So last weekend was a long weekend in Thailand so our little group took a trip out to a town called Kanchanaburi. This is a must-see place if you ever travel to Thailand. It has a very interesting history, being the setting of a prisoners camp in World War 2, along with the fact that it is very close to alot of animal sanctuaries and national parks. I could never fully explain in words how amazing my experiences were on this weekend but I will attempt a description of my time there.
We began our excursions with a trip to Erawan National Park, where there is a 7 tiered waterfall. Yes, we climbed all the way up to the top tier of the waterfall in plus 40 weather. The trek is about 1.5 km one way. But once you get closer to the top it starts to get cooler and you are in thicker parts of the jungle so the sun is hidden. The jungle there is so beautiful, but the best part was getting to swim in the waterfalls! The water is so fresh, cool and clean. It was amazing.A slight downfall was that many fish inhabited the river and the fish like to bite your feet when you are in the water. It was slightly unsettling because you couldn't see them and suddenly something would attack your feet. The Thai people found our shrieks very entertaining. There was not a lot of visible wildlife in this part of the jungle, however we did meet a few monkeys who were very entertaining because they liked to steal food from people. These cute little guys were not afraid to get really close to people which allowed us to get great photos of them. All in all the waterfall was a great way to begin our time in Kanchanaburi.
The next day we took a taxi to an elephant sanctuary. This taxi was essentially a pickup truck with a cover over the box which contained two long benches and that is where the passengers sit. The great part about this was that there was no need for air conditioning because the wind took care of that. The downside was that we had to watch out that we didn't lose anything to the wind as we raced along the road.
Once we reached the elephant sanctuary we were immediately rushed to the river where we expected to be bathing with the elephants. However we got one better. We actually got to ride them down to the river, and ride them in the water. The elephants would drop their entire bodies underwater so that we would float just above them in the water. Two minutes later, when they needed to come up for air, they would surface and we would be back on their backs again. This was an unbelievable experience!!! I knew elephants were compassionate, maternal creatures, but I have a new respect and awe for these creatures. Even for an animal so big, I felt so secure; I felt a great connection with the elephant I was riding, and probably would take her home with me if that was a possibility. After getting out of the river we got to clean off and feed the elephants bananas. Unfortunately our time with them was short lived and we had to say good bye. 
We left the elephants for one last animal adventure, this time at the Tiger Temple. This is a temple where monks live and they have created a wildlife sanctuary. In particular they have brought in many tigers to rescue them from poachers in the northern parts of Thailand. According to one of the guides at the temple there are only 200 tigers living in the wild in Thailand, and this is a result of poaching. The reason for the poaching is that the northern villages are very poor and a tiger can get them a lot of money, enough to get them through normally difficult times of the year. So the monks have set up a several step program. First they have taken in many tigers to protect them from poaching. Next they have sponsored three villages in the north, on the condition that they refrain from poaching permanently. As a part of this sponsorship they have also built many schools in the villages and have sent several students to post secondary education with full scholarships in hopes that they will return to their villages and educate the rest of the people, creating better lives for everyone and a respect for the animals living around them. Lastly they are planning a rehabilitation program for the tigers at the temple so that they will not live in captivity forever.
