Thailand: Elephants

Seeing and playing with elephants had been at the top of my  travel to-do list ever since my Mom and Dad told me about it from their first trip to Thailand. That was 3.5 years ago. But I can say that it was most definitely worth the wait, and lived up to every one of my expectations.

The elephants were a part of a day long outing that we made while in Bangkok. We had a guide and a driver to take us to a floating flower market, the tiger temple (also one of my favorites!) and finally the elephants. The first thing we did was feed one of the elephants. I was a little bit intimidated at first by their gargantuan size, but I also knew that they were suppose to be incredibly gentle creatures, and they were. 

We were given three elephants to play with. Damon and I took the one that was said to be a little bit crazier; Maddie and Mom were put on a smaller, calmer one who had the habit of, nearly without stop, swaying its head back and forth. Must’ve had a song stuck in its head. Dad was left to an enormous elephant. I would describe all of the elephants as enormous, but Dad’s took this to a new level.

We rode all of our elephants down a path to the riverside. With every one of their massive steps, we swayed back and forth. After wading into the water, they immediately set to spraying us

with their trunks. Their games were hilarious! The next, which Mom and Dad had warned us of, was to hold on as long as you could, while the elephant shook its head  back and forth. It may have only looked like the elephant was twitching, but it honestly felt like a rollercoaster. I think the longest anyone was able to stay on was three shakes.

Playing with elephants in a river was a unique experience, and one of my favorite from our travels so far. If you ever make it to Thailand, I highly recommend it!