Many people have considered visiting the beautiful beaches of Thailand. This post highlights the northern part of Thailand. It is also a fabulous place to explore.

As expats, we visited Chiang Mai as a long weekend experience when we lived in Vietnam. It was a convenient place to visit from HoChiMinh City as there are several airline and direct flight options.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

We celebrated our 10th anniversary in northern Chiang Mai, Thailand. Here are some of the things we enjoyed during our 3-day visit: 

• Thai ice cream
• Thai beer
• Thai food
• Temples
• Thai massage

Walking into the old city on Sunday morning to see a few temples was also a quiet and relaxing moment.

BUT

The highlight of our weekend was our visit to the Karen Tribe Native Elephants’ Village

Elephants used to be the local mode of transport and they were used for logging and farming activities. Today, they are all retired from the hard work of the past. There are 4000 domesticated elephants in Thailand. Asian elephants eat 10% of their body weight daily in grasses, bamboo, sugar cane and bananas! Inviting tourists to visit helps pay for the elephants’ food requirements and care.

The six domesticated elephants we encountered are cared for by 35 local families. We spent the day as a small group: 9 tourists, 6 elephants and 6 trainers from the Karen tribe. The busiest elephant was David (named after Beckham). He was a 6-month-old who entertained us all. We were assigned to Mae Come Hpo for the day. She was the elder elephant at 41 years old. Craig and I loved her wrinkles!

We learned to feed and bathe her. We also learned how to do a health check. Yes, poop inspection was a part of it. We also helped prepare some natural herbal vitamins. We exercised her by taking her for a walk along a hilly jungle trail.

We each got a chance to ride Mae Come Hpo! Craig bravely rode first. The trail was mostly uphill and then it was my turn to try something new! I had not planned to ride and it was scary at first, but once settled it was more comfortable than a horse. The view from that height was amazing. I enjoyed the peaceful stroll through the jungle with the trainers nearby to encourage Mae Come Hpo wherever she decided to eat some leaves from nearby trees. I still can’t believe we rode an elephant bareback and in bare feet, but we did!

We chose the Karen Tribe Native Elephants’ Village because:

• had great recent and detailed reviews on Trip Advisor
• there were many positive reviews and photos going back several years.
• the trainers were very gentle and responsive with the Elephants
• we felt our visit helped to keep the elephants happy and healthy
• the experience was as described in the description

There are many choices for Elephant Encounters. We encourage you to do your own research to find the one that best fits your interests. Viator also highlights tours that might be of interest.

If you can stay in Chiang Mai longer, check out these walking tour options from GuruWalk or book another type of tour with Viator.

Chiang Mai has become a popular place for digital nomads, so all the modern amenities are available to an English-speaking traveller.