Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Chiang Mai

We woke up early, still feeling rather sleepy from our travels to Chiang Mai the day before. It was the day I had been most excited for on our trip. We were going to visit some elephants at a local sanctuary – the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Chiang Mai. First things first though, we had a spectacular breakfast in our hotel, consisting of pancakes with multiple unique and colourful toppings and served with a side of tropical fruits. Stomachs suitably filled, we then made our way up to the lobby, and waited outside for our transfer. We both eagerly thought about the day ahead, and genuinely couldn’t wait for our adventure.

Shortly after 07:00, we were picked up by the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary transfer vehicle which certainly was not what we were expecting. Our ride was essentially a pick-up truck with a couple of benches in the back… (yes, you read that right). Already sat in the back were several other people, all roughly our age and from either the UK or USA. Surprisingly, the majority of them were fellow teachers, which gave us lots to talk about on our way to the sanctuary.

The journey was longer than anticipated, and as we cruised down windy mountainous roads, we eventually entered rural Thailand, where the countryside offered endless views of rice paddies and other beautiful scenery. Eventually, after almost two hours on the road, we reached a small dirt track and proceeded off-road. A few minutes later, we began to see what we had come here for; elephants. We had arrived at Camp 6, and we were ready to meet some elephants!

Once off the truck, we met our main guide for the day, who called himself ‘Nut’. He welcomed us to the sanctuary and talked to us about how any why the sanctuary had been set up, along with some facts about elephant anatomy, checking on what we already knew (if anything). We learnt numerous facts about the Asian elephants, including the fact that they have two bumps on their head, whereas an African elephant only has one. After a short but interesting talk, we then went to collect our outfit for the day. At the camp, they ask that you wear a locally-made top with a traditional tribal pattern on it. We apparently had to wear them as the elephants recognise the pattern and associate it with a yummy meal.

Once changed, we made our way towards the elephants. They were huddled in an open-barn structure where – we learnt – they were usually kept during feeding time. We were handed plenty of bananas and watermelon slices and then we went over to make some friends.

Immediately, my attention went to a six-month year old elephant called Charlie. He was the cheekiest little elephant you could ever imagine, and went over first to Jack to try and steal some food (meaning he basically got a hug – jealous!).

After that little Charlie hunted out the food bag and began to fill himself up with the tasty treats. Aside from Charlie, the rest of the elephants were adults, and were quickly burning through all the food. When feeding them we were given two options; firstly, we could place the food in their trunk and they would then take it and put it in their mouth, or we could shout ‘bon-bon’, and they would lift their trunk up and would allow you to place the food straight into their mouth. It was a truly wonderful experience, and it was clear that all the elephants were treated well and were given lots of love and attention each day. It was definitely a lot better than some horror stories that we had heard from other elephant ‘sanctuaries’ across the country.

After the elephants had eaten their fill, they were taken down to a mud-pool to have a bath. This is essential for looking after them, as it removes small parasites and dead skin. The elephants lead the way and dived into the mud pool. Some stayed standing and sprayed the mud over them, whilst the more playful lay down and submerged themselves in the mud.

We all then jumped in and began rubbing the mud all over the elephants, which allowed us to get up close and personal with them all. The tour guides were great fun, and began to use the mud to draw elephants and patterns on the backs of tourists. The elephants were very much in charge here, and chose when they wanted to leave.. Which they did after about five minutes. After this they moved over to a small, stagnant pool of water just a few metres away. We followed the elephants, and were told that we should bathe them and wash the mud off them (and ourselves). The pool was pretty dirty, and it was clear that the floor was practically just elephant dung. We decided to go in for a little bit, and then came out just before a water fight began (especially as I had seen an elephant poo in the pool whilst we were there!).

Drying off from our time in the pool, we were then treated to some lunch. The choices were very traditional (rice, noodles and a sort of Thai-omelette), and tasted delicious! We also were able to purchase some drinks to cool us down in the midday sun where it had reached a scorching 41 degrees! After lunch, our guide informed us that it would soon be time to leave. We headed down to see the elephants for the last time and to say our goodbyes, which was rather sad as although we had only spent five hours or so there, I felt that we had bonded slightly. It was of course particularly sad to say goodbye to little Charlie, who was still munching away on the leftover sugarcane. We gave him and his friends a final pat on the head, before making our way to the pick-up truck…

You might also like to see the video from our trip to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Chiang Mai!

..which is where I imagined this story to end, however, we had forgot one major thing; it was Songkran in Chiang Mai.

For those of you who are not familiar, Songkran is the Thai New Year and world-famous water festival, and Chiang Mai takes it very seriously… As in, they have full-on water fights in the city each year. We were told by Nut that we would be prime targets as we were tourists and we were on the back of pick-up trucks, and although there was a shelter above us, there were still plenty of gaps that acted as windows. At first I felt a little smug as our hotel was on the outskirts of the city, however, a couple of minutes into the journey that was soon wiped as a huge bucket of ice-water was thrown down my back by a local man who was waiting at the side of the road with a large assortment of buckets.

This sort of thing continued to happen, and we got very wet. The worst part was we had not even entered an urban area yet, we were still very much in the countryside and people were shooting at us with super-soakers. Truthfully, it was rather refreshing in the heat, it was just the paranoia of guarding our filming equipment from the onslaught of water. When we got to the city, amazingly the water-barrage halted. I suppose most of the water-fighting takes place down by the moats, meaning that we were safe on the outskirts. We eventually reached the safety of our hotel, and that afternoon we feasted on pizza and cocktails as, for the first time on the holiday, we relaxed by the pool.

So now, the big question. Would I recommend the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary in Chiang Mai? Absolutely yes. It was an incredible experience, and I loved every second of our time there. Although you get an extra hour or so with the full-day package, choosing the morning package meant that we got the same experience, but were back a lot earlier so that we could enjoy the other aspects of Chiang Mai. It’s also a lot cheaper, and you don’t really miss a lot of the experience with an extra hour. If you are in the Chiang Mai area and are looking for an ethical way to meet some elephants, definitely book to visit them!

Here’s a sneak peek at what else we got up to in Thailand:

My Travel Tips and Recommendations

Flights

My usual go-to for booking flights is Skyscanner, the flight search engine. What I love about Skycanner is that you have various options depending on your situation. If you know where you want to go it’s easy – all you need is to search for your destination and dates, and you are provided with all flight options to choose from. If you haven’t decided on your next trip yet, you can use the Everywhere tool for inspiration and to find the cheapest places to fly to.

Accommodation

Whenever I plan my travels Booking.com is my best friend. The website is super easy to use and provides a whole range of accommodation from fancy resorts to budget hotels. Jack and I also regularly use Airbnb – in particular, for staycations in the UK.

Things I can’t travel without

As a travel blogger and keen photographer I never travel without my trusty technology. Always packed are my

Canon EOS M3
GoPro Hero5 Black
I’m also saving for a DJI Mavic Pro

Travel Insurance

It is so important to be prepared for all possibilities when travelling and you simply shouldn’t travel without insurance. When looking for cover I would personally recommend World Nomads or the Post Office – both are affordable and certainly won’t break the bank.

Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Chiang Mai

You might also like to see the video from our trip to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Chiang Mai!