elephant ride at sanctuary outside kanchanaburi

what a fantastic day i had today! i got to fulfil an ambition of mine and ride an elephant.

i was just about to post loads of pictures of the elephant ride - but i can't get the cd-rom drive to open... tomorrow....

and here they are:

me riding an elephant throught the jungle


here are some of the 'karen' people's houses. one of the elephant guide's brother lived here.


here i am setting out to bathe with the elephant in the river!



me washing the elephant's head with shampoo and a brush


here the elephant is underwater - they like to dive down underwater to keep cool. it also rinsed the soap off.



then it reappears



here i am trying to grab it's trunk!


their trunks are the most sensitive part of their body and many elephants don't like you to touch it. after the ride - we were served lunch at the 'karen' village and their was a 5 year old elephant (smaller than the adults) and it was quite friendly. it gave me a kiss with it's trunk and it felt like if you were to stick a vacuum cleaner on your cheek and made a cute kissing sound.....!