You have to join a tour, and there are several elephant camps in the area. Some are quite Eco minded. The elephants are in a sanctuary, they are not forced to do any work, or be ridden. You learn a lot about elephants, you feed them, and wash them. But, at 240 dollars the price was a bit high. I decided on a half day tour with Panda Elephant Camp. Most of these places are about an hour outside of Chiang Mae. Our transport was not ideal. The vehicle is a small pickup truck, where the back is covered with a canopy, and there are two rows of seats, front to back, room for 10 people, in a pinch. We only had six, so it was roomy, but the seats are not the most comfortable. I don't think it would pass any safety inspection in Canada, sitting in the back of an open truck, no seat belts. There were times, when we were going well over 100 km/h, when I wondered what would happen in the case of an accident. I wouldn't be writing this blog, for one.
When we arrived at the camp we changed into "mahout" outfits, a pair of denim shorts, and a denim shirt. We were told some basic facts about elephants, and then we allowed to feed the three elephants that were with us. The total herd here numbers 15. They eat over 200 kilos of food every day, each. It was neat putting a banana right into the elephants mouth, big pink thing.
Then we were given a lesson, with a cheat sheet, of commands, in Thai. One of the mahouts then demonstrated the various maneuvers, left, right, go forwards, go backwards...
We were the told that we were all going to mount an elephant and do these maneuvers. I wasn't sure whether I was up to that, but when it came my turn I actually climbed the beast, and went through the paces. To be honest even though I said all the right words, and used the bamboo hook, as directed, the mahout, walking beside the elephant, probably did most of the directing, it was a neat feeling, sitting bareback on an elephant, and going through the motions.
Getting off is fun. The elephant kneels on its from feet, you put your feet in front of you, and you slide down the front of the head. I did it, but not very gracefully.
After that we paired up, and two of us got back on the elephant, bareback, and we went for, about, a half hour ride to the pond. Going down a hill was interesting. One of the other elephants decided to eat some reeds, partway down a gully, and it's riders had interesting looks on their faces.
When we got to the pond we spent about half an hour in the water, with the elephants. We had buckets, and used them the wash the elephant. That was my favourite part. You were really close to the animal, and she was blowing bubbles, while you scrubbed it all over. It is quite an experience being that close to her. Our elephant decided to take a dump, and there were several softball size yellow blobs floating in the pond. It was time to leave.
I was happy I had only done the half day tour, I can't imagine doing nothing but feeding and washing an elephant for a whole day. We left at about 9, and didn't get back till 3:30.
I did get a thrill out of riding an elephant.
One more day in Chiang Mae.
Ralf
Feeding the beast
Getting to know you
I did it!, I got on
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