Rewind: Where We Were a Year Ago (Chiang Mai, Thailand)

October 19, 2010
Chiang Mai, Thailand

A Mahout and His Elephant Friend.

It’s super hard for us to believe that we were in Thailand a year ago. Hanna was getting a massage, and Mike had a run-of-the-mill day…you know, just riding and bathing an elephant. No big deal. Now we’re sitting in offices in New York.

Enjoy some more pictures from that elephantastic day:

Spectator Mahout.

Flappin’ in the Wind.

Line o’ Elephants.

Mike Scrubbing Mother and Baby.

The Official Portrait.

Back on Land.

Hanna: Happy Birthday, Mike!!!

Today is Mike’s 29th birthday! Mike never wants any kind of fanfare on his birthday, so let’s all make a big deal about it. It is hard to not do something special for him because he is such a special guy. We enjoyed Mike’s 28th year of life on the road and spent A LOT of time together. I wouldn’t trade any second of it…well, except maybe the day I had food poisoning. It is going to be really hard to top Mike’s last year of life. Hopefully we will be able to see some of the world this year.

Happy birthday to the most wonderful, kind, silly, thoughtful, and caring guy I know. May this year be as special as last year was.

Mike the Mahout.

Mike: Elephant Day

My day started with a bit of worry. I was supposed to be picked up at our hotel between 8:15-8:30am. By the time 8:45 rolled around, I wondered if my day of elephants would be for naught. The clouds parted, the sun shone, and the van came barreling down the street five minutes later.

After a 45-minute ride to Baan Chang Elephant Park, the day truly began. In a clearing right by our parking spot were 10 adult elephants and 2 babies. I don’t know why, but I just didn’t expect them to be there right away. Not that I expected a parade or anything, but it was pretty cool just to see elephants hanging out upon arrival.

We changed into our ridiculously baggy full-denim outfits and listened to a talk about elephant care by the owner. Because there are so many centers around Chiang Mai that mistreat the elephants (think elephant soccer, painting, and tricks), I was unsure which one to pick. After seeing the owner get real tears in his eyes about elephant cruelty, I knew I made the right choice. All of the trainers too seemed to truly love the elephants and bond with them.

First item on the agenda? Feeding the elephants a boatload of bananas. They can eat up to 550 pounds of food a day. No joke. You place a bunch of bananas at the end of their trunk, and they shovel it in. They can never get enough, and sometimes they would forget that they had a bunch in their trunk and would want more. Silly elephants:

Piles of Bananas.

Pig.

Click below for a ridiculously quick video of an elephant being fed:

No, that little British kid is not me as a child.

Our group of twenty then had a practice session with four elephants to learn how to properly mount and direct them. Pretty amazing to shout “non long!” and then see your elephant lay down so you can climb up and throw your leg over. It’s a pretty powerful feeling at first when the elephant rises up after you’re successfully on:

Note the Sweet Outfit.

Old and Wise.

Trunk and Hoof.

We broke for a delicious lunch of noodle soup, chicken wings, rice, and sweet ‘n’ sour chicken. The food kept coming and was capped with fresh pineapple. (Hanna might have actually eaten this food.)

After another talk about the proper way to ride an elephant, it was time to begin our hour trek up the mountain. Each elephant held two people, or you could pay a bajillion dollars to ride the elephant by yourself. I teamed up with a Canadian girl. Our elephant (Mamoun) was the mother of baby Pasai, and we were lucky enough to be the only ones to have a baby ride next to us all day:

Pasai Is Leading the Way for Us.

Majestic.

The View for the Day.

We rested at the top for a bit as the elephants grazed. Pasai had a fun time playing:

(I’m talking about Pasai as if I know him…be assured that we exchanged email addresses.)

We then slowly trekked down to the water. The mahouts (guides) led the elephants into the cold water:

Then it was our turn. You question yourself at first: “Am I really getting into this nasty water which is probably full of elephant dung?” Then you do it, and you’re glad that you did. We got to play with and bathe our elephants for what felt like an eternity:

Elephants Love to Be Scrubbed.

Again We Were Lucky to Be Able to Play with the Baby.

Warning: Elephants Spray.

Stuck in the Mud.

My day with the elephants has probably been one of my favorite things on the trip so far. Between this and Mt. Emei, have you noticed that both activities haven’t involved a certain someone? Hmmm. Food for thought. (I hate that expression.)

Hanna’s wrong: elephants aren’t overwhelming at all.

The Group.