Passports stamped, we crossed the border into the one country I had always dreamed of seeing. Here we were, finally, in the land of pachyderms and tigers, of an ever smiling population, wonderful Thai dancing and spectacular beaches. This is not to say that the other countries thus far didn’t have great beaches and happy, friendly nations, they did, but this one had elephants, lots of them. Far more, it seemed, than Malaysia and we planned on visiting the true city of elephants, Chiang Mai in time for the annual Sa-toke Elephant Fair. Held in February each year, the festival pays homage to these magnificent beasts.

We drove along as much of the coastline as possible, staying in some of the country’s best hotels and visited some delightful spots en-route. Krabi, with its monolithic limestone casts, its jungles, caves and wonderful birds and butterflies by the thousands in every colour imaginable. Phuket, ah Phuket…all I can say is that we will return; and its neighbour, Phang Nga Bay, teeming with wildlife from sea eagles to giant horn bills and sea otters. For me the journey was like a new book, each page turned offered yet another exquisite adventure.

From quaint Islamic mosques being the main religious buildings of southern Thailand we began passing more and more Buddhist temples the further north we went. The architecture of both religious structure styles, begged photography, and I rapidly lost count of the amount of film we went through.

Bangkok, soon emerged on the hazy horizon, we stopped only briefly and went on a Chaopraya River boat trip, popped down to the Chatuchak Weekend Market, which is an absolute ‘must do’ activity for anyone visiting this bustling city and spent time wandering through the shops of Siam Square and a few of the more important temples. However after 3 days, Bangkok proved itself pretty much like any other big city in the world and we set off, the misty mountains of Chiang Mai, its silk production plus, of course, its elephants beckoning.

The closer we got to this mountain cradled city, the more excited I became. Although we had already seen the odd elephant throughout our travels through Thailand, I had yet to see them do anything other than cart tourists along hilly pathways or (as in Phuket) along a beach. Chiang Mai though, offered further insight into the lives and fate of these ‘rumbling’ beasts.

Having breakfasted and settled into our hotel early, we drove the 30km to Lampang in the Hang Chat district where the Sa-Toke Elephant Fair was being held at the National Elephant Institute with co-operation from the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre which serves as the only training school for young elephants in the world as well as being a sanctuary for retired elephants and an elephant hospital.

Thai elephants have held a proud place in the country’s past from ancient to modern times and remain a constant feature in Thai culture. Kept here in a protective environment they are trained from birth to work with their mahout masters doing all manner of tasks from hauling logs (though this side of the Thai elephant’s life is decreasing along with the logging industry), to lifting incredible weights or on the fun side learning to play elephant polo, elephant soccer or paint pictures.

Not content with seeing the display once, we hung around for the evening performance as well and were thrilled that we did as this enabled us to enjoy a concert performed by the elephants themselves plus cultural performances with shows featuring local tales, traditions and music put on by the local Lanna people and a spectacular elephant parade. I could have sworn the elephants were as proud as their mahouts were of their display and their eyes sparkled with a hidden passion I would never have deemed possible. These were happy, much loved creatures, definitely part of Thai culture and proud of it.

If you plan on being in Thailand in February you can’t afford to miss this spectacular event, where not only the locals benefit from the fair, but the animals do too. The ticket for the festivities includes the "Sa-toke" elephant parade, a redemption coupon for food to feed the elephants at the 'Sa-toke feast'; and a separate meal coupon which you are able to redeem for a set meal of local fare at the evening banquet.

With the Thai elephant facing the threat of extinction, the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre does an amazing job and it's good knowing that due to this and other elephant festivals and organisations throughout the kingdom, these quiet lumbering creatures will be around for our grandchildren’s children to enjoy in years to come. This, our finale to our Asian/Pacific holiday, was certainly one of our adventure’s highlights and one that like an elephant’s memory, I will never forget.