5 Fred H. - 2 years ago
Fantastic time with the elephants.
We booked the one day trek: bamboo rafting, karen hill tribe, waterfall, trekking, and visit elephants through our hotel (they had ads there).
To be honest, at first we did not want to book it as there were no reviews on internet but it was the only excursion available with our timetable. So we tried it aaaaand... we loved it!!
There was really low water for the bamboo rafting. It is dry season, and we had 20 cm of water at some point. There was even a farmer laughing at us as we would go faster walking in the water. The trekking was okish (dry season but still we have seen asian bulls, some elephants and spiders). The Karen hill tribe was interesting, some very old ladies making clothes by hand. Then... the waterfall was great! The water was cold water so at some point I was alone under the waterfall, lovely photo to show off on Instagram! They try not to have various groups coinciding there, so it is great.
Then, the best part and MUST DO, is the elephant sanctuary. We were eating an humble local lunch when some elephants arrived. The elephants were asking for food with their trumps. We did feed them with sugar canes, we embraced them, we cuddled them, then we went to the river and we bathed two of them. Being in the water with such a huge thing (talking about the elephant) was amazing. When they stand next to you, you feel very small and you move very fast in order not to be stomped on. It was a beautiful moment!! We completely recommend it. Our guide was very nice ("lady with the hat"), she spoke very well english (which is not this common in Thailand) and she was sharing a lot of information. One of my best memories of Thailand!! Thank you!
