Land of elephants

This past weekend I went on a great overnight hike NW of Chiang Mai in Huai Nam Dang National Park. Ryan was still in Cambodia for the week, so I ended up going with another American traveler, a Dutch brother and sister, and our guide. It was so nice being in a small group and we were friends instantly. On the first day we visited the Mokfa waterfall and went swimming, then relaxed in the Pong Deod Hot Spring pools before beginning the 9km hike through the woods. We visited rural villages along the way, which included cute little kids and puppies at each stop! The next day we bathed elephants and rode them down the Mae Nam Taeng river, then went on a bamboo rafting trip where we went over fairly substantial rapids and almost flipped over a few times into the icy cold water. This jam-packed 36 hour trip was a perfect combination to see all that Northern Thailand has to offer. My sisters will definitely have to do this when they come visit us next month.

Ryan had our camera for his trip to Cambodia, but I did snap a few shots with my phone. More photos will come at some point on Facebook once my fellow travelers upload their pics, so look for those too!