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Thailand in review part one
Ok so we have done a lot of articles about the relationship side of our website, but not a whole lot of travel. I have talked about being in Thailand a lot in our podcasts so I thought I would dive into what I loved about Thailand and what I think you can skip. I also am going to do two Thailand review article because my trip was two very different parts.
Length of time
I spent a month in Thailand. It was super exciting! I was also really nervous. I didn’t know the language and I didn’t know anyone there. I went on the trip as part of a volunteer group at the Elephant Nature Park which is located very close to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is one of the largest cities in Thailand. I would suggest that you go for at least two weeks when visiting Thailand. First of all, the plane ticket is typically very pricey. Paying a couple thousand dollars to go to a place for only a week doesn’t make much sense to me. Secondly, spending that much time on a plane doesn’t make sense to me if you are only going for a week. My plane from JFK to Hong Kong was about a 21 hour flight. Then there was the flight from Hong Kong to Chiang Mai. That is almost two days of traveling and if you are only staying for a week, then you are only getting five days of actually being there. That isn’t enough time to feel settled in or enough to get over the jet lag completely. Two weeks was how long the majority of the volunteers stayed for. It gave me enough time do all of the touristy stuff and settle in a little bit. In my opinion the longer the better. The long you stay the cheaper it becomes. To a certain point of course. A month is going to cheaper, but it is a long time to be away. You can probably find an apartment that is month to month if you want to save money and live more like a local. Think a month was enough time to really fit in and figure out Thailand. The only problem for me was being away from Kodiak for so long, especially because I was staying at the Elephant Nature Park for the majority of the time and they have terrible wifi.
Long distance
I am going to keep this section short because I plan on writing another article with Kodiak about how we coped with our long distance even if it was only for a month. We have actually done this twice. Once was right after we started dating and he went to his grandparents for the summer. He was gone for about two months. The other time was my Thailand trip. Long distance sucks! That’s all there is to it. There is no way to get around the fact that it sucks and talking on the phone doesn’t compare to being there with them. Having wifi is key to being able to communicate when you are half a world away. Also make sure to make a plan to call them every day at a time the works for both people. It doesn’t have to be for a long time, but doing this in the beginning when you don’t miss your partner yet will be key to keeping those feelings at bay for longer. We had to set up a time where the wifi was the best which meant it was at sunrise for me before anyone else was up and it was nighttime for Kodiak. It’s going to be hard and don’t think your relationship is going to be the exception. Better yet travel when you are single and you don’t have worry about missing anyone, but your friends and family.
Elephant Nature Park
So now let’s dive into what I did while I was there. I spent three weeks at the Elephant Nature Park and one week in the city of the Chiang Mai. The Elephant Nature Park is an elephant refuge that saves elephants from abuse and from working as slaves in logging camps and other horrible situations.
NEVER RIDE ELEPHANTS IN THAILAND!!!!!
I truly can’t express this enough! This is a horrible industry. Elephants are abused and chained up in these trekking camps! Most of these elephants are stolen from the jungle illegally. In order to get baby elephants they have to kill the rest of the herd in order to get to the babies. Elephants are endangered and are still being hunted in these parts. Also, DON’T GIVE MONEY TO AN ELEPHANT STREET BEGGER! Elephant street begging is illegal in most cities in Thailand, but if you come across someone with a baby elephant asking for money DON’T GIVE THEM MONEY! They aren’t going to set the baby free and they aren’t trying to help feed it. Everything they tell is a lie and they steal these babies, abuse them, and chain them up to get money from tourists. Elephants also have very sensitive feet and pick up vibrations from other elephants through the ground. Being on the street is like a sensory overload because of the cars and buses. The elephants typically sway and pick up their feet. They get beaten by trying to get away and they are whipped on a regular basis.
DON’T RIDE ELEPHANTS OR GIVE MONEY ELEPHANT STREET BEGGERS!!!
Ok now that my rant is over we can get into the great things that the Elephant Nature Park is doing for these previously abused elephants. Lek Chailert is the founder and she is a truly an amazing person. She is an inspiration and known as the “Elephant Whisper”. She is super nice, but very busy. The elephant nature park has variety of lengths of time that you can stay and help out or visit. There are day visitors where you get to stay the whole day and wander around. Lunch is provided for these visitors. There are also week-long volunteers. You get a room which most of the time is dorm style and meals are provided. You have morning and afternoon chores which can be anything from cutting corn to unloading melon trucks to cleaning enclosures. You get to walk around and touch and feed the elephants. You shouldn’t touch babies, just like with all wildlife. Moms can be unpredictable and babies can cry at any time and the whole herd response by running and circling the baby. You could get trampled or injured from trunks being swung around. There are also long term volunteers which have been there for a month or longer. They usually have different jobs other than chores that the week-long visitors do. When I came back for my second and third week I became part of a group that helps the elderly elephants with their food. Some don’t have teeth or have trouble eating and need the skins peeled off the melons or additional minerals added the rice balls they eat.
Food at the ENP
So the ENP, or Elephant Nature Park, is a no kill area and so the meals that are served are vegan. There is no meat which was very hard for me. It isn’t too bad for the first week, but about half way through the second week I was craving meat. The food is mainly traditional Thai food and a few tourist favorites like fries. Make sure to get to breakfast early because the orange juice is to die for. I don’t usually like orange juice, but I love this. I think they added pineapple juice to it. It was really good while I was there. The eating area is open air.
The park also has more than elephants. They have herd of buffalo, lots of cats and dogs, and a few other random animals like two monkeys and a pig. They dogs live throughout the park and run in packs. There are few that are not so friendly and so always be cautious. The dogs also sleep on the tables in the dining areas so be aware if you have allergies or think that is gross.
Time outside of chores
There is a lot to do around the park in your spare time. You can also take dogs for walks, volunteer at the dog shelter, go tubing on the river that goes through the park, or attend the nightly events that they have available. The night time events are usually an introduction ceremony and then variety of other cool opportunities. You can of course find a place to read a book, take pictures, and there is a gift shop to buy souvenirs. There is also a snack shack where you can get snacks in between meals and they also serve coconut water in coconuts. There are also a group of ladies that do massages in the top loft area over the top of the dinning area. They are cheap and they are very relaxing after cutting corn or other manual labor. They are clothes on so don’t randomly get naked. If you get especially attached to a dog or cat they have an adoption service that allows the dogs to go to a good home. If you don’t want a dog or cat, but see that someone in your state or country has adopted a dog or cat and needs it flown to them you can become a flight volunteer. It doesn’t cost you anything and they do all the paperwork. The person picks up the animal at the airport and they only need you to accompany it on the flight. Finally, there is an on sight tattoo artist. Her name is Jodie. She works with the bull elephants and lives in the center of the park. She does it on the side. I have seen a lot of the tattoos she has done and they were all really good. If you want a particular elephant then she goes out and takes a picture of them herself so that ever tattoo is different. She does do them in her little house in the center of the park which may seem a little sketchy. If you are nervous you can always ask around and I am sure you can find quite a few people with tattoos from her.
The Elephant Nature Park is definitely worth your time. The ENP is a great place to visit and stay with an amazing cause. I highly suggest it. It was a lot of fun and everyone I met is really nice.
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