Yes, I know I arrived home yesterday, and yes I know you want to hear about the elephants, but after a 14 hour flight I was exhausted and went to bed at 7:00pm. Also I write slow and I really want to do the story the justice it deserves. In the meantime here are a few photos. I would also like you to do a little research. When you go to Thailand or other Asian countries as a tourist, you have the opportunity to ride elephants, watch them play instruments, or paint pictures. It's all seems really cute, however; what you don't see is what went into making those elephants docile enough to have them do those unnatural tasks.
What I would like you to do is Google/youtube the term Phajaan. Phajaan, basically translated as "breaking the elephants spirit", is the process used to "train" elephants to do work in logging camps, tourist elephant treks and all those other cute elephant activities we call entertainment. I will tell you now, that the process is horrific, the videos extremely hard to watch, and they may make you cry, but if you really want to understand why a lot of the elephants wound up in the Elephant Nature Park then it is necessary. Hopefully watching the videos will forever change the way you look at elephant tourism.
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