Chiang Mai#6 Elephant Riding & Ox-Cart

We got to know two friends over here, Mr Liew and his wife from China. They are really friendly (can see from their face) and share us their dream and travel experience. A: I think Mr Liew is very much like Peter,  they share the same dream of travelling the globe, use the same camera model and camera bag, and write blog (His blog is in Mandarin) . . . Mr Liew called himself as a backpack hero at his blog, We think he is working so hard for travel because he is only able to take annual leave once every year, this time, he's going to spend his holiday in Thailand with his family. Hope he had a blast!

Got feel~~

Do you think this photo looks like a painting?

Peter likes this pic even though it was shaky! Great shake!

Where the Ox-cart meets the Elephant ride...

This photo was not easy to be taken because the elephant keep on blowing out smelly gas from its trunk . . .

Orchid Farm

After the elephant farm, we stopped by this small scale orchid farm & butterfly farm for a walk while the other passengers were dropped off at the Tiger Kingdom for an up close experience with tigers for 420baht. When the guide ask us if we wanted to go to Tiger Kingdom, we passed the offer thinking it was only 15 minutes with the tiger. But it really was a good experience, from the pictures of the van mate, they get to choose the size of tiger, then spend the whole 15 mins with it! You could cuddle, kiss, or lay on it . . . The giant cat will just lay lazily on the grass... Oh gosh, we shall come back to Chiangmai for the tigers!!! (forget the orchid & butterfly farm.. it is a very small farm, nothing much to see.. lol)

Chiang Mai#5 Mae Tang Elephant Farm

'Chang' or elephants farms are the main attraction in Chiang Mai. Very talented animals, they can dance, paint, play football, give you a ride and etc... As locals says, Mae Tang is a must go place. Chang is a sacred animal, and back then, only the royal families ride them as a means of transportation across the jungle. An elephant can live up to 80years old like normal human, but female elephants has to go through 2 years of pregnancy cycle.

The elephants in the farm can eat up to 200kg of food a day! Whoaa.. that's a lot.. The young elephants perform shows, which include painting and dancing. While the older ones carried tourists on their back.

This cute one smiling at the tourists =))

Ding Ding Ding~~ time for ART CLASS =)

Trainers leading the elephants to draw on the canvas. If any mistake done, trainer will knock the sharp tool on their poor head...

These elephant paintings are sold at 1000baht to support the farm expenses. 

If you never see the Elephant Show, you won't believe this painting was painted by a cutie chang.

Feeding time~

After the show, you're welcome to take pictures with these cuties~~ with a small fee of course...

P: Angie just can't close her mouth, she is so exciting!!

The bamboo rafting is around 30-45minutes long. But there is nothing much to see on the way. 

We got the Mae Tang elephant farm tour from our hotel which include a whole day program of elephant show, elephant ride, bamboo rafting, ox-cart ride, buffet lunch and transport. All this costs 700baht per person. Some tour may include white water rafting too, with additional cost. When booking for any tour in Thailand, negotiation is a MUST! Especially when you're in a group...

The farm operators train elephants with a sharp tool and hurt the poor guys, some still bleeding on their heads, so that elephant obey their instruction and entertain tourists. Is this the right way? We as tourist attending these elephants farms ultimately leads to more elephants being trained or abused =.=