Right folks, be warned...there are a few blog entries coming. Sorry I've been slack over the last few days- they have been unexpectedly eventful! Who knew Phayao- a town I hadn't heard of until this week- would bring us such fun and games? But before I go into that craziness, let's go back to our wonderful day with the elephants...
There are a fair few 'elephant-owner-for-a-day' type day trips around Chiang Mai, so it can be difficult to choose one that is ethically sound. But as soon as we arrived at Patara Elephant Farm, I knew that we had made the right choice. With Tuscany-esque forests on the surrounding distant hills, the lush, expansive surroundings made it immediately clear to me that the 30 elephants I saw dotted around were treated with love and respect. I almost felt like we were on the set of a Jurassic Park movie, seeing such majestic animals in idyllic surroundings! After donning some rather fetching brightly coloured 'mahout' (elephant owner) outfits, we had a pep talk from Pat, the owner of the family-run farm, explaining what we'd learn today. Such an impressive and funny guy! Today was not about just playing with the elephants, he insisted- you will be working hard, so that we don't have to!
First up: we had to meet our new elephant friend that we'd be taking care of that day. After a brief demonstration on the basic commands, I was introduced to Chumpon, a 9 year-old female who I'd later found out was a bit of a rebel! Before I fed her the bananas and sugar cane in my hand, I had to make sure she liked me. 'Chumpon!' I shouted. She trumped back happily- I was accepted. Carefully, I approached her. 'Don!' I said, and she lifted her trunk so I could pop the food into her mouth. As my hand kept getting caught on her slurpy tongue (lmmm, nice!), I caught sight of her teeth- so WIDE! Probably the width of a human's whole set of teeth! 'Dit dit' ('good girl') I'd say, stroking her trunk, along with my 21-year-old Thai helper, Tana.
Now came the hard work- we had to check if our elephants were healthy. Our helper, Jacks, used a ridiculously pregnant elephant to show us the key things to look out for. 23 months pregnant...and it showed! Because the baby's been in the womb so long, it's likely to be a boy, and apparently he could be born any second. Bet that'll be a relief to the mother! Anyway- off the point slightly. First, you make sure they're not depressed/angry/hormonal by their swinging tail and flapping ears. Second, you check the sides of an elephant's head for mud. If there is none, it means that the elephant was probably sleeping standing up, which is bad news! Third, you check the toenails to see if the elephant's been sweating; the only place that they sweat from. Pat wasn't kidding when he said it wasn't just playtime, I thought...and that was before I learned the fourth and final test. Dung inspection. There has to be at least six poops from the night before, it has to have the right amount of moisture, the right smell, the right taste (I'm KIDDING about the last one!) Random fact for you, in case you ever find yourself needing to determine the age of an elephant from its poo (hey, you never know, people...)- the smaller the poop's fibres, the younger the elephant. Just so you know.
After all that, its time to give her a brush-over! 'Ma, ma' ('come, come') I told naughty Chumpon, taking her to a clear area, before commanding her to lay down so I could brush her down. Believe me, I have never seen such a look of happiness as in my elephant's eyes as she lay on her side and chewed on some nearby leaves! Then it was time for the fun part- BATH-TIME! Leading our elephants into the water, we chucked water from wooden baskets over our elephants, giving them yet another brush-over. It was actually quite hard work...the fun 'water-time' with the elephants would come later on in the day...more on that later! Our elephants were in their element, especially when they decided to give all of us a shower from their trunks! Such cheeky animals...I love it!
After all this, we were bloody exhausted, but the day was far from over...we had to learn how to board our elephants, and ride them to a waterfall through the jungle! I chose the easier method of gently kicking the elephant's ankle so they raised it off the ground, then using the elephant's leg as a ladder to haul myself up on top, shuffling toward so I was just behind the ears. Patrick, the daredevil that he is, opted to get up via the elephant's trunk: holding onto the ears, one foot on the trunk, then the elephant does the rest, lifting you onto his head. So long as you leaned forward and back as you went up and down hill, riding Chumpon would have been fairly easy...had she not had an insatiable appetite! Every five minutes, she'd stop for a little snack to cure her hunger. 'Janna!' ('Don't do that!') I'd cry, 'bai!' ('go!'). But would she listen? Nah.
By the time we trekked through some rocky terrain in the jungle, and after seeing the elephants eating constantly, we were all starving! Luckily, as we watched the elephants completely submerge themselves in the water, using their trunks as snorkels, our awesome 'mahout' helpers were preparing an extensive picnic lunch on palm-tree leaves. Fried chicken, coconut and sticky rice, fruit, mango cakes...it all went pretty quickly, and the leftovers went even quicker onto the elephant's prying trunks! The male pink-trunked elephant (the trademark of a Chiang Mai elephant) was particularly a greedy guts!
As I went to find a toilet (which I'm sure you needed to know) I left our group watching the elephants frolic in the water. When I returned, Patrick, along with another guy in our group called Max, were in the water swimming with them! This all looked too much fun to miss out on, so I quickly stripped to my bathing suit and dived in. Little did I know how difficult it would be to a) get through the water, b) avoid the elephant's continual poops, and c) to balance on the beast's back! There were a few hairy moments when Patrick shouted 'Jen! Get up here!', as I was close to being squashed between two rolling elephants...but I eventually found my balance, the elephants stopped rolling, and I was able to enjoy a wallow with Chumpon.
Running a little late, we took a short cut on the way back- on a main road! Pretty surreal to see cars driving alongside your elephants...even more surreal to see dozens of Thai children waving at you and shouting 'Hello!' from a passing school bus! Ironically, it was more jolty to ride the elephant on the concrete than it was in the jungle...elephant rides are obviously meant to be on rough terrain!
Just when we'd returned back to the farm and I thought it was the end, Pat told us that there were four winners for the 'Elephant-Owner-For-A-Day' competition...the four ladies! The prize...a very special kiss! Expecting the mahouts to pucker up, feeling a little scared, we were told to close our eyes, turn around and hold our arms out. Then suddenly, I felt a weird sucking feeling on my arm- Chumpon gave me a kiss! Giggling from the ticklish feeling, I gave her a big hug, telling her 'dit dit' (though she hadn't been such a 'dit-dit' when I rode her!)
So, all in all, a really fantastic day. Elephants have always been my favourite animals, with their intelligence, cheekiness and family orientation, and today just confirmed everything I love about them! I was so impressed with Pat as well; he loves those elephants with all his heart. He's had no deaths in his farm at all, and I fully believe he will make a significant difference to the future of these magnificent creatures through his breeding programme. Good luck, Pat!
Next blog post...how an older couple asking us for directions in Phayao led to a night crazier than the Full Moon Party. Pictures from both of these blog posts to follow very very soon!
There are a fair few 'elephant-owner-for-a-day' type day trips around Chiang Mai, so it can be difficult to choose one that is ethically sound. But as soon as we arrived at Patara Elephant Farm, I knew that we had made the right choice. With Tuscany-esque forests on the surrounding distant hills, the lush, expansive surroundings made it immediately clear to me that the 30 elephants I saw dotted around were treated with love and respect. I almost felt like we were on the set of a Jurassic Park movie, seeing such majestic animals in idyllic surroundings! After donning some rather fetching brightly coloured 'mahout' (elephant owner) outfits, we had a pep talk from Pat, the owner of the family-run farm, explaining what we'd learn today. Such an impressive and funny guy! Today was not about just playing with the elephants, he insisted- you will be working hard, so that we don't have to!
First up: we had to meet our new elephant friend that we'd be taking care of that day. After a brief demonstration on the basic commands, I was introduced to Chumpon, a 9 year-old female who I'd later found out was a bit of a rebel! Before I fed her the bananas and sugar cane in my hand, I had to make sure she liked me. 'Chumpon!' I shouted. She trumped back happily- I was accepted. Carefully, I approached her. 'Don!' I said, and she lifted her trunk so I could pop the food into her mouth. As my hand kept getting caught on her slurpy tongue (lmmm, nice!), I caught sight of her teeth- so WIDE! Probably the width of a human's whole set of teeth! 'Dit dit' ('good girl') I'd say, stroking her trunk, along with my 21-year-old Thai helper, Tana.
Now came the hard work- we had to check if our elephants were healthy. Our helper, Jacks, used a ridiculously pregnant elephant to show us the key things to look out for. 23 months pregnant...and it showed! Because the baby's been in the womb so long, it's likely to be a boy, and apparently he could be born any second. Bet that'll be a relief to the mother! Anyway- off the point slightly. First, you make sure they're not depressed/angry/hormonal by their swinging tail and flapping ears. Second, you check the sides of an elephant's head for mud. If there is none, it means that the elephant was probably sleeping standing up, which is bad news! Third, you check the toenails to see if the elephant's been sweating; the only place that they sweat from. Pat wasn't kidding when he said it wasn't just playtime, I thought...and that was before I learned the fourth and final test. Dung inspection. There has to be at least six poops from the night before, it has to have the right amount of moisture, the right smell, the right taste (I'm KIDDING about the last one!) Random fact for you, in case you ever find yourself needing to determine the age of an elephant from its poo (hey, you never know, people...)- the smaller the poop's fibres, the younger the elephant. Just so you know.
After all that, its time to give her a brush-over! 'Ma, ma' ('come, come') I told naughty Chumpon, taking her to a clear area, before commanding her to lay down so I could brush her down. Believe me, I have never seen such a look of happiness as in my elephant's eyes as she lay on her side and chewed on some nearby leaves! Then it was time for the fun part- BATH-TIME! Leading our elephants into the water, we chucked water from wooden baskets over our elephants, giving them yet another brush-over. It was actually quite hard work...the fun 'water-time' with the elephants would come later on in the day...more on that later! Our elephants were in their element, especially when they decided to give all of us a shower from their trunks! Such cheeky animals...I love it!
After all this, we were bloody exhausted, but the day was far from over...we had to learn how to board our elephants, and ride them to a waterfall through the jungle! I chose the easier method of gently kicking the elephant's ankle so they raised it off the ground, then using the elephant's leg as a ladder to haul myself up on top, shuffling toward so I was just behind the ears. Patrick, the daredevil that he is, opted to get up via the elephant's trunk: holding onto the ears, one foot on the trunk, then the elephant does the rest, lifting you onto his head. So long as you leaned forward and back as you went up and down hill, riding Chumpon would have been fairly easy...had she not had an insatiable appetite! Every five minutes, she'd stop for a little snack to cure her hunger. 'Janna!' ('Don't do that!') I'd cry, 'bai!' ('go!'). But would she listen? Nah.
By the time we trekked through some rocky terrain in the jungle, and after seeing the elephants eating constantly, we were all starving! Luckily, as we watched the elephants completely submerge themselves in the water, using their trunks as snorkels, our awesome 'mahout' helpers were preparing an extensive picnic lunch on palm-tree leaves. Fried chicken, coconut and sticky rice, fruit, mango cakes...it all went pretty quickly, and the leftovers went even quicker onto the elephant's prying trunks! The male pink-trunked elephant (the trademark of a Chiang Mai elephant) was particularly a greedy guts!
As I went to find a toilet (which I'm sure you needed to know) I left our group watching the elephants frolic in the water. When I returned, Patrick, along with another guy in our group called Max, were in the water swimming with them! This all looked too much fun to miss out on, so I quickly stripped to my bathing suit and dived in. Little did I know how difficult it would be to a) get through the water, b) avoid the elephant's continual poops, and c) to balance on the beast's back! There were a few hairy moments when Patrick shouted 'Jen! Get up here!', as I was close to being squashed between two rolling elephants...but I eventually found my balance, the elephants stopped rolling, and I was able to enjoy a wallow with Chumpon.
Running a little late, we took a short cut on the way back- on a main road! Pretty surreal to see cars driving alongside your elephants...even more surreal to see dozens of Thai children waving at you and shouting 'Hello!' from a passing school bus! Ironically, it was more jolty to ride the elephant on the concrete than it was in the jungle...elephant rides are obviously meant to be on rough terrain!
Just when we'd returned back to the farm and I thought it was the end, Pat told us that there were four winners for the 'Elephant-Owner-For-A-Day' competition...the four ladies! The prize...a very special kiss! Expecting the mahouts to pucker up, feeling a little scared, we were told to close our eyes, turn around and hold our arms out. Then suddenly, I felt a weird sucking feeling on my arm- Chumpon gave me a kiss! Giggling from the ticklish feeling, I gave her a big hug, telling her 'dit dit' (though she hadn't been such a 'dit-dit' when I rode her!)
So, all in all, a really fantastic day. Elephants have always been my favourite animals, with their intelligence, cheekiness and family orientation, and today just confirmed everything I love about them! I was so impressed with Pat as well; he loves those elephants with all his heart. He's had no deaths in his farm at all, and I fully believe he will make a significant difference to the future of these magnificent creatures through his breeding programme. Good luck, Pat!
Next blog post...how an older couple asking us for directions in Phayao led to a night crazier than the Full Moon Party. Pictures from both of these blog posts to follow very very soon!
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