The Elephant week on the Thailand Experience
During the Xtreme Gap Thailand Experience you can choose between the Trekking week, the Buddhism & Culture week and the Elephant week.
First of all I would like to tell you why the Elephant is so important to the Thai people
The elephant is an Icon in Thailand and has been since the ancient years. Famous as the strongest beasts of burden, the elephant was an important ‘weapon’ in battle, with kings mounted on Elephants fighting the Burmese to defend Thailand on many occasions. They have also been noted for their intelligence, memory and pleasant nature. The Asian Elephant is best known for its intelligence an actively thinks about its own actions, not many animals do. And also it has a huge memory, no wonder the expression ‘an elephant never forgets’
The Elephant week
After your introduction week on the Thailand Experience we take you and the other elephant lovers to the North of Thailand, to Phisanulok province which is very famous for its beautiful rice fields.
Up close and Personal
Cool Elephants, but what do we do at the Elephant camp in Thailand? Well you will help your designated Mahout in the elephant sanctuary and join the elephants care keeper (the Mahout) with his daily exercises and tasks. During this week you will experience the mighty elephant up close and personal, and you will learn why the elephant is so important in the Thai culture.
Why is this project so important?
If all elephants would roam around freely they would destroy to many towns, on the other hand if they are captivated they costs a lot to maintain, this means the elephant keepers will have to go begging with them and the elephants will be exposed to tourist cruelties in the streets of Bangkok or in ‘circus acts’. The solution is privately owned big elephant camps like this one, where with your help the Mahouts can give the elephants the life they deserve and help out the local community with hard work. Because did you know that a working elephant can lift 700kg, and haul two tons of wood one kilometer without a break?
Your role
You will be helping the Mahouts out from Monday to Friday washing and feeding them, you will also help out the people at the center with some gardening and in return you might learn a few words Thai! In your downtime you can enjoy the pool or maybe even an elephant ride.
Your stay is close to the elephant week. The elephant camp will be in simple Thai style eco-huts where you stay with 1 or two other travelers on the trip. Also meals are included, cooked in traditional Thai style rice and vegetable dishes will be served 3 times a day.
What to bring on this week:
-Insect repellent
-Long trousers
-Walking shoes
What is expected of you?
-No specific skills, just a genuine interest in the wellbeing of this amazing creature
-An open mind, it might not always go as you want, it goes the Mahout way!
Yeah, time for tropical paradise island life!!
After two intense weeks of Thai Culture in the first week and ‘hard work’ with elephants in the second week it is time for the Koh Tao Adventure. Two weeks of sun, beach, party. Some really cool activities like rock climbing and snorkeling and… the Full Moon party!
How to get to the Paradise island called Koh Tao? Well after the second week we take you back to Bangkok where you send a night in a 3 star hotel in the backpackers district of Bangkok. This means shopping and people watching! The next evening we have arranged transport to Koh Tao.
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