Volunteering at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary

I've previously mentioned the truth behind elephant tourism here, but I will happily reiterate the importance of ethical travel for those who are still ignorant on the subject.

As many of you may know, Asia is known for providing happy tourists with elephant rides through the streets and jungles; practically any research on a trip to Thailand will tell you to make sure you visit an elephant park and catch a ride on these huge animals. What these websites fail to mention is how damaging this practice is to elephants, both physically and psychologically. 

Elephants are extremely social creatures who are family orientated. It's common for them to spend their entire lifetime within one heard, rarely straying from each other's company. In order to get these elephants involved in animal tourism they are often taken away from their families as a baby, and are forced to live a life away from home. This is traumatizing to both the baby and the herd they unwillingly left behind. Once the elephants are in captivity they are chained down and beaten with hooks until they're properly trained to do as their owner pleases. It's a cruel and time consuming process known as the crush. Once the elephant is working for it's owner it must succumb to it's new life of walking the same streets and paths each day. Elephants in the wild will roam up to 50 miles a day if they please, but more often they prefer to stay within a smaller radius near water and food sources. They could happily spend their entire day eating and playing with their friends and family. To force elephants to tediously walk back and forth with heavy loads on their backs is just cruel, but it's not something that many people think about. 

Fortunately there are some really great ways to experience elephants up close and personal without doing them any harm. The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary is a relatively new program that was started by a few Thais who saw the dark reality behind elephant tourism and wanted to stop it. They started rescuing elephants who were working in the tourism industry in Thailand, and instead relocated them to their new home in the Thai jungle. They were able to bring families together that had previously been separated and now they have 5 happy elephants living in the hills of Thailand. 

Here they don't use hooks to keep them in line and the elephants are never tied down or forced to do anything they don't want to do. They happily spend their days eating endless sugar cane and bananas, and they get to swim in the nearby river or take a bath in the mud pit. The owners of Elephant Jungle Sanctuaru tirelessly spend their days observing and playing with the elephants to make sure they don't get into trouble, and they make sure to provide them with enough fresh food throughout the day so the elephants don't have to go too far to eat.

Adventuring to the elephants

Playing with elephants

As volunteers with Elephant Jungle Sanctuary we were picked up at our hostel in Chiang Mai at 8:30am and jumped into the back of a truck with other volunteers and started our two hour journey to the elephants. We started on the paved roads of Chiang Mai but eventually hit the bumpy roads of the uphill trek and spent a solid half hour trying not to bounce out of the truck. We started questioning if we would make it there in one piece, but finally we arrived, slightly bruised, but excited for the next step! Once we were out of the truck we met up with Robert, the founder of EJS. We were given bamboo hiking sticks and walked about a half mile to the home of the elephants. We set down our bags and were given sugar cane to feed to the elephants and hiked a few more minutes up hill to be greated by a running elephant who was extremely excited to see his caretaker. Peter, the youngest of the elephants is only two years old and knew that the sight of humans meant he would be getting snacks. He ripped the bag of sugarcane right from his caretaker and started trumpeting in excitement. It was quite a startling site to all of us, and although Peter is harmless we were all giggling nervously as we darted out of his path. Robert explained to us that Peter is essentially a puppy and still hasn't learned his manners. Slowly we all gained the courage to walk a little closer to the three elephants nearby and started feeding them bananas and sugarcane. It was a crazy experience to be so close to such huge animals. Although Peter is only two years old he already weighs about 1000 pounds. His grandma is 50 years old and is currently 12 months into her 22 month long pregnancy, weighing over 10,000 pounds. 

Emiliya with mama elephant

It was lunch time for the elephants and we all took turns feeding them various different plants and snacks. For such large animals they're surprisingly sneaky and quiet, and the surrounding hills echoed with the occasional scream as an elephant snuck up behind an unknowing volunteer, snatching food right out of their hands. We were all timid at first, letting the elephants take foods with their trunks, but eventually we all warmed up to them a bit and were able to place the food right into their mouths.
It was a chilly day up in the mountains, probably in the low 50s, so the elephants spent a lot of time huddled around the small fire that the workers had built for them. We spent about an hour petting the animals, feeding them, and watching them play in the trees nearby. We then left them to relax so we could all eat our own lunch, giving them some time to themselves. Normally the next step in the schedule is a mud bath followed by play time in the river, but because the temperatures were so low the elephants weren't willing to partake in this activity. Some people were disappointed when they learned this news, but we quickly realized how great it was that the caretakers didn't force the elephants to participate in an activity that would make them cold and unhappy. Instead of playing in the river and mud we instead got more time with the elephants on land, just casually following them through the jungle, watching them play and relax in the trees. I definitely would've preferred the mud and water experience, but it was awesome to see how well respected these animals are and I was grateful to see that they had the freedom to do whatever made them comfortable.
We had a really great day learning about elephants and observing them in a natural setting. It was awesome to see how happy these guys were, as opposed to what I've previously observed in zoos. On top of the elephants and sanctuary workers we also met a great group of travelers who were spending the day at the sanctuary as well, and they gave us some tips for what else to do in Chiang Mai during our weekend.
I highly advise this trip for anyone who has any interest in elephants. The money goes towards keeping these elephants happy and healthy, and they're also currently saving up to buy more elephants out of the tourism industry.

** Thailand is also know for their 'tiger kingdoms' where tourists get to cuddle up next to cute sleeping tigers, take them for walks and play with them. This practice is as equally unethical; tigers are predatory creatures and are not programmed to be calm and lovable creatures. In order to get these tigers to be safe they are often drugged, starved and abused. I haven't done as much research on tiger kingdoms and at the time don't know of any ethical ways to be around them, but I as tempting as it is to spend an afternoon next to these awesome animals, I urge you to not participate in a tiger kingdom.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Logistical Info

- A full day at EJS is 2400 baht ($67) and can be purchased on their website or at their office in Chiang Mai. We booked a few weeks in advance because we were working on a limited time frame, but a few in our group booked just a couple of days before the trip 

- The price includes pick up from your Chiang Mai location between 8-8:30, lunch in the jungle and drop off around 5:30pm 

- Bring a towel, change of clothes, bathing suit, bug spray and sunscreen 

30 hours in Bangkok

In order to deal with some confusing and annoying visa stuff for Thailand, Emiliya and I had to take a quick trip over the border to Thailand's neighbor Laos. We went with a tour company that does weekly visa runs and handles all of the confusing aspects for you, so we just had to show up in Bangkok and they handle the rest. 

We left Thailand on Sunday evening so we decided to come into Bangkok on Saturday to do a little exploring beforehand. 

Day One

We headed to our local bus station and took one of the countless daily buses from Pattaya to Bangkok for 115฿ ($3). We arrived in just under two hours and headed to Bewel Hostel where we had reservations. We picked this hostel because it boasted about it's walking distance to The Grand Palace and Wat Pho (home of the reclining Buddha). We headed out in that direction, stopping off at the beloved party street of Khao San Road (5-10 minutes from our hostel) for some much needed Mexican food to start our journey. After filling ourselves with some long-awaited tacos and margaritas we strolled another 20 minutes to The Grand Palace and arrived just in time for closing time, womp womp. Who would've thought that place closed at 3:30?! Rookie mistake. So we marveled at the huge white walls surrounding the palace and vowed to return some other day.

The Grand Palace is one of Thailand's most visited temples and up until 1925 it was the home to the royal family. It is now used for both public and private events and this walled area is home to 35 buildings/zones. 

The Chao Phraya River and Wat Arun

Fortunately there are other sites to see within walking distance of The Grand Palace, so our day wasn't wasted! We headed the next block over and finally got our first view of the Chao Phraya River, which winds throughout the country and flows into the Gulf of Thailand. Bangkok is known for being built around this river, but because Bangkok is such a huge area it took us three visits to actually see the river!
On the other side of the river is Wat Arun (formally titled Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan) which is named after the Hindu God of Aruna who is personified in the flow of the rising sun. Wat Arun is known for radiating the first light of the sun each morning. 

Wat Pho

After relaxing and watching the various boats race up and down the river we headed to our next destination of Wat Pho which is home to the world's largest reclining Buddha, and also holds the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand. Wat Pho is considered to be the birthplace of Thai massage and to this day is still known for it's education, especially for Thai medicine. Wat Pho was built with the intention of being a place for education and as a result it is one of the largest and oldest temples in Bangkok.

The longest reclining Buddha, measuring
in at 46 meters (150 feet)

It was a nice afternoon and we had every intention of walking the 1.5 miles back to our hostel but there was a persistent tuk tuk driver who wouldn't take no for an answer, so without even trying we got ourselves a 100฿ ride (just under $3) back to our hostel! I've read many blogs stating that tuk tuk rides are unsafe, a tourist trap and a waste of money and many writers urge foreigners not to partake in this stereotypical Thai transportation. I, however, love tuk tuks and find that they're an enjoyable and quirky way of buzzing through the streets, and they're much safer than a motorbike taxi.

Enjoying our tuk tuk ride through the streets of Bangkok

Next up on our list was a traditional Thai massage. I can't even defend how I've gone 2.5 months living in Thailand without getting a massage, and it was definitely time to change that. I've heard rumors that Bangkok is the best place for cheap massages, and supposedly you can find an hour massage for 100฿ ($3). However near our hostel we had to settle for 250฿ ($7) for an hour. 

I'd been told that a Thai massage isn't an hour of relaxation and I was forewarned that I would most likely be walked on and stretched in painful ways. That proceeded to be true, but I will definitely do it again. It was an hour of massage mixed with yoga and a visit to the chiropractor. As warned, I was walked on and folded into tiny pretzel shapes, but after that hour I was much more relaxed and felt like I just finished an hour of stretching class.  

We found ourselves a cheap Thai meal for dinner and then retreated to our hostel for the evening where we chatted with the ever-fascinating collection of backpackers that are present at each hostel.

Day Two

Day two had high standards that quickly dissipated as the day went on. We originally planned on waking up at a decent hour to head to the Grand Palace, but that plan was ruined when we woke up with no running water in our hostel. Because we would be spending the evening sleeping in a van bound for Laos, we desperately wanted a nice shower to start the day, so we lingered at the hostel much longer than originally planned in order to take advantage of a real bathroom. Fortunately for us Bewel Hostel provided a free breakfast and had endless supplies of coffee and tea, so we still enjoyed our time lounging around. By the time we were up and moving we decided to nix the Grand Palace and save it for our next trip to Bangkok. Instead we took the BTS (Bangkok metro) to the end of the line and went straight to Chatuchak Weekend Market (nicknamed JJ Market) which is any shopper's dream come true. With over 8,000 vendors present at the market you are guaranteed to find at least one thing on your wish list. JJ Market sells practically everything including snacks, thai meals, leather goods, antiques, clothing, art, jewelry and any other souvenir you could think of. We had originally intended to spend a good chunk of our day there, but temperatures quickly soared into the mid 90s and we were seeking air conditioning much sooner than planned. Instead we took the BTS to Siam, which is one of the biggest stops in Bangkok and spent the rest of our day inside the mall of Siam Paragon where we enjoyed the cool temperatures and western food. 

Day two was somewhat of a bust, but because we're only living two hours away from Bangkok we weren't too considered with wasting a day. Although the temperatures in Thailand are getting much easier to handle, a full day out in the sun definitely takes it's toll and it's important to plan a day that involves both indoor and outdoor activities so you don't end up exhausted or sick. 

Our short trip to Bangkok allowed us to check off a few items from our Bangkok bucket list, but this city is huge and there's still so much to explore on our next trip! 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Logistical Info 

- There are endless bus stations throughout Bangkok, but the two most popular appear to be Eastern station and Victoria Monument. Eastern station is located at the Ekkamai BTS stop so it's easy to hop off the bus and quickly transfer to a van or jump onto the BTS and transfer to a new location around the city. Victoria Monument offers the same convenience as it's located at the BTS stop of Victoria Monument and is more centrally located in the city 

- The BTS is similar to any other metro system around the world, however it's less widespread as other metros. It's essentially a straight line that runs north to south and hits the center locations, but doesn't offer much availability to areas east and west of the center. For our most recent trip to Bangkok we rode the BTS as far as possible and then switched to a taxi to take us the rest of the way.

- Taxis in Bangkok follow the same convenience as the rest of Thailand: they're cheap! A 20-30 minute metered ride will only end up costing about 80฿ (under $3).

- We stayed at Bewel Hostel in a mixed dorm room for 300฿/night. They had the comfiest hostel bed I've ever experienced, free tea and coffee out all day and offered free breakfast each morning.

- Normal hours of The Grand Palace are 9-3:30 with an entrance fee of 500฿

- Wat Pho is usually open until 6:30pm and has an entrance fee of 100฿

- All temples in Thailand have a dress code that require shoulders and knees to be covered, but most popular temples (those with an entrance fee) will provide sarongs or robes to those who aren't dressed properly. Personally, this is a much better alternative than carrying around a sweater or wearing pants all day while touring the city.

The reality of Thailand

This past weekend marked the third month that I've been away from home, so I figured it was time to do a little reflecting on my time in Thailand. I'm not usually one to self analyze too much, but it's impossible not to notice the changes I've seen in myself since landing in Thailand, and for the most part I think I'm happy with the changes.
The most obvious difference that I see in myself is that I've mellowed out a ton. When it comes to organizing, planning or scheduling, my Type A personality shines bright. I proudly functioned out of two calendars in the states and made endless lists throughout the day to keep me on track. While I'll admit to still making lists (how could anyone go without lists!?) I've definitely calmed down on the scheduling and planning aspects of life. A part of that is because my time is devoted to school, and my school schedule is always up in the air. I learned within the first few weeks that just because it's the weekend doesn't mean you get the time off, and more often than not you won't actually know you don't get the weekend free until a day or two beforehand. We stopped planning things in advance a while ago, because our plans kept falling through due to school. This is also a result of "Thai time' as the locals call it: doing everything with very little planning and never doing anything on time.
It still baffles me how little planning Thai people seem to do, they're simply content with whatever info they know and they just take each day as it comes. Definitely not my style but I'm slowly starting to accept it. A superb example is the subject of summer. I'm super keen to start backpacking Asia, and if this were any other trip I would already have flights, hotels and tours booked throughout the continent. But alas, I am on Thai time and I can't for the life of me get a clear answer as to when summer starts! It bugs me, but I'm accepting it. As eager as I am to start my summer adventures I am aware of the fact that I might not know when summer starts until two weeks before break, and that's just something I have to be okay with.
This is the first time in my adult life when I don't check my calendar every morning and when I'm not scheduling coffee dates or dinners with friends (lets be real though, I have very few friends in Thailand). I take each day as it comes and although I have a general idea of what I want to do during a certain weekend it's nothing solid and never written down.

On top of a more mellow outlook on life I can't help but feel grateful yet guilty by the life I live. Thai standard of normal is nothing compared to my standard of normal. Previously a third world country, Thailand can now be considered a developing country but there are constant reminders of the poverty that remains throughout the land. I've never lived in such a mixed population of economic status before, and it's interesting to see how these worlds coexist. I can now say that this is where the pieces are finally coming together. To a westerner it would appear that many of Thais live in poverty, which I guess to our standards they do, but to them this is normal; it isn't sad, shunned or frowned upon, it's just how they live. Many of the students eat all three of their meals at school, because their parents can't afford to feed them. We have a few students who seem to live at the local orphanage, and even more who are special needs and aren't getting the attention they need. At first it was startling to learn all of this information, and even now it can be a little hard to stomach at times, but that's just Thailand. They have poverty, they have injustice, they have situations that they can't do anything about, and they accept it. And that's where the lightbulb went off: I've always pitied residents of third world countries, and that was honestly my first mindset of my new city in Thailand, and although this area is extremely underdeveloped, they're happy. This is their normal. The 'coffee shop' I visit on a regular basis is in no way a shop or a legit business, it's just a women working out of her garage, but each day her coffee cart is flocking with people and she always greets us with a smile.
I used to think that happiness and success was a four bedroom house, new clothes, a college degree and funds to travel the world, but Thailand is teaching me that the meaning of success and happiness fluctuates and varies around the world. A large portion of the Thai population are living in underdeveloped areas, but they're not a charity case. The standard of life is different in Thailand, and it used to be something that intimidated me and made me uncomfortable. I often miss the comforts of home and my version of normal: living in a place with more than one room, having a big kitchen, a shower with warm water, and driving my beloved jeep. But to many Thais that lifestyle is gluttonous. Many of the teachers have questioned if I live in a "mansion" like in American movies, and after realizing their version of "mansion" is your typical suburban home, I reply with a nod only to be handed ten more questions. How many people live in the house? Why do we each have our own room? Who needs three bathrooms in a house? And honestly, I can't give them an answer. Just because their version of comfort and normal are so different from mine I reacted towards it with a negative outlook and it's just now hitting me that although they're living in underdeveloped areas their quality of life and happiness doesn't vary much from my own.
This doesn't mean that everyone in Thailand is living the perfect life, just like any other country there are countless people who are struggling in poverty and could use help rebuilding their life. However, I'm realizing that there's an endless spectrum between a wealthy life and one in poverty, and just because some people fall lower on the spectrum it doesn't lower their quality of life.
That was a lot of rambling to simply say that Thailand fascinates me and is constantly teaching me new lessons. I'm learning that financial stability is important, but money and a big job are not everything. I've accepted that I often view other cultures from a pompous or pretentious eye and in order to truly appreciate a country for what it is, I have to adapt to a more unassuming role and become less critical in how I see the world. It's easy to judge a place when you have expectations but I quickly learned that accepting a culture for who they are will prove much better results as opposed to making opinions based on what you don't know.

New Year's Eve on Ko Samet

2015 came to an end more quickly than expected. I'm finding that the feeling of constant summer is really throwing off my ability to properly acknowledge time passing. There have been numerous occasions where I think it's July or August and get genuinely startled when I check my phone and see it's December (and now January). Living in a tropical climate is something completely new to me, and this was my first Christmas celebrated in the warmth. I've never been much of a beach person and I have a tendency to avoid direct sunlight, so I often questioned why I was voluntarily moving to Thailand, but it only took a few weeks for the charm of Thailand to hit me and suddenly I've become a tanner version of myself who craves the beach. So I was more than ready for New Year's break to come so I could head south back to Ko Samet Island!

We got five glorious days of vacation from school and we used our time well, heading for the island right after school ended for the week. There were a total of 10 of us staying in a house which we found on AirBnb (sign up here for $20 credit towards your first stay!) We were a crazy mix of Americans, English, Irish and Thai, and we meshed perfectly together! Most of us are English teachers through the same company of AYC and we picked up a few strays along the way to complete our happy Thai family.

Went on a bit of a hike to visit
a more secluded beach for the day

Our days consisted of no fixed schedule and no place to be except the beach, which is exactly how vacation should be. Most of my travels have taken me to a specific location or city with a huge list of things to see/do, so it's been really fun spending my vacations on islands where the only things on my list are get a nice tan and spend some time in the water.
Ko Samet island is rowdier than the smaller islands nearby and there's always a place to be each night. I had high hopes for New Year's Eve, planning to watch the fire show at Ploy Bar and then dance the night away under neon lights at Naga Bar. However, tragedy struck around 8pm on New Year's Eve and suddenly I was in the throes of my first case of food poisoning. Nausea hit hard which resulted in my New Year's date being the toilet. Definitely the most anticlimactic midnight countdown I've had in a long time. In terms of food poisoning I seemed to be on the lucky side, because I was fully recovered within 24 hours, leaving me a few days to still enjoy my vacation. I'm not 100% positive what got me sick, but about three hours before symptoms started I ate a full salad that we presume was washed with tap water as opposed to filtered water. This is what I get for trying to eat healthy!? Definitely learned my lesson on that one and will always be asking how the salad is washed from now on!

Drinking out of a coconut on the beach, life is good! 

One cool thing that I'm realizing is that Thailand really knows what it's doing when it comes to over the counter medicine. Even on the island they have a clinic ready to accept any ill or injured patients, but your first stop should always be 7-Eleven. They have an entire aisle devoted to various medicines, vitamins and supplements. I was able to buy a pill to stop nausea and found a few powders targeted towards people who had been throwing up too much which was full of nutrients to replenish everything lost through dehydration. On top of that, Emily got hit with a fever (it was a weird weekend of maladies) and was able to find a huge assortment of different medicines which worked wonders. And the best part is that everything is so cheap! We spent a grand total of $5 for a nice supply of meds and felt so much better afterwards.

Besides that little setback the time on the island was lovely as always. It was great to see some of our friends who we haven't seen since orientation in October. Although we're all teachers here we're each having such different experiences at our individual schools and it was really awesome to compare stories and see how much everyone is learning. And of course one of my personal favorite parts of vacation: warm showers! I'm slowly getting used to the chilly showers my apartment offers (that's a lie, I'm a wimp when it comes to cold water) but the warm showers are always something to look forward to when staying somewhere else for the weekend.
We spent our last evening on the island splurging on western food and playing games at our apartment and then went our separate ways back to our cities throughout Thailand to start week 11 of teaching!

Wave riding on a windy day

One thing that I might have failed to mention previously: Thailand is currently in the year 2559. They run on the Buddhist calendar so their year 0 started when Buddha reached Parinirvana. However, the thing that confuses me is that technically Thai New Year is in April and the one we just celebrated is known as "international new year" to them, yet their year still changed. I was fully expecting it to stay 2558 in Thailand and was baffled when it switched to 2559. There's already talk of the Thai New Year in April and there's always a big hoopla for it, so I'm intrigued to see if it'll be treated the same as New Year's Eve, or if perhaps it's just a weekend of celebration.  Lucky Thais though, they get two new year celebrations!

Until next time, Ko Samet :)