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Published: March 3rd 2008
Elephant in the woods
This is just before it squeezed me. Had to get a few pics of it.Thai Elephant Conservation Centre
Graham and I left Mae Sai, spent 4 hours on the bus back to Chiang Mai for one night. We stayed at the Souvenir Guest House. It's a big supporter of the Lanna Animal Welfare Society and they have well-designed T-shirts so I buy one. (All proceeds go to the society). They have a photo album at the desk with some before and after photos of dogs and cats rescued from the Chiang Mai streets. It seems to have been started by some German ex-pats and some local Thai dog and cat lovers. In the morning we catch the bus in the direction of Lampang. We only have an hour and a half journey to the elephant centre, where we will spend the next three days learning how to be a mahout (an elephant caretaker). The bus is a normal government bus & it is hold on to your hats, literally as they don't bother closing the back door. I didn't think a bus could go this fast. it's a bit like a cartoon. You get on, a screech of wheels as it departs, a screech of the brakes as it stops and you get off.
Carvings.
An old log outside someone's house was covered in carvings, large & small. Even on government buses the staff are so helpful even though they have hardly any English and our friendly bus conductress makes sure we are dropped off right outside the entance to the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre!
We find our way up to the office and are taken to the homestay. Although there is the showground, restaurant, offices, souveneir shops, a hospital (for the elephants), there is also a village. Many of the staff here live here with their families. The homestay section in the village is simple - wood & bamboo bungalows on stilts. Hot water, electricity & a very large veranda. We unpack & decide to go for a walk. There are elephants EVERYWHERE -medium sized to huge tuskers. It's a bit like being at a riding school except for the fact that everybody is either riding or leading an elephant! I am in heaven. They are all being taken back to the jungle where they spend their nights. We can hear some who have already been "bedded down' trumpeting through the trees.We decide to go for a short walk along a path. As we go along there is an elephant tethered a safe distance away and
Pang Korn & me
This is my elephant. That's not something you get to say everyday. you can see another on the hillside, well you hear it first as it is ripping branches off a tree for a feast. On we go until we eventually come to a steep hill and see a road. Either it's go back via the road, (except we're not certain it leds back to the camp) or return the way we came. We decide on the latter. As we go back, the elephant we saw at a safe distance is now right by the path. What to do? I go forward, let the elephant have a sniff with its trunk & walk on past it. Bravo! Now it's Graham's turn. He walks up, lets it have a sniff & basically bottles it. He tells me that he'll go back by the road. I start back. However, he thinks "Hang on a mo', tomorrow I've got to ride these things". He turns around and goes back saying to himself, "Just do what Gaynor did & you'll be fine." He is secretly hoping the elephant has moved off to a safe distance. It hasn't. Apparently, He let it sniff his hand. It then proceeded to wrap its trunk around his hand, squeezed it
Scoosh!
One of the biggest water pistols around. & began to pull him towards it...
(Graham typing) My hand is now locked in a vice & I put all my weight into pulling against what I'd say was a medium-sized elephant. It doesn't look good. Inside I am utterly terrified but stand my ground. I can feel my hand escaping this elephantine squeeze until it pops free & is very sore. I make a hasty retreat to the road & go back that way. I am sure you would all understand that it was only putting a fraction of its energy into what it was doing. I am sure that if it wanted to give me the big cuddle, I would not be typing this now. Well what will tomorrow bring?
Graham & I spend the evening on the verandah learning the fourteen commands we have to use with our elephants the next morning. We don our mahout suits, which have these huge wrapround trousers and are reminiscient of some martial arts garb. They are very thick cotton and we find out later are good protection against the knocks and bangs which go with mahouting. We couldn't believe how noisy the jungle is. It was great
Gaynor on poo patrol.
Yep! She truly had to earn the right to ride her elephant. to hear the occasional elephant trumpet above the cacophony of insects and geckos.
Next morning we meet other budding mahouts at breakfast. There are nine of us. Three Australians, one Dutchman. two Americans, one Japanese woman (Noriko) and us. It turns out that this is Noriko's fourth mahout course and she always requests the same elephant. She has learnt Thai which I think shows great dedication. We go to the showground to meet our mahouts. Mine is called Bum! Graham's is called Lai. We are put hrough our paces and it's all done in Thai as the mahouts know very little English- talk about direct method. Luckily, Supat the organiser is very hands-on and leaves his office to come down to take photos & interpret each morning if the trainees want to ask any specifc questions. Bum seems very happy with me and soon I am using the commands and getting my elephant Singkorn to obey. I am pleased to find out from Supat that Singkorn along with Noriko's elephant were both "confiscated" from the logging industry many years ago and of course are great friends. I am to see this friendship each morning as they always trumpet to
Big Boy!
He is truly massive! each other and insist on standing next to each other when we are part of the show for visitors.
We go from our first training session to the lake where visitors can watch us bathing the elephants. This is really only a show bath as they have a good bath at 7am at another warmer pool near the jungle. This bathing show is great fun and you get absolutely soaked as you walk your elephant into the water and instruct it to sit down and then lie down. There was a lot of spraying from trunks and Graham got drenched by Jojo who is clearly the favourite male elephant here. There are huge cannonball-sized elephant poos in the lake as well and I am thankful that our tetanus jabs are up to date.
After bathing we walk in formation and vistors come to pat the elephants before one elephant beats a drum while two others carry it-yes folks these animals are really clever; and we proceed to the showground. One Japanese woman stops me and Singkorn and says "Thank you very much" . I don't know why she is thanking me but she is clearly crazy about
One way of getting on an elephant.
Gaynor does the "alley-oop triple reverse leap-frog" method of mounting. elephants and gives me a forty baht tip in the form of two twenty baht notes! The woman is delighted when she gives the notes to Singkorn and she dutifully passes them up to me with her trunk. She marvels at this. I cannot take the credit for this as I know Bum has taught Singkorn to do this and I pass him the money. Nevertheless, it is very flattering to be given a tip and be taken for a real mahout; the other trainee mahouts are amazed when I tell them the next day.
There is so much to say about this three-day course that I could go on forever. At the end of every day we ride our elephants back to the jungle and there they are tethered by a ninety foot chain so that they don't wander to Bangkok! It's so lovely grooming them and bathing them at dawn before taking them up to the camp. This is a really deep bath and afterwards we all have to have a warm shower and dry mahout suits are brought for us to begin the day's activities. Bum unties Singkorn each morning and she lumbers down the slope
behind us. I look over my shoulder and she 's walking so carefully behind me and seems so happy. On the second day Bum is very pleased at my vault onto the elephants's neck even though I do graze my chin and I have to say I really enjoy the physicality of the mahout life. Graham manages to get very sore legs and by day three we are both bruised but happy. At the end of the second afternoon's show when visitors can buy sugar cane to reward the elephants, one German visitor says to me "You look as if you were born on an elephant". High praise indeed.
It great fun shouting "Song soong" and the elephant raising its leg for you to use as a step while you haul yourself up using its ear as a handle. At first I didn't like holding it's ear but I was assured that they hardly feel it. We saw the centre's vet taking blood to ascertain whether an elephat was pregnant or not and also saw the wonderful hospital they have . They even have one elephant who is recovering well from stepping on a landmine near the Thai /Burmese
Sukothai: Bag o' fish anyone?
Gaynor bought this bag of fish to release into the pond round the back. border. Now that's something we don't often think about regarding landmines- the impact on animals as well as people. Big G gave the big landmine victim a whole watermelon which seemed to make him very happy! Bum sees that I an keen to muck in with all the other mahouting jobs and soon I have a wheelbarrow and am shovelling up Singkorn's dung. A special message for the ESOL colleagues, especially Ann; shovelling elephant dung is MUCH better than being the interlocuter for the Skills for Life Speaking Exam!
We left the TECC with our certificates stating we had completed a mahout course at "amateur" level. We also left with the intention of going back to do a ten-day jungle-based course where you get to really train younger elephants before they come to the centre. Who knows...
Next stop was Sukothai; famous for being Thailand's first capital city. It's the historical park we've come to see. Another UNESCO World Heritage site full of ruined temples & large Buddhas spread over quite a distance. Lots of atmoshere and they are very impressive. As we wander round one section of ruins, we come across a stall selling bags of fish.
Sukothai style Buddha.
This style of Buddha is described as boneless. It turns out that you can buy them & release the fish into a nearby lake & this is to bring you luck. You can buy a bag of single variety fish or mixed bags such as the "One eel, one frog, one catfish & a couple of other fish" or there is the "bag of eels". The more varied the bag is, the bigger the fish in it, the more expensive it is. Therefore you get more luck! Gaynor just buys a bag of single variety fish for 50 Baht (less than a pound) and sets them free. I think this was more on her mind than gaining luck. It's an excellent site and we take two days to go round it; one day on foot & another on a scooter. Another day we take the scooter to visit another historical park. This one is Si Sachanalai & is around 60km away. On the way back as we are overtaking a sugarcane truck, (no idea of the speed as the speedometer doesn't work) we get a puncture!. These don't come with repair kits. We are only around 10km away from our guesthouse & the owner, Dang, (I keep calling
Buddha's Hand.
The hand from a sitting Buddha in Sukothai Historical park. him Bang by mistake) has to come and collect us & the scooter. As we wait, we are humbled by the amount of help offered & concern shown by passersby. Some people just have a good chuckle at the two foreigners who have broken down. Fair enough I say as I would probably do the same myself.
The night market in Sukothai is good for food. I try stir-fried frog & very tasty it is too. We were not sure how it would come. We get slightly worried that they might bring a whole frog as when you see them fresh in the markets, they are rather large. Fortunately, it comes all chopped up.
We are off to Nong Rang next in north-eastern Thailand for more ruins at Phenom Rung. These are Khmer influenced i.e. Cambodian influence and also have a touch of the Hindu about them. We stay at the Honey Inn run by a retired teacher who has recently hurt her arm so she can't do any cooking. This then means that at the restuarants you frequent, you resort to pointing at pictures on the menu in semi-darkness, hoping you will get something you will enjoy
Spirit Tree
when trees have ribbons wrapped round them, it is believed that a spirit resides in the tree. Si Sachanalai Historical Park. eating. We watch the English Premier League while scoffing in the semi-darkness of a hotel garden. There are a couple of cats on the scrounge & the strange thing is, is that they have had their tails docked. In fact in this part of Thailand it seems to be the norm. A cat looks naked without it's tail, like a crocodile without teeth or Gannet without a hat on. One of the guests is an old English guy called Percy from the Midlands & he does have a strong accent. He's lived in Thailand for 20 years. The reason he has come to this part is not for the temples of World Heritage sites but to do some repairs for the guesthouse owner. He has only ever stayed here twice before, he does not know the owner's name, she does not know his but he has brought his drill & a small selection of other power tools. He states that rather than the couple of days he thought it was going to take, it's now a major job & will take around a fortnight (I am sure he followed that up with a sharp intake of breath). This is not
Cowboys & stuff.
They appear to ve cows. there were around 4-5 magazines devoted to our bovine pals. Real top rack reading. his work I need to add. He is doing this because he likes to help people. This is very laudable but downright weird. This man wandering willy-nilly around Thailand fixing drainpipes & rehanging doors. He is unintentionally very funny in some of the things he says. At breakfast one morning he is talking to a Dutch guy and asks him what his job is. The guy works with people with special needs. Percy then goes on to talk about someone he knew in England who did something similar, who worked with people with, "massive 'eads" (in a strong Midlands accent). Wee G has to leave the table because if she doesn't, we will certainly wet ourselves laughing. It was just how he said it. I just need to think of it & it starts me off. Boy you do meet some funny people!
Well we are on the final stretch here in Thailand as we are back in Bangkok for the last few days before going off to Vietnam. We try to see a few of the things we didn't when we were last here. This involves a guided tour around Wat Phra Kaew & the Grand Palace. It's
Is that a snake in your mouth?
The girl on the right is putting a python into her mouth. Why? Who knows for sure? full of golden stupas, temples & other ornate thingummy-bobs. This has forced a rethink on the decorating front when we get back. The golden lounge has to go. We plan to visit quite a few other historical sites but we become distracted by the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute Snake Farm. This is the bees knees. So much so that we go twice, make pals with the Director & get to carry a python back to its hoose! This place is the second oldest snake farm in the world. They specialise in manufacturing anti-venom for snake bite victims. There is an excellent exhibition regarding snakes; their evolution, different types of snakes-venomous & non-venomous, reproductive strategies etc. Did you know that a male snake has two willies? The farm has a milking demonstration where they extract the venom from Siamese cobras, which they breed on site. The Director then leads an outdoor exhibition of various snakes. He does this with wit & panache & you get to touch a variety of non-venomous snakes. All respect to the handlers in wellies, who tackle the venomous ones.
Before we go back to pack, as we are going to Vietnam tomorrow, we'll take a
My ladies.
These lovely ladies decided to feed me morsels of Thai hospitality. walk up to Lumpini Park. This is a large city-centre park with jogging tracks, playgrounds, an outdoor swimming pool, outdoor gym (muscle beach style) & several boating lakes which are home to ... HUGE water monitor lizards! These beasties are around 3-4 feet long and swim around as you paddle your swan-shaped pedalo around (Wee G insisted on the swan). We saw one take a large carp, swim to the bank, haul itself out & proceed to swallow said fish whole in big Desperate Dan-type gulps. We followed it back across the lake pedalling like stink (they are very good swimmers) and yes folks, where did it go? Into a large sewer pipe. So, when someone tells you that there are large animals apart from rats in the sewers, it's true!
Bye for now & as Robin Williams said: "GOOOOD MORNIN' VIETNAM"
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