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Published: March 10th 2008
Clean after bathtime!
Zoe riding like a pro!Elephant Riding Course
It was in Luang Prabang where we wanted to have an elephant ride, as this was advertised everywhere, and I’d not this before. So we sat chatting in the Tourist Office girl and joked about doing an Elephant driving course (Mahout Course) but I really only wanted an elephant ride, but before we knew it she had checked out to see if there was a vacancy at Elephant Camp! Whoops! So we though why not!! The next day we were at Elephant Camp being trained to ride elephants bare back!
A normal ride We will remember these few days for life! I was a little apprehensive to what we’d let ourselves in for! I can’t even ride a horse or control a dog let alone an elephant!
Firstly we were given an elephant ride sat on a seat, like normal people do. This was a relaxing ride, with the elephant moving graciously one step at a time, following the orders from the Mahout (elephant trainer). We could feel the power of the animal from the tearing down of vegetation to the munching of the grasses and leaves as we travelled through the forest, across a
Wrinkles!
She's lookin at you kid! river to Elephant Camp, our home for 2 days.
It’s a long way down!! Next, one by one we climbed onto an elephant and rode bare back, no seat and nothing to hold onto, just had to lean on the elephants hairy head for support. We sat snugly on his / her neck with our legs daggling behind its ears. The Mahout sat on the seat behind, while we rode around the nearby land, trying out the orders we’d just been told! It felt extremely wobbly and unbalanced; I concentrated hard on not falling off!!
Bath time for all! During the afternoon, we were given lovely blue, baggy Mahout Suits to wear during the bathing of the elephants. Clambering back on top, we rode the elephants into the river!! Wow what an experience!! Gradually the elephant knelt down so only his head could be seen, I had to splash the head to clean off all the dirt she’d blown all over herself. They all seemed to be loving it in the water. Balancing carefully, the elephant slowly stood up and we rode them to their individual sleeping areas in the forest. They were free to
roam (sort of), with a long chain on their ankle of one foot to stop them escaping.
So we are now fully trained Mahouts!! We’re trained to sit on elephants bare back and give them commands to walk, stop, go left and right in Thai! It was a truly amazing experience.
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mum dad
non-member comment
elephants
well what do you look like !!! hope the water was warm..Not much call for elephant drivers in England will let you know if hear of anything still all adds to your c,v speak soon lots of love Mum Dad xx