The hotel lobby is a veritable jungle.

Our opening ceremonial gathering for the first day of the tour. The reverence when speaking about the elephants was palpable.

This little temple right next to the road leads to a magical “Forest Temple.”

Ganesh, the elephant god, can be seen everywhere.

We are about the enter the magical world of the “Forest Temple.”

If I was a monk, this is the temple I’d like to be assigned. It’s right in the heart of nature.

The dragons lead us down the step to the lower part of the temple grounds where the monks live.

The feminine is revered as well.

Symbols of elephants can be seen everywhere throughout Thailand. Sadly, the history of man’s relationship with the elephants is very mixed, from reverence to torture, overwork, and other forms of abuse.It’s a complex subject.

We frequently have our palms pressed together in respect and reverence and gratitude. The female Boddhisatva is Diane Rawlins from Seattle, who works in the healthcare field, on the administrative side, trying to make the system better.

The water gently flows over the rocks, making peace-inducing water music.

Our dear Jamie, soaking in the peace. Jami is the perfect tour guide—calm yet totally tuned in, serene yet joyful.

These gilded temples are a big attraction to tourists. The bustling activity is in sharp contrast to the serenity of the Forest Temple.

People come from all over the world to see this fabled temple. I heard many languages spoken here, including Chinese, French, German, Italian, Queen’s English, American English and more.

The world’s first elephant hospital.

Soraida Salwala, founder of the elephant hospital which is supported through donations from all over the world. She does her work with total devotion to the injured elephants, in spite of having serious health problems herself.

On display are some of the prosthetic devices that the elephants have outgrown.

Motala, a 52 year old female, has a tragic story to tell. She was with her mahout (handler) logging near the Burmese border and stepped on a land mine which blew off her front leg from the knee down. She was left for dead, but then the mahout heard about the elephant hospital. A truck was sent to pick her up. I urge you to watch the short documentary to find out what happened.

Motala outgrew her old prosthesis, and is waiting for a replacement to be made. At this moment, funds from donations are not adequate to make a replacement. It’s very stressful for her to stand on three legs due to the tremendous weight of her body.

Mosha has no lower leg. When she was very young, it was blown off from a land mine, also near the Burmese border where there is constant fighting among the Burmese people. Because the young elephant, now 10 years old, continues to grow, a new prosthetic device is needed frequently. If it wasn’t for Soraida’s benevolence, these badly injured elephants would be left to die.

One of the mahouts brought his elephant and her baby to the hospital to be cared for until the baby is old enough to be weaned from the mother and begin to work.

The male baby is two weeks old. He forayed out to sniff us and wrap his tiny trunk around our arms, then darted back to the safety of his mother’s underside. Then he would do it again, the same routine over and over.

This elephant is considered dangerous. He has a severe case of PTSD from the cruel treatment he received by his former owner. Soraida Salwala bought him from the owner and rescued him. It’s not clear if he can be rehabilitated.

This is Boon Ma, the girl I fell in love with. She’s 13 years old and in the hospital because she stepped on a land mine that took off the sole of her front foot, making it difficult for her to walk. She will never be able to work again. While I was next to her, talking softly to her, she looked down at my feet, then sniffed them with her trunk. I silently asked her if I could look at her injured foot. At that moment, she lifted her injured foot and presented it to me. I held her enormous leg in my hands and lay my head on her raised leg as the tears filled my eyes..