Variable Migrations: Elephants in Thailand!

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Day two in Chiang Mai was a big day. I was going to spend it with ELEPHANTS.

First stop, the markets to pick up some bananas. At the elephant center, we learned commands to give to the elephants (faster, stop, turn, head down, leg up) Then we got on the elephants. We were bare-back since the seats are uncomfortable for the elephants. One way to get up is to sort of hurdle yourself over the head and then turn around on its back. You sit around the neck, holding onto the ears. The elephants are surprisingly hairy with lots of bristly black hair sticking up. We rode around for a bit and then had lunch. After lunch we met the baby of the herd (providing lots of bananas and sugarcane) and then mounted the big guys again. This time we went off into the jungle. It was a bit scary being so high and knowing the elephants could charge off into the jungle at any moment. The clunked along so heavily so that when going downhill, you felt you could easily slide off. At one point, we stopped at a stable area and my elephant wandered over the water bucket (with me still on his back!). He started sucking up water and pointing his truck straight at me! Whoosh! I was drenched over and over again. We also waded through a river with them until they decided to lay down and wash themselves off. As they knelt down in the water, we slid off their backs. We got some brushes and proceeded to help scrub off some dirt on their backs.