Elephants, The Beatles, and Watermelons

            I have recently found a new interest in The Beatles, a band I do not get to listen to often enough as a result of their tracks being unavailable on Spotify. However, after a bit of monetary commitment, I have found it quite enjoyable to relax and listen to their songs. In fact, they have become so engrained in my head lately, that I find myself breaking out into “Hey Jude” randomly throughout the day. I have a couple lines down, the rest is simply a well-tuned mumble.. Fortunately another participant in my group has a similar love of spontaneous singing, so we have had more than a few improvised singing sessions.

            The past 5 days have been an elephant filled adventure at the Elephant Nature Park. This park is dedicated to bringing in abused and injured elephants from locations in Southeastern Asia, and giving them a safe and open place to live and recover. Volunteers come in troves to help cut reeds for their food, clean their nighttime quarters, shovel tons of dung, and wash the elephants. Of course, there are usually many selfies with the elephants (Elphies) throughout the process. However, this project does not support elephants being used simply to satisfy tourists’ desire to touch and ride these giant mammals. As a result, elephant contact is minimized, and nobody rides the elephants, not even the Mahouts (the elephant handlers).

            The ENP was started by a tiny Thai woman, Lek Challert, who has come to have an enormous reputation in the field of elephant conservation. She was the subject a National Geographic documentary back in 1995, which sought to highlight the dire predicament of elephant endangerment and treatment in Asia. The predicament, of course, has only become much worse since then, and if you are interested in preserving elephants, you could not donate to a more capable project than Lek Challert’s ENP. The ENP also cares for 450 abandoned dogs and re-conditions them so they can be adopted if you are in the market for a new canine friend.

            On the topic of my activities, I now have a new appreciation of chopped watermelon. After helping unload truck-loads of watermelon, placing them on shelves, washing them, and then finally chopping them, I can not over-state how appreciative I am of the people involved in such activities every day. On other days I helped move rocks for building projects and shoveled mind-boggling amounts of dung into trucks. I also became quite handy with a machete as my group chopped 50 bundles of reeds one day, which serves as food for the elephants.

            Anyway, I am currently back in Chiang Mai, where we will remain for the next 3 days. Fortunately, I am here exactly during the dates of the Flower Festival, so I have gotten to see incredible flower structures and been able to watch an outdoor concert. If you are interested in Indian food, I recommend you visit the Rajdarber Indian Restaurant and try their Lamb Rogan Josh, which is absolutely incredible. Also, if you want to save some money, you can get fried chicken and an assortment of other foods on the street for approximately 2 dollars per meal. Anyway, till next time!

Up close and personal with the world's largest land mammal!

Ping pong match with kids at a school near the ENP!

Good luck ceremony with a Shaman

Elephant love

Dog love (with one of the 450 dogs cared for at the ENP)

Muay Thai lesson in Chiang Mai. (careful not to kick)

We are the kind of people that pay to scoop dung!

Idyllic spot in the Elephant park... <3

Up close to the stage at the Festival of Flowers in Chiang Mai