A week volunteering with BEE'S (Burm & Emily's Elephant Sanctuary)
The only thing I had planned for my two months backpacking in Asia was for my first week to be spent working with elephants that had been saved from harmful practices of elephant riding, and so upon my initial arrival to Southeast Asia I grabbed a train up north and headed for BEE'S up in Maechaem, Thailand. Looking back, I couldn't picture a better way to start my travels, my week at the sanctuary was an awesome experience, and this will probably be my most meaningful blog post on here.
So the week started by being picked up at my hostel in Chiang Mai and driven 3 hours into beautiful rice fields and mountains in the back of a pickup truck with three other volunteers who I would work with every day and come to adore as humans- Sara (from Canada), Michael (a Kiwi!), and Larry (from the states- CA, holla). We arrived to the sanctuary and met the hoards of dogs & cats, many missing limbs and in need of medical attention as the sanctuary acts as a local veterinary source/connection to vet's down in Chiang Mai, and got set up in our rooms- wooden huts with mats on the floors and fans to try and keep cool. Except for Larry, he did a homestay up the road and experienced bucket showering which he seemed excited about so power to ya, man. We spent each day alternating things that needed to be done (one day we cut down grass in a field with machetes for elephant chow, another we taught english to kids in the local school, and another we just took a long hike up into the mountains to watch the elephants in their natural habitats), but every day we spent the late afternoons feeding and washing the elephants down by the river. The sanctuary currently has three elephants: Mae Kam, Mae Jumpee, & Tung Di. They are three incredible, large, sassy ladies who have strong personalities and have had to spend large portions of their lives working in trekking camps generally under poor conditions. Which brings me to the one statement I want to make loud & clear for everyone, if there is one thing I can get people to understand
Why riding an elephant is unethical
So the week started by being picked up at my hostel in Chiang Mai and driven 3 hours into beautiful rice fields and mountains in the back of a pickup truck with three other volunteers who I would work with every day and come to adore as humans- Sara (from Canada), Michael (a Kiwi!), and Larry (from the states- CA, holla). We arrived to the sanctuary and met the hoards of dogs & cats, many missing limbs and in need of medical attention as the sanctuary acts as a local veterinary source/connection to vet's down in Chiang Mai, and got set up in our rooms- wooden huts with mats on the floors and fans to try and keep cool. Except for Larry, he did a homestay up the road and experienced bucket showering which he seemed excited about so power to ya, man. We spent each day alternating things that needed to be done (one day we cut down grass in a field with machetes for elephant chow, another we taught english to kids in the local school, and another we just took a long hike up into the mountains to watch the elephants in their natural habitats), but every day we spent the late afternoons feeding and washing the elephants down by the river. The sanctuary currently has three elephants: Mae Kam, Mae Jumpee, & Tung Di. They are three incredible, large, sassy ladies who have strong personalities and have had to spend large portions of their lives working in trekking camps generally under poor conditions. Which brings me to the one statement I want to make loud & clear for everyone, if there is one thing I can get people to understand
Why riding an elephant is unethical
6.20.16
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This one time, in Thailand...
I landed in the BKK international airport, with a huge 55 liter pack on my back and sweaty palms from both the insane heat as well as nerves. I'm not going to lie I was terrified, I've been here for three days now and I'm still a bit scared. So the most interesting thing about the airport was probably all the signs proclaiming that the sale and purchase of buddha images, including tattoos, is very much illegal. That was surprising, but I guess makes sense considering laws against disrespecting the King as well. Scared of being alone with a huge pack on public transport I grabbed a taxi for about $15 USD (500 thb) to my hostel. He was a super nice man, but the traffic was horrendous. To be honest I'm not a fan of Bangkok, which is to be expected considering I tend to gravitate towards nature and mountains. Too many humans in places consumed by development freaks me out, ironic for how much I love architecture. The next day I caught my overnight sleeper train north for Chiang Mai, arriving this morning. I checked into my hostel, the Virgohostel, yes I chose it partially because I'm a virgo, and I explored the much smaller city all day long. Today was Chiang Mai's famous Sunday Market, I spent more baht than I should have on anklets, flowy pants, and Pad Thai. Im actually half ashamed and half proud at how much Ive eaten here so far, god I love Thai food. The spice is growing on me already. I've sweated out the equivalent of my body weight, and have started taking multiple showers a day for fun because cold water is my best friend in June Thailand. I'm being picked up early tomorrow morning for my week at the Elephant Sanctuary, where I will be a few hours outside the city sleeping in huts (apparently with spider roomies according to the website description) and most likely without service, which i think will be a good experience. I'll recap that next week, spare time allowing. Ciao for now