Playing Chicken with chickens and other animal encounters....

Picture it, 5:00 a.m. (that would be 3 p.m. the night before to you), Tracy into the darkness of the hotel room, "You guys! The chickens even crow backwards in Thailand." I know what you're thinking... She should have stayed out of Shandon's leftover Ambien supply. We spent the next 3.4 seconds trying to determine if it was true, but we all fell back asleep before confirmation. Don't worry, though, yet another chicken will make an appearance later in this blog, if you have the stamina to read the whole thing.

Breakfast buffet a la Tamarind Village did not disappoint. I don't know about you, but I only consider a breakfast buffet to be a success if there is Kung pao chicken and pad Thai available. Check and check.

We were picked up (along with three other hotel guests, fresh-faced college graduates backpacking for six weeks, too young to remember MySpace but old enough to help us with Tracy's wifi situation on her phone) promptly at 7:30 by the Patara Elephant Farm staff member named Jack. I'm actually not making that name up, in case you are still bitter from not knowing Bangkok Tom's real name. Fast-forward about an hour and a half. We are DEEP in the tropics of Chiang Mai, enjoying both the scenery and the challenge of making connections with 23 year olds... When all of the sudden, Jack slams on his brakes and we all go flying.

Why were we not wearing seatbelts, would be the obvious question.

Because there weren't any. Also obviously.

Anyway, we all spend a few moments happy to have survived, nursing our minor whiplash, when we asked what caused the near accident.

"Chicken."

This coming from a country that doesn't brake for any man, woman, or child.

Moving on... We made it to Patara Elephant Farm a little after 9:00. We get out of the van and RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF US... Just a couple of elephants, a baby and a mama. We got to hang out with them for awhile before our elephant training. Yeah, that's a thing. Soon after we were given our elephant riding gear (which, I'm not going to lie, I loved). We then got to meet our own individual elephant for the day and we had to spend time "befriending" them. This meant we had to feed them for 10 minutes and, I kid you not, look them in the eye simultaneously. I spent a significant amount of time gazing into an elephant's eyes today. Significant. My elephant was Dodo, the largest of them all and the only one with tusks. He liked to hang out solo from the others, just snacking his way through his day. Needless to say, I felt a connection. (We like to call it "high functioning introvert", but that's not important). Tracy's elephant was a little guy named Cahm who was relatively calm and didn't give her much trouble. Shandon's was Minwe, the mama of the baby elephant, Hanna. The baby was up in Minwe's grill the whole time, which meant Shandon kind of got a two-for-one deal. BOGO, if you will.

The day was GLORIOUS. We scrubbed them in the river for baths (mine hung out downriver solo because that's how he rolls) twice - and learned a lot of elephant care basics... You know, like ears flapping equals happiness... Although for all we know, ears flapping could equal agitation but they didn't want to admit it. Who knows, and I, for one, am not Googling it. I would like to believe Dodo was in a state of bliss all the live long day. Soon after the baths and the general playing with elephants (you know, normal Thursday activities) it was time to ride! You can get on an elephant by climbing up its trunk or its legs. Due to the tusk situation, I had to go via leg. Shandon and Tracy both opted for the trunk approach... One was decidedly more graceful than the other, but we are not going to dwell on that detail. P.S. We rode these puppies bareback! No basket for us, we are legit.

Our ride took us trucking (trunking, maybe) through a river, followed by a picnic lunch, then a swim WITH the elephants, then another longer ride. The longer ride was at the very end and the perfect time for the daily Chiang Mia downpour!

Today was the absolute BEST! I can't adequately describe the amazingness, so please take how fun you think it might have been, multiply it by four, and there you have it.