An Elephant Never Forgets

Elephants!

I got to ride an elephant! And it was fantastic! If we had to end our trip tomorrow, I would go home happy to tell everyone that I had ridden a real Asian elephant and it was the best thing I’ve ever done.

We went to the Pattaya Elephant Village in Pattaya, about a 30-minute bus ride from the ship. When we got there, we were given the chance to look around first. A few of us wandered down to where the elephants were picketed and just watched them for a while. They’re huge, in case none of you have gotten to close. The smaller ones there were about 10 feet tall, with maybe 5-foot trunks. They were eating at the time, which was cool to watch. They practically inhale their food, they eat so much and very quickly. We were a little nervous to touch them at first, but we got up the nerve eventually and took turns petting them and getting our pictures taken for our disbelieving audiences back home.

When the show started, the announcer encouraged us to come down and feed and get to know the elephants better. I think I had 3 trunks on me at one time, they were very curious. I think that might have had more to do with my friend holding bananas than to me, but I’ll take what I can get. Elephants have very rough, dry, and hard skin, a bit of a shock at first. Kind of like when you first hold a snake, it’s not quite what you expect. They’re also pretty hairy, something I’d never noticed before.

The elephants there were retired work elephants that used to be in the timber industry. They’re used there to haul and roll massive logs. Usually they use females, because the guys go into Musk for 3 months of the year and are pretty useless then for work. As part of the demonstration, they had the elephants haul huge logs and roll them around the demonstration ring. It was crazy how effortlessly they made it seem. And they’re very coordinated with those trunks rolling the big logs. They are really good at working together too. I was impressed.

But the best part had to have been when the let us ride them. A few people got to volunteer to ride the elephants into the pond to take a bath with them, which was hilarious to watch as people tried to stay dry as their steed submerged herself. I chose to stay dry. Later, they invited us all to climb on and ride an elephant bareback. It’s weird at first, to pull yourself up by stepping on their legs and grabbing them, but we were assured they couldn’t feel it, they’re skin’s so thick. When you ride bareback on an elephant, you sit up on their shoulder blades, close to their neck, so it’s a very different ride than from a horse. I constantly felt off balance, and had to put my weight forward onto my hands resting on her head. But I stayed on, and it was soooo amazing to be up so high and on such a large animal! Later, they put baskets on the backs of the elephants and 2 of us rode at the same time. Ashley and I had such a good time, snapping pictures and just being amazed that we were in Thailand on the back of an elephant!

This is why I travel, to do the things no one else will do and have memories for the rest of my life.

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." -- Jawaharlal Nehru