Lunch on the Elephant Trail

October 18, 2009


Last Monday I spent my day with an elephant. It certainly isn’t something I ever imagined I would do in my life. There are lots of elephant excursions in Thailand, but this one was a bit different. My husband and I enjoyed a full day at Patara Elephant Farm in Chiang Mai, Thailand, an organization the works to prevent the extinction of the Asian elephant and also operates as a rescue for the elephants as well as breeding them to preserve their existence.

The elephant trainer for a day program involved each of us, there were 5 in our group, be assigned to one elephant for the whole day. We bathed them, fed them, swam with them and rode them bareback for almost two hours throughout the country side, up steep hills and through creek beds. Simply unbelievable.

What does this have to do with food?


Our day with the elephants included what is probably one of the tastiest, not to mention most beautiful, picnics I’ve ever had. Laid out atop a banana leaf tablecloth, along the rocky path next to the water, were all kinds of Thai foods which had been prepared for us by a woman in a nearby village.


First, each person had three portions or rice. The one on the right was savory sticky rice to eat with the crispy fried chicken show in the photos below. The middle was purple sticky rice with coconut and then sweet sticky rice with egg custard. My favorite was the purple sticky riced with it’s incredibly nutty flavor and the pieces of coconut on top.


The small round cakes included one made of coconut that was a lot like a coconut gel. The yellow one was palm cake. The small yellow blobs (for lack of a better term) were sweetened egg yolks. Such a delicious combination of ingredients. The palm cake was our favorite.



Then, of course, there was fruit, every bit as fresh and delicious as the varieties we enjoyed in Brazil. Believe it or not, this was my first opportunity to try the red/pink dragon fruit. I found it to be much more flavorful than the white variety, very sweet with seeds similar to a kiwi. Just the beautiful color alone makes it exciting to eat.


Next was a huge selection of sweets steamed in leaves. Some were very similar to the sticky rices we’d already tried. One was a steamed banana cake that I failed to get a photo of. It was brown in color and had a very dense, gel-like texture. The most interesting was the rice and red bean steamed in the bamboo with palm sugar. This dessert exists in several Asian cultures I believe, but this was my first opportunity to have it.





No need to be worried about hungry elephants. They had a nice basket of bananas and sugarcane when we first arrived. Then they got all the vegetarian leftovers from our lunch, including the banana leaf we used as a tablecloth.


And this was no zoomed picture with the camera. My husband’s elephant, Say Thong, was munching some sugar cane right next to me.

I thought I would mention that, unfortunately, I’m having some major problems with the hosting account for my new blog, The 3 Star Traveler. I’m not sure that I will have the computer time to resolve it before the trip’s end so I will be sure to continue posting here when time allows.

Also, I just want to extend a big thank you for reading. Obviously my schedule is keeping me from staying up to date with everyone’s blogs and I truly appreciate that you are still reading mine. You’ll find me commenting again in a few weeks.

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  • jordan October 18, 2009 at 8:38 pm

    WOW look at that spread! It’s absolutely gorgeous. What a cool way to eat. 🙂

  • Joy October 18, 2009 at 11:49 pm

    What a lovely way to spend a day!

  • Akila October 19, 2009 at 12:27 am

    So cool! Love that you are off in Thailand and I can’t wait to hear more about your elephant experiences.

  • Stephanie October 19, 2009 at 5:02 am

    How amazing!! Everything sounds sooo good! I have always wanted to try dragon fruit…but even more importantly im so jealous! I want to ride an elephant! it’s on my “bucket list” hehe Glad you are having a good time!

  • Erica October 19, 2009 at 5:04 am

    WOW you are having such an incredible experience- enjoy every minute. The elephants are so cute. The food looks totally tasty too.

  • Andrea (Off Her Cork) October 19, 2009 at 5:28 am

    This is so so awesome! Loved the recap Lori and that is a memory that will last a lifetime.

    When Scott and I make it to Thailand we are definitely doing that!

  • OysterCulture October 19, 2009 at 6:07 am

    I’m able to leave comments again – yeah!
    I love the recap and to see the incredible experiences you are having – what fun. What an adventure to experience, and to capture your thoughts and experiences as you go along is just perfect.

  • kat October 19, 2009 at 7:04 am

    Wow, that looks so amazing

  • gastroanthropologist October 19, 2009 at 8:25 am

    WOW! Love the pictures of the food. And, I love elephants – someone once told me they bring good luck!

  • Emily October 19, 2009 at 8:34 am

    What an interesting trip/food! My parents LOVED the food in Thailand!

  • cathy October 19, 2009 at 9:46 am

    We’re coming off of over 2 weeks of sickness in our house (curse that flu!), so I’m spending some time catching up myself. Holy cow, what a spread! You are a lucky girl to have these experiences and to be able to expand your palate in such an amazing way. Enjoy every minute of it!

  • Sweta October 19, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    Wow-what a fantastic array of food!!
    I’m so glad you liked the Dragon fruit-I loved it but my husband didn’t find anything great about it!!
    Can’t wait to hear more about your trip!!

  • Cinnamon-Girl Reeni♥ October 19, 2009 at 8:10 pm

    The food looks just amazing! What a wonderful experience!

  • Debinhawaii October 20, 2009 at 1:45 am

    What an incredible day and a wonderful looking lunch. So glad you are having such a great time.

  • 5 Star Foodie October 21, 2009 at 7:36 am

    What a neat experience and the picnic looks really wonderful! I would love to do something like this!

  • Tangled Noodle October 22, 2009 at 6:47 am

    I want to do this!!!! What a great adventure you are having and I thank you for sharing it all with us. As for that picnic lunch – wow! Rice, especially sticky rice, is my absolute favorite (and comfort) food. The ones wrapped in banana leaves and steamed in bamboo are also found in Filipino cuisine – called ‘suman’ and ‘puto bumbong’ respectively. I plan on gorging myself on them when we visit the Philippines in December.

    I know you’re in Singapore and KL now so continued safe and happy journeys!

  • Chow and Chatter October 25, 2009 at 5:52 pm

    oh wow I agree the best picnic in the world I love how its wrapped as well, like they do in India

  • sangeeta October 26, 2009 at 8:56 am

    wonderful picnic Lori….the spread looks just out of this world.
    i hope you are coming back with a lot of interesting posts..

  • Daily Spud October 31, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    Oh wow, Lori – I’ve been to Thailand a couple of times and did get to go on an elephant ride near Chiang Mai but the elephant trainer for a day sounds like an amazing experience. I am of course utterly jealous of your lunch spread too 🙂

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