I'm writing this from a weird village on the Thai border with Laos, where there is little to do but stretch out the hours in the local internet cafe. This is start of a 3 day voyage down the Mekong river to Luang Prabang. I'm really excited about getting to Laos, I've heard such great things about it. Already the scenery is getting more and more impressive. Lots of water, lush green mountains and huge rice paddy fields.
The last few days were spent fairly quietly in Chiang Mai. Highlights:
1. I'm now qualified to give Thai massage. Form an orderly queue please! The course was quite tricky, not because it was difficult to learn, but because you are being massaged almost continually for 5 hours a day. I had to make a huge effort to stop myself falling asleep when I was supposed to be keenly observing the massage techniques and taking notes.
2. A one day trek in a national park north of Chiang Mai which included bamboo rafting and visiting a local hill tribe. There was also an elephant ride which I turned down, having heard about the cruelty the elephants have to endure and knowing that the following day I would be going to...
3. The Elephant Nature Park. The highlight of my entire trip so far, this is such an inspiring place! A tiny Thai lady called Lek is singlehandedly taking on the entire Thai tourism industry and rescuing abused elephants. She's faced death threats, her family has disowned her and one of her orphaned baby elephants was even poisoned in an effort to stop her drawing attention to what goes on. The lucky few elephants that she can get her hands on spend the remainder of their days being cared for in her sanctuary in the mountains, where they are free to roam about, trumpet, bathe, play and generally be elephants. After an brilliant morning spent feeding and bathing the herd, we were shown a National Geographic documentary about the sanctuary and the 'breaking in' ceremony that all captive elephants in Thailand have to go through. To say it was harrowing would be an understatement; most of us were in tears by the end. I am now on a mission to spread the word to any potential visitors to Thailand not to have an elephant ride or to visit any of the camps where they paint pictures, dance etc. What they have been through to get to that level of obedience is beyond belief. More info at www.elephantnaturefoundation.org.
Rant over!

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