The hotel has a tremendous buffet breakfast and so we all certainly started our day on a good note. The grounds of the hotel were beautiful, serene and immaculately maintained. There was no attention to detail that was overlooked. Interspersed throughout the grounds were these incredible urns each with it's own beautiful floral arrangement and they were changed every day. This incredible flower arrangement There were outdoor tables at the breakfast buffet overlooking the grounds After our wonderful buffet breakfast our group gathered out front of the lobby to go to the Elephant center. We arrived in about 45 minutes and were all eager to see what was in store for us. We had to cross this bridge and yes it rocked and rolled as we all crossed The view as we crossed As soon as we all had crossed we made our way down a path to the Elephant center. We were broken into 2 groups for our elephant rides. We walked up a platform to get on the Elephant's level to get on. There was a little bench for us to sit on with a strap to go across our waists. As soon as we were all strapped in we were off. Our view ahead of us The happy couple on their way They told us a little bit about the elephants. Asian elephants have smaller ears than African ones. They also have larger heads which means larger brains. Our guide told us that Asian elephants are easier to train than African elephants for that reason. Only Asian male elephants grow tusks but not all males do. Our ride took us on a very hilly path and led down to a stream. From time to time our elephant just stopped or turned to graze on some particular plant. Eventually our elephant guide was able to get the elephant back on its way. We were surprised but our elephants continued right into the stream as it was working its way back. Our handler sitting on the back of the elephants neck guiding it with his feet Yes, there we are right in the stream Entering the water Some of our group behind us in the stream After finishing our ride which was really quite neat we disembarked our elephant and waited for the second group to get their rides. Next we headed over to an area where we would be able to feed the elephants bananas. We each bought several bunches of bananas for our new friends. There I am holding out the bananas for the elephant to grab it with it's trunk Here's one from my group putting the bananas right into the elephants mouth This guy is waiting for his bananas After they gobbled up all the bananas we were directed over to the stream to watch them play in the water. They really do seem to enjoy playing, rolling and just being in the water. This little one seems to be smiling as it sprays its handler Getting down and rolling in the water, very cooling I'll bet This group of elephants is just having fun Oh well all good things come to an end. Making their way back Just when I thought our time here was probably over we moved on to a small area with seating to watch some training techniques and also how useful and strong these elephants are. This elephant picked up this log with it's trunk like I would pick up a baseball bat Here 2 elephants work together to push this log and then lift it onto the pile Here these 4 elephants demonstrated dexterity by picking up their handlers hats off the ground Stacking the logs into a pile Kneeling down and laying down to let their handers get on Then even trained this elephant to paint a picture The finished painting and it's artist This was truly an amazing experience and really lots of fun too Next time we are Floating down the Ping River on a Bamboo Raft
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