Thursday, Nov. 20 -- For the final day of our trip, we made a wise choice -- a day at the Patara Elephant Farm. Just outside Chiang Mai, it is one of seven camps in or near the city and is dedicated to increasing Thailand's elephant population, which has declined from a one-time high 200 years ago of 100,000, to 6,000 40 years ago, to the current 5,000 —1,600 wild and about 3,500 domestic. Visitors to Patara are expected to work with the elephants, but we had no idea that they really meant it.
First, everyone chose an elephant, or one chose you. Karen's was Massa Sei Noi, who is pregnant at 37, and I owned Kapok, 40, childless and the biggest one around. After feeding them a big basket of bananas and sugar cane, we had to make sure our elephant was in a good mood (they flap their ears and swing their tails if they are) and healthy. The latter was a four-step evaluation: they must be dirty, they must have slept, they have sweat between their toenails and their feet, and finally, we got to do a dung inspection. That was a treat, although the giant poops are mostly fiber without any odor. We then led our pachyderms to the river, got in with them and gave them a bath with a stiff bristle brush. That was actually hard work and took 10-15 minutes. They seemed to love it.
And then we climbed aboard. Let me just say this was not an exercise in grace. Although there are several ways to get up, the old ladies did it without any dignity whatsoever. It was hard — the elephants are about eight to nine feet high and weigh between 2.5 and four tons. They lie or bend down and you have to step on a leg and then a shoulder and hope you make it. This took many pushes and pulls by the trainers, or mahouts. You can also step on their trunk and scramble up. Once up there, you sit on their necks and bend your knees over the tops of their ears and hook your toes under the ears. You command them by hitting your toes against the insides of their ears and yelling "bai!" which means go. We also learned "stop" and "back up," along with the required knee or toe work. I can't say we were very successful at ordering them around. Fortunately, every elephant has a mahout who accompanied us every step of the way.
We then set out on a nearly two-hour ride, which included cramps and charlie horses, painfully stretched muscles and downright terror. We went through a jungle, up and down steep and very muddy trails and wound up at a beautiful waterfall where yet another delicious lunch awaited. Wonderful Thai food that the owner's wife buys every morning at a local market that's only open from 3-6 a.m. The meal was spread out on big banana leaves that served as a tablecloth. No utensils required; this was all finger food. The leftovers, and there were quite a few, went into our elephants' enormous mouths. Their tongues look like steaks. They also ate the tablecloths. Into the river for another bath and then we set off on the return hike. The scenery was gorgeous -- lush and tropical, through rice paddies and huts with rooves made of leaves, and with a stop at the little village were the mahouts live. Although we weren't aware our adventure entailed a contest, Karen was declared the winner at the end of the day, earning an elephant kiss on the arm.
Fourteen elephants live at Patara and Pat, the owner, hopes his females will produce 10 babies in the next 10 years. There's a special honeymoon spot along the hike where the keepers send a male to accommodate the females when they're in heat, every four months. A six-month-old baby played with us all day and he cracked us up. A very aggressive and smart little boy, he charged at us when we got there, knowing we had bananas. He rolled in the mud, scratched himself on rocks and trees, charged through the water and generally was underfoot. They call him a troublemaker because he's pretty rambunctious, but we all loved him.
I won't bore you with the history of elephants, although it's pretty interesting. But Pat left us with four lessons: eat like an elephant (they are vegetarians and never have diabetes, high cholesterol or heart attacks), walk like an elephant (carefully, thinking before you take a step) and live like an elephant (women are in charge). The girls really liked that one. Finally, touching an elephant is meant to bring good luck. Good things must be coming our way!
First, everyone chose an elephant, or one chose you. Karen's was Massa Sei Noi, who is pregnant at 37, and I owned Kapok, 40, childless and the biggest one around. After feeding them a big basket of bananas and sugar cane, we had to make sure our elephant was in a good mood (they flap their ears and swing their tails if they are) and healthy. The latter was a four-step evaluation: they must be dirty, they must have slept, they have sweat between their toenails and their feet, and finally, we got to do a dung inspection. That was a treat, although the giant poops are mostly fiber without any odor. We then led our pachyderms to the river, got in with them and gave them a bath with a stiff bristle brush. That was actually hard work and took 10-15 minutes. They seemed to love it.
And then we climbed aboard. Let me just say this was not an exercise in grace. Although there are several ways to get up, the old ladies did it without any dignity whatsoever. It was hard — the elephants are about eight to nine feet high and weigh between 2.5 and four tons. They lie or bend down and you have to step on a leg and then a shoulder and hope you make it. This took many pushes and pulls by the trainers, or mahouts. You can also step on their trunk and scramble up. Once up there, you sit on their necks and bend your knees over the tops of their ears and hook your toes under the ears. You command them by hitting your toes against the insides of their ears and yelling "bai!" which means go. We also learned "stop" and "back up," along with the required knee or toe work. I can't say we were very successful at ordering them around. Fortunately, every elephant has a mahout who accompanied us every step of the way.
We then set out on a nearly two-hour ride, which included cramps and charlie horses, painfully stretched muscles and downright terror. We went through a jungle, up and down steep and very muddy trails and wound up at a beautiful waterfall where yet another delicious lunch awaited. Wonderful Thai food that the owner's wife buys every morning at a local market that's only open from 3-6 a.m. The meal was spread out on big banana leaves that served as a tablecloth. No utensils required; this was all finger food. The leftovers, and there were quite a few, went into our elephants' enormous mouths. Their tongues look like steaks. They also ate the tablecloths. Into the river for another bath and then we set off on the return hike. The scenery was gorgeous -- lush and tropical, through rice paddies and huts with rooves made of leaves, and with a stop at the little village were the mahouts live. Although we weren't aware our adventure entailed a contest, Karen was declared the winner at the end of the day, earning an elephant kiss on the arm.
Fourteen elephants live at Patara and Pat, the owner, hopes his females will produce 10 babies in the next 10 years. There's a special honeymoon spot along the hike where the keepers send a male to accommodate the females when they're in heat, every four months. A six-month-old baby played with us all day and he cracked us up. A very aggressive and smart little boy, he charged at us when we got there, knowing we had bananas. He rolled in the mud, scratched himself on rocks and trees, charged through the water and generally was underfoot. They call him a troublemaker because he's pretty rambunctious, but we all loved him.
I won't bore you with the history of elephants, although it's pretty interesting. But Pat left us with four lessons: eat like an elephant (they are vegetarians and never have diabetes, high cholesterol or heart attacks), walk like an elephant (carefully, thinking before you take a step) and live like an elephant (women are in charge). The girls really liked that one. Finally, touching an elephant is meant to bring good luck. Good things must be coming our way!
1 comment:
Wow, what fun.
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