Elephant Conservation Camp & Thai Cooking Class

On our checklist for Chiang Mai was to ride an elephant through the jungle. Chiang Mai has elephant camps all over, however Jen specifically wanted to visit the Elephant Conservation Camp in Lampang (1 1/2 hours away via bus) because it is focused on ecotourism, had a good reputation for the treatment of the elephants and provided free medical care to all elephants in Thailand. Instead of the show being gimmicky it's more educational. The show featured 20 well trained elephants, & Jen was chosen to be part of the show, with an elephant putting a hat on her head. We learned elephants were used for logging, for royal transportation and by warriors, they can live until 100 years old. Today many of these domestic elephants are no longer needed in these areas, so these camps are set up to provide refuge for the elephants. We also learned we weren't supposed to feed elephants in urban markets (which we had done the day before- oops). We saw the elephants demonstrate previously used logging techniques - dragging/stacking logs.

Our elephant ride was a disappointment. Besides Levi spending our bus money home on a 30 minute ride (take our word for it, a 10 minute elephant ride is as good as a 30 minute elephant ride), our Mahout (elephant caretaker/trainer) had an angry disposition.





Met the baby elephant, so cute - surprisingly strong - grabbed out for Jens hand and nearly tugged her over the railing.































Thai cooking class - trip to the market, explanation of all the mysterious fruits/veggies we've been eating the last few weeks. Saw how they made fresh coconut milk. Class was with 5 other travellers from England, Ireland and a mom/daughter duo from the Philippines, all together decided on 4 dishes: Spicy Papaya Salad, Red Curry Chicken & Rice, Cashew Nut Chicken Stir fry and Chiang Mai Noodles. Only in Thailand would someone not be opposed to cooking in a kitchen with a plastic tarp floor, peeling wallpaper, etc. Food was delicious, instructor was awesome. Levi really enjoyed this, surprising Jen by saying it was his second favorite activity behind diving that we've experienced so far in Thailand. We think we may take a few other cooking courses together in the future.