While I was waiting to get to join a home stay, the people running the small organisation obviously wanted to keep me entertained by taking me out to the local sights, including the opportunity to ride elephants.
I do not understand why anyone would want to do so, or why it isn't immediately obvious to anyone who's not a sociopath how miserable these hugely intelligent, perceptive creatures are when kept in captivity. Stop riding elephants, they are not a toy.

Chopping up our dinner in a remote Lahu tribal village in far northern Thailand, near the Burmese border.

They came back from a hunt victorious with a squirrel to boil up, along with rice and pork fat, served in a banana leaf

Northern Thailand

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

In a remote Akha village near Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand

Buscalan Village, the Philippines

Buscalan is a remote village between Banaue and Bohol in Northern Luzon Island in the Philippines. We had a rickety bus ride to get up to the hills, and another hours trek from there to reach it. But when you're there, the views are amazing, and the village is beautiful, and it's people friendly.