We woke up refreshed, a full night's sleep was well deserved and well received by all. The shock and awe of being half way across the world wore off to a degree. I say that though in a good way. We very much appreciated being in Thailand, but with the cloud of bewilderment lifted; each adventure could truly be enjoyed for what it was.
The morning began bright and early as every moment of our next journey would be precious.Not having time to take a gamble with a traditional Thai breakfast we opted for McDonalds (Mike and Jay) and Quest Bars (Joel and Corey). The group gathered in the lobby awaiting our pick up to the Patara Elephant Farm.
When they say elephant caretaker for a day, it's tough to really know what you are getting yourself into, but every person we knew that had completed this excursion pleaded to our crew of four to include Patara in our itinerary. I want to take this moment to thank you all, as Patara was one of the most memorable and life altering experiences I have had to date.
We entered the van to meet the remaining four random members of our tour of eight. The forty-five minute ride up to the jungles was spent swapping stories and travel recommendations with a young couple from Canada and a friendly German couple. Side note: people in Germany traditionally have roughly 30 days off a year and are encouraged to use them!
We arrived at Patara with elephants wandering the premises, and it was at that moment reality dawned on all four of us..."elephants are freaking huge!" The owner of Patara delivered a heart felt speech, with a bit of off color humor woven in, about the farm's mission and our itinerary for the day. From that moment forward our day would be dedicated to taking care of our elephants.
Formal elephant introductions followed. Each one of us were assigned an elephant based on our personalities. Corey was paired with a mother and it's boisterous baby, Mike with an elephant whose backside would make Kim Kardashian envious, Jay with most senior elephant on the farm aptly nick named "old yeller", and I was paired with the stubborn and cautious brute who was always much happier after being fed. After a brief feeding and health inspection (dung check included) we were off to the waterfall to clean our new friends.
Climbing aboard an elephant for the first time was a bit intimidating, I admit, considering it could crush me like an ant at any second. That said, after a few minutes washing and scrubbing May-bu-ton I started to feel a genuine bond and the nervousness subsided. An hour and twenty-five minute trek bareback on our elephants followed. We weaved in and out of the jungle up and down the mountainside to our our next destination - lunch. The spread was fantastic, plenty of vegetarian options for those who required. After not having a complete meal in several days, being served a well prepared meal with fresh fruit was more than greatly appreciated.
A brief respite lead way into some fun interaction with the baby elephant, Paula, in the water. Corey and I hopped back in disregarding the potential discomfort of wet shorts for the remainder of the day, because really...when do you have the chance to do that again? Another short trek back to camp followed. We fed our elephants for a final time and bid adieu to all the members of Patara.
The van ride back served as the ideal venue for our afternoon naps, a pattern that appears to emerging. But before we rested our eyes we reflected on what an amazing experience Patara truly was. To anyone considering coming to Thailand I would highly recommend it. It's worth every baht and will leave you with a life full of memories.
With our afternoon massages booked and an hour to kill we decided to take a visit back to MaiPhai café, to partake in some delicious smoothies made by Clive, or as we have come to know him "Cool Clive". Feeling more adventurous we opted for the herbal enhancements this time. Get your head out of the gutter guys; while Clive is Jamaican we aren't talking about those types of herbs. With our circulation now on point we headed to our massages and back to the hotel to begin our first true night out in Chiang Mai.
Tawan Dang was our destination. Now when the person who recommends a location refuses to give you any details about said location and just urges you to see it for yourself, you tend to be a bit skeptical. After our tuk tuk ride hit the 20 minute mark the nervousness in the tuk tuk was palpable. It didn't help when a random cab driver along the way laughed in our faces when hearing of our final destination.
We arrived at Tawan Dang and were immediately rushed in the doors past the "no guns" and "no outside food" signs. We finally laid eyes on what I would best describe as local Thai dinner theater. The venue was huge, the food and fare was cheap and the entertainment was certainly a new experience.
Traditional and new age Thai was intermixed with American covers. Highlights of the night included a womens group performing traditional Thai dance and a rasta Thai performance by a Thai man in dreads. Tawan Dang is definitely a local venue, from the best I could tell we were the only westerners there.....and that my friends, made us a rare commodity. While I'm fairly sure they were all laughing at us, it was with smiles on their faces and willingness to let us enjoy our evening alongside them. After a few hours we decided to part ways with our new favorite spot in Chiang Mai and head to The Zoe in Yellow to dance the night away with locals and tourists.
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