Elephant Market

So our two days rest turned into 2 days of shopping. The lure of incredible Thai craft and ingenuitive recycling made it quite enjoyable, from beer-can baseball caps to soap bar flowers it was like a bootfair dreamland. On the sunday night there's a weekly market that brings the city more or less to its knees - when it started setting up we had the luxury of space to browse, then making the mistake of stopping at a small gallery we'd found for a drink upon re-entering it was a fervourous scene, with little room to scan and walking slowed to a huddled penguin waddle. The most interesting point was that just before going for a drink, the public announcement system streamed the National Anthem.. Suddenly everything drew to a standstill, some singing along others mouthing the words silently - quite surreal when unexpected but completely understandable when you realise the faith placed in the King. His image appears in almost every bar, hotel, cafe and likely home, and since he has made it his life ambition to see the country provided with electric power in some form he can very much be said to be a man of the people.. Back to the frenzied market scene and with music, dance and bazaars continuing we escaped into the backstreets and the night.

Next morning we woke early to set off for a week volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park and Foundation to the north of the city.. It promised to be a week of hands on work and some play with the elephants, but only so much - the premise of the park being to help reform the treatment of these animals after lives of certain hardship. Within a few minutes of arriving we were already mucking in, helping in chain-lines to unload around 2500kg of pumpkins for the ele's bellys.. A sign of things to come? Sort of. There were two shifts a day, the rest filled with either edutainment or free(beer)time. The amount of knowledge and caring put into the place was evident, workers, animals, locals and volunteers all felt the benefit of the ethics in place and it made for a thoroughly enjoyable time. I found it hard myself to 'connect' with any particular one of the 36 elephants at the park, something others seemed to do with relative ease. The closest i came was visiting the hospital for the ones needing antibiotics or general care - when you are standing directly in front of one, eyes locked upon one another and you know that if it willed you could be flung a good twenty feet with ease, there was a calm - it wasn't easy to feel, but knowing the pains suffered and holding the utmost respect for it . . I think that's where it lies.
We met the park founder Lek one of the days and had a good opportunity to talk with her - which when she's currently helping co-ordinate a rescue effort for animals abandoned in Bangkok by owners unwilling or unable to extend the safety they guaranteed themselves was pretty lucky considering. Seeing her perspective was wonderful, a true passion is what moves her actions and it is this that has made this place seemingly so different and more appropriate to our own expectation than other options from the many others available. With hope if the movement to a positive environment for elephants can prosper we can continue to enjoy the view of, or company of all Asian elephants safe in the knowledge that they are living contently and safely.
A couple of other memorable moments included a local shaman hosting an opening ceremony, going to a local school, hacking down corn with machetes, tubing down the river, and meeting a brilliant group of people - so much as to say we even all managed to meet in town the night we left and enjoy a big meal together on the riverfront - although the food at the park had been wonderful and a varied buffet it was funny for us all to have a bill for a change.

So after a week in another incredible destination it was time to head back to Chiang Mai again, though this time no going back. Next morning we booked up our bus to set off for Chiang Rai and the beginning of our end in Thailand..