DAY EIGHT: Oh My Buddha!

Elephant camp! Everyone had been waiting for this one. The opening show was standard elephant fare -- picture painting, soccer ball kicking, drum beating. Then off to training.

Everyone got a denim uniform to wear, the sort of thing you’d wear to the prison work-release holiday ball. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to keep them.

Confession: Matt had last-minute anxiety attack and decided not to ride the elephants, opting to hike alongside (and nearly underneath) the beasts instead. In retrospect, probably less harrowing to ride.

As happens often on this trip, Katy teaches her guide to speak English. He has loudly mastered the phrases: OH MY GOD! OH MY GOODNESS! and OH MY BUDDHA!

After learning how to get on the things, we took a long trek up a mountain where the elephants could snack on the foliage. If you weren’t careful, your elephant could uproot an entire banana tree. SUKI WHAT YOU DOING??? OH MY GOD!

The trip ends with a mud bath for the elephants -- and the humans. This part met with mixed levels of enjoyment among our party.

Dinner and a show that night. Matt’s new strategy of making faces when the “give me 100 baht” photogs show up at your table is thwarted when the children start a collection of said pictures.

Finally, a trip to the Night Bazaar -- a square kilometer of shops and hawkers. Somehow, we didn’t lose anyone and Jake bought silk boxer shorts with elephants on them.

Rode back to the hotel in three tuk-tuks -- (kind of three-wheeled motorcycle/Mad Max contraptions that would be safety-banned in less carefree communities). The ride back was like being inside Grand Theft Auto: Chiangmai, with whizzing motorbikes and stampeding tour busses all ‘round. For many, this was a trip highlight.