves, or you could place it right on their tongue. Their teeth are placed in the back of their throat which is why you don’t have to worry about getting your fingers chomped off, maybe just leaving a little more slobbered up. I tried it once putting the food right on the mouth, but I found I preferred to give it to them and watch as they grip it with their trunk and open wide as they pop their nummy food back. 

As we fed them we got to pet them, take photos with them, and continue treating them to some yummy food. Elephants are herbivores, so we only fed them plants, and the tour guides made tons of jokes about them thankfully not wanting to eat us. 

Our next activity was to take them over to the other side of the river to walk around. The only way to get them where you want them to go is to lead with food in front of them. They will not only gravitate towards you, but aimlessly walk to where the treats are. They noted that all of their elephants are domesticated, meaning that similar to a dog, they love their owners and if left out in the wild, they would likely not survive. These elephants were treated so well no thought crossed my mind that they should be released. The sanctuary was quite expansive and the caretakers loved them dearly. It was really cool to witness and to be part of.

So, we crossed the river with them, video included to see how crazy it felt watching them do so, and on the other side of the river, watch as I “walked” aka just fed an elephant. One thing that was so adorable was they had two younger elephants. One was seven years and joined us for the walking, the other was just 5 months and stayed close to the mother. Both opened my heart and skipped a beat as I watched them step by so sweetly.

Next was their mud time. They use dirt and mud in order to protect themselves from the sun and heat. They got all muddy in the pits, anyone could join in if they pleased, I opted to watch from the sidelines and was still at times only inches away from getting splattered. I did participate for the next activity and that was bathing them.

It was so fun to watch them shed the mud from their bodied in the murky water, and splash water onto their large figures and watch as it slowly melted off them and float away in the river. Watching them lower themselves into the water, some laying on their back to get a full clean was crazy. These massive creatures would come down to eye level, whilst taking care of themselves and washing up. It was an experience of a lifetime and has a permanent mark on my heart with a love for this animal. I even got splashed by one, it was all fun and no worries because I was already wet. Check out the video to see just that.

We concluded our tour and time with the elephants by returning up to the front to clean off and change out of our clothes. Here are some more photos from the day!

Our drive home was filled with looking through photos and swapping contacts so we could all stay in touch and see where our journeys took us. The two sweet UK girls invited me to the market with them that night, I was planning on going to one and was so happy to have company for it. I walked and talked with my mom on the way there. I met them near the market to grab a drink first. We shared stories about our school experience in America vs UK, we had a quick chat on the royal perspective from both sides, and also a small conversation about what the upcoming elections are looking like in our respective countries. I was saying how it is unsure what the result of the election would look like this fall for the US, and they mentioned the UK was in a similar boat, how for years they have been run by the conservative party, but the labor party will give them a run for their money this year. It was really interesting to talk to them, I feel like I learned so much about a different place in this big beautiful world, and for the first night in 3 nights, I didn’t feel ever so alone. 

While they enjoyed a meal, I had eaten some vegan food beforehand, I had mango sticky rice in front of me to enjoy at the same time. We talked so much more, enjoying spending time out in the lively environment. I was so happy to say I took part in some of the nightlife and could see a night market first hand. What an absolute joy today was, and I am filled with so much hope and optimism about my future travels. It goes to show the impact people can make in one's lives. When given an opportunity, never fear reaching out, show kindness always, and be curious and engage with those around you. All the lessons I keep on learning as this trip is slowly carving away at me, shaping me to be a person more enlightened and filled with more wisdom on how to be a strong, kind person of this world.