While in Chiang Mai we visited an elephant camp. It was on a mountainside next to a stream - very idyllic setting! We watched the elephants bathe, and perform various feats of skill and strength. They had a list of all the elephants and their riders - some elephants were less than a year old, some were over 50.
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I was at that exact same elephant camp when I was in Chiang Mai back in 2004. It was so amazing being that close to them, they were SO BIG! I like the picture you got of them bathing, as I thought that was one of the most interesting things to see. It was incredible to see them just walk into a rushing river, lean into the current, and just stay in place looking like they were getting a shower massage. And all the while I knew that if I was in the same position, I would have been quickly and unceremoniously washed downstream.
One particularly fun thing was being able to feed them sugar cane and bananas. At one point, I was feeding some adult elephants bananas when they were in a pen. They also had a lot of greenery the caretakers stocked in their pen available to eat, but preferred the bananas. There was a baby elephant there, too, and it was grabbing greenery just outside the pen with its trunk. I couldn't help but be curious, what with a baby elephant's trunk reaching right by my feet, and just had to pet the trunk. It batted at my hand with its trunk a couple times. Undaunted, when I pet the trunk one more time, the next thing I knew he raised the trunk up to face level and gave me a little slap on the side of my head. There was laughter from everyone all around, and shame felt inside only by me....
that's so neat you saw the same elephants. i'm not sure why, but i was surprised at first that elephants ate the bananas with the skin on. i'm not sure if i expected them to peel it first, or what.
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