KimJapan, Crosscheck or others--
What time does the morning mahout training end and the afternoon training begin? According to the materials I received, the morning session goes from 6:30-9:00 and then they go out again in the "early afternoon." I am trying to determine if we have time during the interim to get "off campus" for a few hours and see some of the surrounding area. If not, I will try and talk the kids out of doing a full three day camp.
Thanks.

Morning ended by 9, and the afternoon started between 1 and 2...it's flexible. I wouldn't do the 3 days at the Anantara, as each day is the same. At the TECC in Lampang, the 3 days are all new days, but the Anantara's program is just basically wash the elephant and a ride the elephant program where in the morning you ride around the camp learning to steer and stop and go then back up to the hotel. In the afternoon you go "trekking" on forest roads. You are welcome to hang around the camp, but no one really teaches you anything at all. Since it's all the same, one day is plenty.

Amy, Our morning session started at 7AM and ended back at the hotel for clean up and breakfast at 9:30. We then regrouped at 1:30PM for the afternoon trek and bathing session. I think we were finished by about 4PM. However, plan on another hour to clean up! I agree, one day is enough, but it is such a marvelous day. Currently there are four babies at the camp and they are so much fun and so sweet to watch. We spent a couple hours in the camp on our second day, just to hang out and play with the little ones. As far as "getting off campus", there isn't a lot to do near the Anantara. Other than the Opium Museum (which is "interesting&quot the area is a bit of a snooze. We road the Anantara bus into town one day and since we were the only ones on-board, our sweet driver gave us a little tour of the area. A little drive is pretty much all you need. We weren't keen to trek across to Laos or Burma or to the snake whiskey island, so really just totally enjoyed our time at Anantara. It is a beautiful location and a terrific staff.

They are super flexiable with your schedule. We did mornign stuff...swam, ate, did the Opium museum, and more elephants in the afternoon.

I LOVED that place and the spa was wonderful as well! Have a wonderful time!!

Thanks so much. Great information. Will try and reach compromise with the kids that 2 days is enough so we can spend a day at Mae Salong or elsewhere in the countryside with Waow.

Be prepared for the drive to Mae Salong....it is a very long, extreme roller coaster ride. I do not get car sick, but that drive was a real test. There were so many hairpin curves and switchbacks we couldn't begin to count. Just when we thought we'd reached the pinnacle of the mountain and were surely coming to the end of the road ---down the other side and then up again! Make sure you have a very good driver with a late model comfortable car. And watch out for the driving....they really like to pass other cars on those visious curves. I couldn't believe my eyes! I don't speak Thai, but the driver understood "YIKES...NO, NO, NO!!!" as he began to pass on an ess curve with oncoming traffic! He laughed an pulled back in, but its the way they drive.

Depending on your interests, I think it is worthwhile to take a trip into Chiang Sean to visit the museum and temples and the market. There is also a lovely wat on a hill overlooking the golden triangle area. We spent a morning with these activities, then spent the afternoon at Doi Tung. We thought it was a lovely wasy to spend a day.

But as others have said make sure you relax and anjoy the Anantara, it's a beautiful place!

Thanks all-
Waow has suggested the following for one day, leaving after the morning mahout session and returning in the early afternoon:

"What about first day we are go to doi tung Royal mansion, Ahka village, and after noon go to Maesai and crossing the border to Burma and take the tricycle to visit thachilek city in Burma"

Her suggestion for a second day does not interest me as much and that was:

drive back to chiangrai city about a hour to take long-tail boat to karen village then have elephant ride experience to red Lahu village. picnic lunch in the village, and hiking down to waterfall and shan village to meet the van at shan village, then drive back to anantara hotel."

It sounds like a lot of driving, we don't need any more elephant time, and we are not that interested in visiting the villages. What we do want to do is have the opportunity to stretch our legs and do some sort of exercise, so the hike to the waterfall part sounds great.

Has anyone else done any hiking/bike riding from the Anantara that would be nice for a few hours and does not involve a multi day trek? I am sure that Waow can suggest something but wondering if anyone has other good ideas.

<i>&quot;What about first day we are go to doi tung Royal mansion, Ahka village, and after noon go to Maesai and crossing the border to Burma and take the tricycle to visit thachilek city in Burma&quot;</i>

Amy, I can't imagine how you would get all that squeezed in-between the morning and afternoon elephant sessions at Anantara. You only have about 4 hours. It took us nearly an hour just to get the dirt washed off, then it was off to breakfast (a superb buffet) and lots of giggling and discussions about the morning session. Then its back into your grubby clothes to meet for the afternoon.

The trip to Doi Tong was a long ride (up that winding mountain again). Just the walk from the entrance to the villa is 15 minutes. Then there are the gardens which are massive to walk around. (RE villa and gardens: I was quite surprised by the gardens at Doi Tong as they are mostly planted in North American annuals -- petunias, etc. I guess that's a real novelty in Thailand which is what makes the garden interesting to Thai people. I thought it a let down, especially after the beautiful grounds at Anantara. The villa only takes about 15 minutes to see as you aren't allowed in most of it. Just walk around the outside and look in the windows. Honestly, I don't think it will interest children.)

If you'd like, I would be happy to emai you my mahout photos. We were just threre two weeks ago.

Amy, try this and let me know if it works.

www.aol.com
&quot;pictures&quot; from the list on the left of the opening page.
&quot;public albums&quot; from the banner across the top right.
put the word &quot;mahout&quot; in the TAGS search and you should get my photos from Anantara.

I've never used this public album thing before, so not exactly sure how it works. Post here if it doesn't and I can send them directly to you.

Thanks TC. I was able to view your pics, although not before accidently clicking on someone else's very naughty picture by mistake -- good thing kids are not here! The pictures were great. Love the baby ellies. I have decided that I am over analyzing this and need to heed the advice of others on the board and relax!

Does anyone know if there are bicycles at Anantara in case we just wanted to go for a ride?

There should be no &quot;naughty&quot; pictures connected to my baby ellies. How rude of AOL!

Amy, Didn't see any bikes, although the concierge is pretty good about getting anything. There is a hiking map for the trail around the Anantara property. We did that between elephant rides. The pool is amazing too. Your kids (how old are they?) may just want to hang there. The walk to the elephant camp, itself, is a bit of a hike. I don't think you'll want for exercise. It is such a beautiful resort, just relax and enjoy it there. We had a suite (#244) and sat on the huge balcony and watched this amazing flock (literally thousands) of white egrets come in to roost every evening. It was breathtaking. You can also hear the ellies calling to each other in the jungle. Truly...Anantara is a magical place.

(BTW: we had a suite with thanks to another poster on this board who tipped me that by joining the Small Luxury Hotels <i>Club</i> (a free service)and booking Anantara through it that one would be upgraded to a suite. It worked for us.)

Amy, A couple of additional tips about Anantara and elephants. You may already be aware, but I'll mention them here for others as well.

1. It gets quite cool in the morning and evening at Anantara. Good to have layers ie. some long pants, sweater and/or jackets, and some warm shoes. We saw lots of unprepared people really cold at dinner in their shorts, tees and sandals.

2. Elephant riding is DIRTY! Bring clothes you can really get filthy in (and wet). We were happy to have long pants as we had been warned that riding an elephant is a bit like sitting astride a Brillo pad all day. A very true statement. Again, we were happy to have substantial shoes for riding. Climbing up and down onto an elephant isn't that easy -- and nearly impossible in flip-flops (unless you're a born mahout). We wore Keene H2Os, o.k. to get dirty and wet.

3. There was a young man (I actually think he's a volunteer) at the Elephant Camp who walked along the whole day and took photos of us on the elephants using our camera. It was wonderful to have him as its tough to hang on and take photos too. Unless you have a member who isn't riding (but they aren't allowed to walk along on the mountain trek), do seek him out. We gave him a tip at the end of the day, which I noticed he passed on to one of the mahouts.

TC-
Great tips. We went to Africa two years ago and learned our lesson about under dressing! Will make sure to have layers.
I assume since pieces of laundry are included with our suite, they will wash the dirty ellie clothes so we don't have to take them with us when we leave?

You should really do a whole report!

Yes, they will do your laundry. However, if you have &quot;upgraded&quot; to a suite (not <i>purchased</i> a suite), you do not get the extras for free, ie. laundry, cocktails, etc. Laundry is still inexpensive and you sure don't want that smelly elly stuff with you for very long.

Have a blast and post back after.