The elephant, cont.

Thursday, October 9, 2008 - 7:58 PM

Well, it's been a few days since the first part of the post, and I've already forgotten most of it (so have I, you're probably saying!). Nonetheless, I'll try to go from the prior post.

So ... Karina was terrified when the elephant got close and encircled her and Mika with a trunk. So we weren't hoping for much. We walked down the path past the flea-bitten chickens, and up the steps of a pavillion with four "stations" for loading passengers. At the top were very wide and beautifully carved teak benches. We were sitting on one, worrying. Eventually, an elephant was led toward the bench at our back. We could look at the top of the elephant from over its head. From the bench, Karina had a top view of the elephant and appeared to be much more comfortable with its tonnage from that vantage, not seeing its trunk inching across the floor at our feet.

We were not to ride that elephant, however, and it was a good thing. Apparently, elephants live for so long - and retire at the age of 65 - that they are trained by one mahoot, with an apprentice mahoot that then carries on after the death of the first mahoot. Well, the elephant we had been watching was obviously in the care of the apprentice. He had placed the 6 or so pads made from old rice bags on the elephant's back, then, with difficulty, stood on the back and hoisted over a seat - which the other mahoots immediately noted as being placed incorrectly. After a number of other tries, along with girding the bundle from the elephant's tale and under its front legs. When another couple was given the go-ahead to get on, I showed that we had booked this time. It was way OK, however, when they were the led away on the beast with the slipped seat.

Ours came soon after. We were all really happy to see that our mahoot was older and more experienced! We stepped on the top of the elehant, between its shoulders on our way to the bench seat, closed, like a carnival ride, with a bar across our laps.

The sway of an elephant while sitting in a bench is, um, extreme. This was not the first time to ride an elephant for Mika and I. Sitting on the neck is the best, most gentle ride. (Of course, you have to put up with whatever the elephant happens to blow out its trunk that way.) The sway of the elephant goes from front to back and side to side. It's a bit discomforting, knowing how precarious the whole setup is (having seen the apprentice!).

In these areas, the only elephants one can ride are those that are specifically for rides. There are, then, elephant trails that one rides on. Imagine the three-toed elephant with a foot the size of a large dinner plate walking in the footprints of the ones that went down the trail before it. Now, imagine the same in mud 2 feet deep. That, my friends, is the trail - and walking down that trail is every more uh - extreme - than walking on a flat road.

So, where's the little girl that's afraid of elephants? She's the little one on the top, screaming for more, more, more!

We had tickets for a 1/2 hour ride. It felt like two on the back of a swaying elephant. ... then, towards the end of the ride a large snake crossed our path - about 15 feet in front of us. We knew, not only because we saw it, but because the mahoot jumped off quickly and chased it with his barbed stick, hacking at it wildly.

We found out the most extraordinary thing. Did you know that elephants tremble? We could tell right away that it was afraid. It had three very distinct sets of shudders.

The rest of the ride was looonnnggg, but relatively uneventful in light of the big mudholes (pictured above) and the snake.

After the elephant ride, we worked our way back to the entrance of the camp, stopping for a coconut milk drink. Our tricycle rider was there waiting for us, to take us to the next stop - the orchid farm.

After an elephant ride, what can you say about an orchid farm? There were all kinds and all colors of orchids in all stages of development. They were using tissue cultures to propogate - and had bottles of baby orchids for sale for 250 baht. Maybe another time.... try not to spend money, Nana, while the economy goes down the tube.

Competing for top spot of the day was a sorry "also-ran", the monkey training school. Purporting to be a school for monkeys to train to pick coconuts, it seemed more like a manufactured tourist post to me. Apparently, they can pick 800 to 1000 cocunuts per day. So ... their bag of tricks was unscrewing coconuts from some wire pins, riding a tricycle, shooting baskets, diving for coins - and other useful talents for a well-schooled monkey. (btw- they were pig-tailed monkeys.)

After the monkey farm we stopped at what we thought would be a butterfly farm. It turned out to be an insect farm --- all kinds of big and small insects! ... and ... not much that I really wanted to see. There was, by the way, a butterfly room - but only about two of the butterflies we were expecting to see. The guy that started this large bug collection literally "wrote the book", Thailand's Butterlies. Apparently, the guy and his family run this.

Following the bug zoo we were just too exhausted to do anything else, and made our way back to Chiangmai via our tricycle. We were pretty sure we'd make it considering the road was almost all downhill.