We had a busy day on our last day of the tour - we started with a visit to Wat Doi Suthep - a temple in the mountains at 1,056 metres. We took an elevator rail to the top since were in a hurry (we had wanted to walk up). The monastery was built in 1383 by King Gue-Na. At left is the spiral pagoda - big chedi - which contains relics of Lord Buddha. We did walk back down the 300 steps though - which wasn't all that many after all!
Next we travelled back down the winding mountain roads to an elephant camp. We started with a one hour trek through the jungles - a journey taken by Stallone for one of the Rambo movies. Elephants are much revered in Thailand - the Hindu elephant God Ganesh is the son of Shewa and is an integral part of the Hindu faith. He is the God of Intelligence and Success.
After watching the elephants head to the river for a bath, we were entertained with a display of 'skills' / tricks learned by the elephants - from lumber hauling and bell ringing to playing soccer and basketball. 
Some of the elephants walked on their back legs, others on their front - and many different balancing acts also. 
Very impressive. At the end, they called for volunteers for an elephant massage - and so here I am getting my 'gludial massage'!There are 6,000 elephants in Thailand, and 4,000 of those are in camps. Each one eats 250KG per DAY - so imagine how much land they require in the wild!
We visited an orchid and butterfly farm for lunch. Absolutely breathtakingly beautiful! The orchids came in many different varieties and colours and aromas. Here are a few for your viewing pleasure! (It did make me quite sad that they grow so readily in this climate and not in Canada....)
And finally it was time to head to the Chain Mai station to catch our overnight sleeper train back to Bangkok. We had a cozy compartment, and Kyle had one which he shared with another person (not so bad as he only slept there). Although the boxed dinner left a little to be desired - we survived on our snack reserves that night!
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