Elephants

Yesterday was fairly sunny so I went to the elephant camp at the north end of the island. Elephants are used throughout Asia as beasts of burden, especially in the logging industry. Now that logging is no longer legal in Thailand, there are lots of elephants who are out of work. Their owners/trainers (mahouts) can't afford to keep them if they aren't working, so many of the poor beasts lead miserable lives. Efforts are made through an Asian-wide agency to make their lives better, and tourist dollars help in that effort. The camp I went to had about half a dozen elephants of varying age (20s to 60s).

We started off with a trek through the jungle perched on seats on the elephants' backs. It's much higher than you'd expect but my ride was very gentle and slow so I got a bit more comfortable as we went. The rain had done some serious damage to the trail and the streams were much deeper than normal, but she handled it well. My mahout got down at one point to take some photos for me, so I got to climb down and straddle her neck for awhile. Not the most comfortable of places, although he had me positioned so that I couldn't inadvertantly give her any direction. (Kind of like keeping me away from the steering wheel and gas pedal.) The normal posture of the mahout looks quite a bit more comfortable, with the feet resting on the ears and the knees on the head.

When we got back to camp, I got to feed her a bunch of bananas in payment for my ride. I would put each banana into her trunk and she would feed herself. She was very gentle and non-threatening. They eat 10% of their body weight every day - about 350 lbs I think - so you can understand why it is so expensive to keep them if they're not working.

The best part came next when we went to down to the river. We stripped down to our bathing suits and jumped in with the elephants to give them a bath. We scrubbed them all over with with stiff brushes which they appeared to love. We used them as diving platforms and rolled around in the water with them. It was a blast. Again, they were so gentle, there was nothing to fear. Every once in a while they'd surprise you by sticking their trunks out of the water right beside you - made me feel like I was in a horror movie and the creature from the black lagoon was coming to get me.

Today is another gray day, but I've decided to go for a long walk this afternoon come hell or high water. Based on my experience, it will likely be the latter.

I may also have to indulge in another massage. You can get them pretty much everywhere here, but I like to do it on the beach. It costs about $8 for an hour so it's really more like a necessity than a luxury. It's lovely to do it on the beach and listen to the crashing waves - very relaxing.

My internet cafe is starting to be rebuilt so I may be able to send e-mail within the next couple of days. I have also contacted both Yahoo and some computer-savvy people at home to see if anyone can shed some light on why I'm having these problems. Worst case I should be able to write from Bangkok on the 5th.