Highlight so far!

Oh my God! I have just had 3 of the best days EVER.
I am so pleased I decided to go to live in the elephant village it was amaaaazing.
After one and half hour drive Kate, Yongwan (pronounced young one - I keep getting a Cliff Richard moment every time I call him) and me arrived with our lovely Thai co ordinator Wun, at Ban Tatit village to the home of Mr Lee. He owns 3 elephants and acres of rice fields around the village, the house was basic but very clean, running water twice a day so enough to keep clean. Kate and I shared a bedroom and Yongwun had one of his own.
Mr Lee was possibly one of the smiliest men I have ever seen, he was always so happy and jovil and a very hard worker.
After a fab lunch 4 elephants and their mahouts arrived inc. Mr Lees 3, our first experience was to get up close and feed them sugar cane, then we were asigned one each and got to ride them bare back for couple hours through the village and beautiful countryside, it was absolutely wonderful, just us, the locals tending the rice fields, buffallow roaming in the distance and complete calmness.
Later in the afternoon we walked around the village (quite small) and all the local children followed us in a Pied piper fashion, gathering  more along the way. They were so sweet and 2 little girls insisted on holding my hands.
They loved that 'farangs' (foreigners) had come to their village and came back to the homestay with us and hung around til we went to bed, which wasn't too hard as Kate and I were both in bed by 8pm and both slept for 12 hours. Can you believe it? We had the best nights sleep, so quiet and peaceful.
Next morning off to the ricefields, and the afternoon to the elephant sanctuary - 5 min away to where 213 elephants live with their mahouts and their families. These are rescued elephants from the cities.
We walked around for couple hours and saw so many elephants including 2 sets of twins 9 and 7  months old and a baby 1 month old who we got to play with, it was absolutely wonderful, I can't remember being so happy.
After a fab supper and bbq fish we had another early night. Today we went to the sugar cane field and chopped down the cane about 10 ft high, then chopped the stalk into 10" pieces for their treats for later.
The cane is so tough it took all my strength weilding a machete to cut it but the elephants munch on it like its a carrot.
Then off to feed them and take more photos, I have taken 130 in 3 days! And after a lunch in the grounds we got to ride them again and had a 2 hour walk through the forest, it was the best part of the whole time, the only sounds were the mahouts and the elephants munching the chopped sugar cane that we fed them as we walked. The mahout would hand it up to us and the ellie would put its trunk up and we put it into its trunk, ah! how fab. I really did see the true Thailand, the villagers had so little but were so friendly and welcoming, always smiling and waving as we went past


No, it's not comfortable



The first ride thru village



Having a sit down

video of me and baby elephant

Chopping the sugar cane into bite size pieces

Off to Bangkok tomorrow, for 2 days then off to Cambodia on sunday, see you soon x