However, over the next few months, he kept asking me questions like 'what animals would you like to volunteer with?' and 'if you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?' We both came to the conclusion that working with elephants would be a dream come true, and that we definitely wanted to go somewhere in Asia.
The company we went with, PoD Volunteer, offered a 3 week program: 1 week volunteering with elephants in Thailand and 2 weeks volunteering with general wildlife (monkeys, bears, nocturnals, birds etc) for the charity 'Wildlife Friends Foundation, Thailand' (WFFT). It cost £949 each, flights not included. It was perfect - volunteering would cost just under £2000 each for 3 weeks, our breakfast, lunch and dinner would be included and we would get a room just for the two of us. We couldn't believe it! What a bargain! We booked it as soon as possible... and then we started dating. We worked out that by the time we went, we would have officially been together for 4 months and that made us both pretty nervous. What if we argued all the time? What if no one wanted to talk to us because we were a couple? What if we split up? After a couple of weeks, we somehow managed to stop thinking about what could go wrong, and we started to actually look forward to it. Before long, we were both strapped into the plane jetting off to Thailand - we couldn't change our minds now!
When we arrived, we saw the view over the river which was incredible. We couldn't believe that we would be waking up to this every morning.
After that, we were shown to our room. We didn't expect it to be so small and dirty! There was mud everywhere, there were geckos climbing up the walls and we had a manual flush toilet. We expected basic accommodation, but not this basic! To make matters worse, our window had been taped shut which meant our room was constantly boiling, and we only had one mosquito hook hanging off the left hand side wall which meant that we had to share a single bed. I did try some DIY work by sticking a mosquito net up on the ceiling with plasters, but it didn't work out as planned...
After a while, our window got fixed, we got used to living on top of each other and we begun to love our little abode. We even started to enjoy the company of our gecko friends who kept the insects at bay. And that is when we started to really enjoy the holiday.
In our first week, we volunteered with the elephants. We started work at 6:30am and we usually did not finish until around 4:30pm with a few breaks in between. We had to prepare banana balls (this consisted of having to squelch bananas in between our fingers with some sort of fibre which was good for the elephants. It was very messy, but very therapeutic) which we then fed them by hand with.
We showered the elephants,
and we sometimes even got to take them on walks!
It was extremely hard work though, especially on harvest days. To be able to feed the amount of elephants WFFT take care of, volunteers on the program were required to go out and collect banana trees which served as a meal for the elephants. The Thai staff chopped down trees whilst we had to carry them on our shoulders to the back of the van - sometimes it took 2 or 3 people to carry one tree!
Giant red ants were our biggest enemy as they crawled down the back of your shirt whilst you were carrying the heavy trees in mid air. If they bit you, they left a really nasty mark which you would not be able to stop itching. But it wasn't all bad. The view was absolutely gorgeous...
And it was nice to get out of the centre on the back of a van with the wind rushing through your hair. You really felt alive.
Really solid friendships were built on harvest. We saw each other at our worst, but none of us cared. We laughed and joked despite the hard work, and we really enjoyed working together as a team.
Of course, Ryan and I were the only ones who made the mistake of wearing white on our first harvest...
But we didn't care. It was so worth it.
The Thai staff saw how hard we all worked and they took us to go cool off in the river. It was beautiful. The current was extremely strong which meant that we were able to jump off a small bridge and get pulled down the river without even swimming. There was even a swing hanging off a tree which we could climb up on.
Words cannot express how amazing it was swimming in such a gorgeous place after we had all worked so hard. I will never forget that feeling as long as I live. Sadly, after our last harvest, we had to say goodbye to the elephants as we moved onto the wildlife aspect of the program. It was an amazing experience working with these fascinating creatures and we really did learn a lot from it.
In the wildlife program, the days were longer and we had less breaks. We started at 6:30am and usually finished at 5:30pm, but it was still an amazing experience. I was made team leader of the primates which meant that I got to work with monkeys for the majority of my time at the centre. I soon realised that they look cute, but they can be oh so evil.
I got scratched at least 3 times and our watering can got mutilated - imagine if that was my finger!
But I absolutely loved being close to these creatures. After a while, I started to get used to each monkey's personality and some even started to hold their hand out to me because they wanted some affection (either that or they wanted to pull my fingers off, which would not surprise me in the slightest.)
Due to the non-violent nature of WFFT, deer had grown accustomed to approaching humans as they wanted feeding, too. It was an incredible sight; as soon as the monkeys dropped the fruit they did not want, deer strolled over to eat their leftovers.
I actually got this close to a deer! How cool is that!?
On the wildlife program, you were able to work with so many different animals. I was able to walk into the pig den and give them a few snuggles because they were just so cute,
I was able to take a selfie with a tortoise after scrubbing his pool clean,
I was able to spend time with abandoned puppies and give them kisses,
And every day on the wildlife program, I was able to watch the adorable otters which was a once in a lifetime experience. They were probably my favourite things there because they were just so lovely!
Working with wildlife was surprisingly harder than working with the elephants.
A lot of the work required us to prepare food which took hours, we had to walk around the forest carrying heavy watering cans and we had to scrub dirty pools clean which ached our arms and backs.
But it was so worthwhile. You knew that you were helping the animals so you didn't mind the hard work; no one complained, and everyone who we worked with were so lovely. We made some amazing friends.
We were allowed one day off a week, and in our spare time, we could leave the centre and do different things in the surrounding area. One day, we went to the bat cave...
And witnessed 40 million bats fly out to try and find food. This was simply incredible as the sun was setting at the same time which was beautiful.
Look at the faint wavy black line in the sky - that is all of the bats flying away!
We also went to the beach and witnessed our first ever Thai thunderstorm!
We loved our time at the centre, but we wanted to see more of Thailand. This is why we booked a night in Bangkok the day before our flight back to England. When it was time to leave, we didn't really want to go. We had met so many amazing people from around the globe who we still miss today! It was a very teary goodbye, but after many hugs, it was time for us to say goodbye to WFFT forever...
When we arrived at our hotel in Bangkok, we were so happy with the location. We were opposite Asiatique, a huge market with restaurants and access to boat rides over the river, and there were police everywhere which reduced crime significantly. We were a taxi ride away from historical Bangkok which we used to our full advantage, and the hotel staff were lovely. Unfortunately, I accidentally booked the hotel a week later, and although Expedia tried to charge me an extra £150 for their inconvenience, the hotel told me to cancel the payment with Expedia and they would just charge me the normal price but in Thai currency rather than English. After a lot of angry phone calls to Expedia, the kind hotel staff showed us to our room which felt like heaven after living in a hut for 3 weeks. We were then able to enjoy Bangkok fully.
I would really recommend visiting historical Bangkok because it is beautiful (remember to cover up your shoulders and wear long trousers though, otherwise you will spend 20 minutes queuing to pay a deposit so you can borrow appropriate clothes!) The grand palace was a highlight for me, as you were able to watch many people from around the world pray whilst being completely respectful of their religion. The buildings were stunning and were almost completely made out of gold which is a must see.
We also thought it would be romantic to get our faces drawn together.
Although the picture wasn't very flattering, but it was brilliant for £2 and we will keep it in our memory box forever. It was also hilarious at the time!
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