June 3: Elephants!

Laini and I were picked up very early, loaded into the back of a pickup truck, and driven about 90 minutes to an elephant sanctuary! 

My first glimpse of the elephants:

This sanctuary was a private initiative where the owners bought elephants that were being caged/neglected, and brought them to this remote area to roam free and live happily on a diet of whatever they normally eat plus a plethora of bananas being fed to them by tourists like me.

After we each fed our respective elephants an entire basket of bananas, we went on a little hike through the jungle to observe the elephants in their semi-natural habitat.

Our guide immediately perched on this vine:

Then we watched the elephants! They were so giant and funny. They would ram against a small tree to knock it over (ostensibly for fun), rub against bigger trees to scratch an itch, and roll around in the dirt (maybe for both reasons?).

Then our guide found a giant spider, which he put on his face.

I tried to hold it but couldn't handle the pinchy feeling of its feet on my skin.

Please excuse the screenshot; I'm too unbothered to crop it. 

Then we ate lunch on a big wooden deck from which we could still watch the elephants. It felt like a very typical Thailand tourist experience!

The elephant sanctuary also had some gorgeous flowers.

Later, Laini and I found this giant snail while walking through town:

We ended our day with a delicious dinner, as per usual.