CHIANG MAI ELEPHANT JUNGLE SANCTUARY

Our main reason for adding Chiang Mai as a destination on our Thailand was to go and see elephants, and boy was it worth it! From doing some research online we pre-booked to go to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary in Chiang Mai. It was 2400 baht (~£60) each for a full day visit to the elephant sanctuary which is slightly pricey for an excursion but for everything included and the quality of the experience, I would definitely say it's worth it!

We started the day with a pick-up from outside our hotel at 8am in a pick-up truck style tuk tuk which surprisingly took us the whole 1.5 hours away to where the elephant camp is based. Don't be hoping to have a nap on the way as it is basically impossible but on the plus side, the wind blowing at you along the highway does the job at waking up the sleepiest of passenger. 

When we arrived we had a short briefing about how to behave with the elephants and given karen shirts to wear around the elephants. We then washed our hands and were thrusted handfuls of banana and sugarcane to feed to the elephants. The elephants came running towards us, which was scary at first but once you've fed them a few bananas and sugarcane you start to get used to how to act around them.

After a short talk about the elephants, we went back to base and had a delicious assorted lunch of rice, Thai vegetables and curry, fried chicken wings and watermelon to refuel for the second half of the day. Next, the group split into two to make medicine balls for the elephants. These consisted of bananas, sticky and raw rice, salt and tamarind, to aid digestion for the elephants. We all took turns to combine the ingredients before shaping them into balls to feed the elephants. 

Next, we had the chance to bathe with the elephants in mud and then rinse in the nearby waterfall! Before a final chance to hang out with the elephants while we all dried off, it was time to grab our souvenir karen shirts and head back in the tuk tuks home!

This excursion was one of the highlights of my Thailand trip and I'm so glad I did it. Not only is it fun to say you've fed and bathed with elephants, but you are able to appreciate the beautiful creatures and help save them from exploitation for entertainment purposes. A truly wholesome day that I recommend to anyone if they come to Thailand!

There are many different elephant sanctuaries in Chiang Mai (and you pass a lot of elephants along the way to the camp) but I highly recommend Elephant Jungle Sanctuary! You can tell they really care about the elephants and that their visitors have the best time. The lunch is lovely and you get to keep a souvenir karen shirt to show everyone you've found yourself in Asia on your gap-yah!

Have you been to an elephant sanctuary before or even this one? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!