Volunteering in Chiang Mai

I went out to Chiang Mai back in August '14, accompanied with my other half (her review should be on here too!). The chance to volunteer: teaching the young Buddhist monks, helping at the elephant sanctuary, and learning about local hill tribes was a genuine once in a lifetime opportunity.

The day to day experiences involved: lesson planning for days with the young Buddhist monks, exploring Chiang Mai and experiencing all the bizarre and random things that Thailand has to other (e.g. we ended up one night joining a local party catered for by a cement company giving something to the locals - and us!).

On our 2nd week we spent 7 days at the elephant sanctuary, helping with feeding/bathing the elephants, and walking the dogs (there are 400 rescue dogs at the sanctuary - and they need love too!). The elephant sanctuary was definitely a highlight of our entire trip, which includes 3 months of independent travel across Asia. The other volunteers you'll meet are lovely, like minded and caring people from all across North America/Europe/Australlia. As well as that it's a lovely opportunity to learn more about elephants and the cruelty many suffer. This experience definitely opens your eyes to mankind's selfish ways, and all just for own entertainment.

The final week we spent up in the hill tribes, which again was an interesting experience. It was a great chance for us to hang out with Will and Dave from GapGuru and again learn more about Thai culture.

Along our travels I've occasionally hear negative reviews for Bangkok but I've never heard a bad word uttered about Chiang Mai. This is a must.