Day 1: Chiang Mai – Thai Elephant Care Center – Palong village

Today you will be picked up at your hotel for the family jungle trekking and elephant experience! You will be taken to the Thai Elephant Care Center, the last home for older elephants. On arrival, you will meet the Asian elephant and you will receive a short introduction. For the ultimate experience and to keep your own clothing clean, you will then receive real man-wood clothing (elephant caretaker). After this, it’s all about taking care of the older elephants. You learn to prepare ground grass for them and you can, of course, feed it yourself. You visit the elephant cemetery and their resting place for the night. You will also learn how to make healthy herb balls for them. Once the stomach is filled, it’s time to take a bath with them. What an experience! For dessert, they get a basket with bananas.

After this special morning, it is time for lunch. After this, we drive north to the starting point of the trek in the mountains near Chiang Dao. The path has a few steep hills, but most of the tour is relatively easy. All together we walk for about 2 hours with many stops along the way for an explanation of what you encounter in the jungle and to take pictures. Once in the village, the children can participate in activities. These will range from picking fruit, gathering vegetables for dinner, feeding the pigs and exercising together with children from the village.

Parents can relax, explore the village or get to know Thai cuisine by helping the guide prepare dinner. He will explain the herbs and ingredients that he uses. After dinner, the guide takes you to one of the village houses where you will meet some villagers. The Palong is originally from Myanmar and fled to Thailand in 1984. You spend the night in one of the village houses.

Day 2: Palong village – Chiang Mai

After you wake up, the guide prepares breakfast. After breakfast, he will show you around the village. He will explain about the village stamp and about the “huja raw”, the “village heart”. We then visit the local school, where we will make a donation in the form of pens and paper (the guide will arrange this).

Then we start a trek of about 1.5 hours to the Karen village of Thakilek. Along the way, we stop at Lahu village Ban Huay Bong where we will visit the very interesting ghost temple and a blacksmith.

After arriving in Thakilek we drive to the restaurant where we have lunch. When we have gained some energy again we will sail on real bamboo rafts! The guides will maneuver you smoothly through the quiet rapids. After this exciting day, we drive back to Chiang Mai. Our last stop is one of the famous orchid nurseries in Chiang Mai. You will return to your hotel around 5 p.m.

What do you take with you during the jungle trekking?

A small backpack, copy of passport, medicines, toilet paper, t-shirt with long and short sleeves, short and long pants, walking shoes with grip (especially in the rainy season, May-September), sandals, slippers, swimwear, towel, toilet supplies, personal medication, insect spray, sunscreen, cap, sunglasses and a raincoat (during the rainy season). Fully charged batteries or even an extra battery for the camera. 1000-1500 Thai Baht per person in small banknotes (no larger than 500 Thai Baht and preferably 100 Thai Baht notes). This is for souvenirs, drinks, and tips.

For the welfare of the animals, no elephant rides are offered.