We were at the TECC in Lampang last year, and we are not even certain that Teaghan got sick from the swimming/bathing place there...but we suspect so because I was not at all sick and did not go near the water, and my husband was slightly sick and was in the water, and T was hospital sick and was most definitely head under in the water. We ate the same foods.

I don't think just being around elephants, or any animals, is especially risky enough in terms of what sickness you might catch...but that is my own perception of that risk...yours might be different. There is always a risk involved in being around animals...but I grew up riding horses so that risk to me is quite normal (but note the riding horses doesn't mean you can ride elephants, as I learned very quickly!)

We picked the Anantara this time around quite accidentally. Teaghan had been asking to go back to elephant camp, and I said yes before I checked the price. Being sick didn't turn her off...she even said she'd get sick again and not complain if she could go back. It turned out to have doubled in price from last year, so it would cost us 16,000 baht for the two of us for 2 nights. The Anantara offers a 4 night package with 3 days of mahout training for $980.00, double the price of elephant camp, but double the number of nights, and the Anantara comes with a pool, spa, air conditioning, beds with real mattresses, and a new area for us to explore. So, we booked 5 nights there.

The information I got from them says that in the case of young children, the mahout will ride the elephant with the child. They also told me that Teaghan and I could share an elephant and we would pay for only one person rather than two...but Teaghan wanted no part of that deal, so we have booked two. John also told me that the experience is quite easily modified to individual preferences...T wanted to be sure that they knew she already knew a bit and wasn't scared and wanted to learn more stuff, and he assured me the experience for her could be as intensive as she wanted it to be, and for me, much more mellow.

Teaghan first rode an elephant when she was 3...not alone, but right on up there, with no fear.

Write to John Roberts and ask him about how your 4 year old would be accommodated. Then you'll have a sure answer.

The Anantara's transfer prices are very expensive I think, but I haven't gotten around to searching out options. I might just be lazy and use their car.

Great info!! I will email John and see what he thinks. We may have to modify a little (I want the full day and my husband and daughter will probably want 1/2 day).

So...if we fly in and get to Anantara the evening of March 30th..our itinerary would be:
March 31- Elephants and enjoy hotel
April 1- Tour (hillside tribes, river, opium hall)

My husband really wants to fly out the evening of April 1st so we can get to BKK and be ready for a full day April 2.
What do I need to see in Golden Triangle besides tribes/villages, river tour, opium hall?

Nevermind...convinced him to leave April from CR to BKK.

Sorry it's late...I convinced him to leave April 2 in the afternoon, instead of April 1st.

That will be much better...you won't be rushed so you can enjoy your time there and relax.

one of the best things we did was to visit the princess grandmother's former estate, doi tung, which is about a 30-40 minute ride from the anantara....could easily spend 1/2 day there...gardens/house/coffee production/shops/beautiful remote setting

Travelmom13,
You might not need to do the full-on mahout training with your older child - The elephant trek plus the bathing experience in the afternoon might be enough. The little one can ride with you in the basket. You can also hang out with the babies, watch the elephants' bathtime in the river and help collect them from the jungle in the morning, all for free.

My son slipped off his elephant (while bathing her) and fell into the Ruak River. Mahouts caught him before his head went under. After reading KimJapan's report we were concerned...but no infections, no nasty rashes. It's been a month and so far he's fine.

As far as other must-do activities, I highly recommend the cooking school. It includes a market visit to Chiang Saen, coffee with the locals, merit-making, a tour of the organic herb garden at the Anantara. (The GM told me they have since added a breakfast picnic in a park near a ruin in Chiang Saen.) Your kids can go along for the market visit and then hang out with a babysitter while you cook. Another great thing to do with the kids is donate and plant a tree near the elephant camp.

KimJapan,
Your three-day price is EXCELLENT compared to what we paid during xmas week. So you can splurge on the Anantara pick-up, which is twice what a taxi will charge you. We chose their transportation because we wanted to arrange the Chiang Rai night market stop and have someone watch our luggage while we shopped. The market was really manageable and fun and a great intro to hilltribe culture.

That's a good idea, to do something in Chiang Rai before heading out to the Anantara. We are arriving at noon, so we'll have time to go somewhere first.

Kim/Crosscheck-

I emailed John and received a response about 20 minutes after emailing. I also received information from Mark Heather and the people at the spa. Talk about service!

I asked John about the "river cleanliness" issue and his response was:

"I hadn't heard that, we've certainly had no trouble here, there's nothing upstream much upstream on our little river - a couple of small towns and the Burma!"

Also, I looked into the room upgrade through slh.com and realized that you have to sign up for the Club program on their website and then book through the club website to receive the possible upgrade.

Do either of you know how much the breakfast is at Anantara? If I book the room upgrade rate through slh.com, I can't get the cheap breakfast add on (like the $199 breezes rate).

Glad to hear that the river isn't full of Burmese sewage. Sorry, I don't know the breakfast rate - ours was included, but our rate (on a suite) was really high because it was xmas week.

I think I recall that they told me that there are only 4 suites in the hotel, so I really wouldn't count on getting an upgrade by booking with SLH...odds don't look good if there are really only 4 suites.

I thought they had told me the price of breakfast, but I checked and it just says kids under 12 are 50% discount...it's probably something around $15.00/person.

You have 3 nights? Maybe check their packages on their website. Suite Essence might suit you, or the 3 Countries Discovery....

travelmom13...did you write 3 seperate e-mails to the Anantara to get 3 responses, or did you send off only to John Roberts? Could you also share the information you got about tours/prices/activities/etc (except for elephant stuff, as I think I've got all of that)?

I found the price of breakfast on their website booking page. $16.00/person, 1/2 price for kids under 12.

Kim-

I sent off one email detailing the information I was looking for and then sent it all at once to John Roberts and Mark Heather. Then John answered me and cc'd the spa people as well. After that Mark emailed me as well. I actually responded to Mark's email with a specific room request. I cc'd the reservation people as well on that.

I can send you the info they sent me directly your email as well. They came as attachments...hard to post.

Only four suites huh...yikes. I booked the standard room at $184 in hopes that we'd get an upgrade. Maybe they will give us comp breakfast instead if upgrades aren't available??

Also--have you booked your elephant portion yet? John says that this fills up extremely fast. I would assume you have since your daughter is so into it. From the picutres I saw on the website...it looks like a BLAST!

Thank you! My e-mail is teaghanmackenzie at mac dot com. I'd appreciate it you could forward the attachments to me...but if they are .zip files I can't open them...

I booked the Mahout Discovery Package, which includes the 3 day mahout training. Though I assume that they have booked us automatically for the mahout training days, I was planning on double checking that around June to be sure everything was set....I had a terrible time making the reservation to begin with, as it seems to be quite a problem to book one adult and one child "as an adult" in order to include the elephant program...I had a terrible communication breakdown with the reservations staff due to miscommunication on both of our parts and due to a pricing error on their website.

Maybe ask the Anantara how many suites they have...I just remember reading it somewhere, and thinking how hard it would be to get the upgrade...and ask them if they would provide breakfast as an alternative to the upgrade or in addition to the upgrade. Otherwise, it's cheaper to book the Breezes rate where you'd get one breakfast free for each room.

Kim-

Just sent the menus and tour information. I thought i had the spa stuff, but I don't. I think I viewed it on the website.

Also, not sure if you noticed...but John gave insight on room locations:

"rooms 101 - 220 are up the hill and so have better views but a harder walk, the lower numbers overlook the pool (which some folks request). Rooms 221 up are on the flatter side and my favourite as they overlook the rice paddies even though they don't have the fully extensive view. The spa's on that side too."

Just FYI

Also...checked on number of suites...

There are 90 rooms total and of the 90, there are 13 suites. The five suite thing you saw Kim was 5 suites in the Mandara Spa.

Still not a lot of "upgrade-ability "...but maybe. Maybe I will check with them a few days before and if they are all sold out on suites, then I can work the free breakfast angle.

kim, make sure you are neither up near the top of the hill or at the very bottom of the lower levels...

i would ask for a room just above the pool on the upper side from the lobby...

We started out in one of the faraway buildings near the top of the hill. Then, because our original room was freezing, we moved to the spa building, which we loved. The new suite was much brighter with sweeping Mehkong and Burma views, near the lobby but away from the noise of the pool. I think it was 331.

Will try to do our trip report in the next few days with more info. Meanwhile let me know if you have specific questions.