Starting Off

Our guides picked us up from Hudson House at about mid-morning on Christmas day. The first point of interest was an elephant camp, where elephants carried us to lovely landscapes and feeding stations, where a bundle of sugar cane or a bunch of bananas could be purchased for 20 baht. Our particular elephant was 4 months pregnant and (I can say without exaggeration) raised her trunk to ask for food two dozen times more often than any of the other five elephants in our caravan.
After the elephant rides, we rode a little further in the back of the pickup and began our hike. As you can see, this included some fine scenery and refreshing swimming.