Elephants, white water rafting, and food!

Usually when I go to Thailand, I am not a tourist. I’ve spent many wonderful hours visiting friends in their homes or working with my ministry team, and only a small amount of time doing the classic Thailand activities—like getting Thai massages, seeing elephants, or visiting night markets. This trip was different. I got to enjoy a few excellent tourism adventures with my team!

On our Create Seeds Team retreat, in between all the praying, thinking, and planning, we went out to commune with some lovely elephants. We took a van along a brown river, swollen from the rainy season rains. Then we piled into the back of a pickup truck and put-putted up to a small elephant camp where three beautiful elephants awaited.

I was blown away by these animals—so stately, so gentle. We fed them sugar cane treats, and I lingered near the oldest of the three, a 65-year-old matriarch, having little “chats” with her while she munched. She was slower than the two younger ones, who we later walked down to the river to watch them swim. We even pretended to help wash them by splashing buckets of water over their broad sides.

Afterward came something totally new for me: white water rafting! I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy it, but the moment our raft approached the rapids, my heart leapt and a WHOOP of glee burst out! We bounced up and down, got splashed to the eyeballs, and jammed our knees against the raft to avoid being catapulted into the river. Such a rush—I loved every minute of it, and I’d absolutely do it again.

Of course, no trip is complete without food adventures. Mostly I’ve been returning to beloved classics—Thai tea, mango sticky rice, khao soi, green curry, pad Thai, tom yum—all consistently delicious. But I also branched out: orange espresso (a win!) and the strangest ice-cream sandwich I’ve ever met. Imagine two pieces of buttered toast stuffed with “cheese ice cream” (yes, with cheese bits inside), garnished with bacon, then draped with melted mozzarella.

Even stranger: Fish Maw soup. It included fish maw (still not entirely sure what part that is…), blood cubes, shiitake mushrooms, vermicelli, and a thick corn-starchy broth. Once was enough!

My real joy has been in the fruit. Dragon fruit, tiny bananas, papaya, guava, fresh coconut, lychees—so vibrant and sweet!

I’m definitely trying to get the most out of it before I go home to the prairies!

All in all, my Thailand tourism experiences have been wonderful. I even tried a Thai massage, where the masseuse kept giggling because my feet poked over the side of the bed.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these little glimpses and photos from my trip. If you were here, which Thai adventure would you want to try first?