Title: CLEO - Elephant Trekking in Thailand
Words: 1500
Draft/Editing: My Draft, CLEO edited
Author: Steven Digre
Copyright: Jul. 2005

Abstract: This article was first published in CLEO, an Egyptian Cosmopolitan, in July 2005 - I, the travel writer, describe an Elephant Trek in Thailand.

Also, available in Adobe Acrobat format.

Elephant Trekking in Thailand

Editors Note: This article underwent further editing and revisions by the staff at CLEO.

Nothing compares to an elephant trek over the hilly terrain of Thailand. I myself am experienced in the matters of animal-assisted excursions and have ridden horseback up and into the Rocky Mountains, traversed on donkey through the Grand Canyon, and also gone by way of camel to the top of Mt. Sinai. But this experience was altogether a different ride.

I was in my third and final week of an Asian-African tour, which, all told, brought me to seven different countries in three times as many days. I visited Ethiopia, Vietnam, Laos, and the list goes on. To be honest, I would be hard pressed to produce the exact list of countries and cities I visited during this trip. It is not that any of my destinations were more or less impressive; it was a simple case of too many locations. A traveler’s mind blurs sometimes.

With purposeful clarity, I exited the airport south of Chang Mai, boarded a clean mini-van smelling of orchids, which is the Thai national flower, and was off to my final destination in the lush rolling hills of Northern Thailand. The drive was timed perfectly, as the sun began to set just as we drove up and into the country’s rolling hills. The sunset could not have been more beautiful, it was as if the sky had been painted by Divinity with streaming oranges, rose colored clouds, and purple rays of light and I was the lucky recipient of their work.

Simply stated, Northern Thailand is gorgeous. Rolling hills butt up against flat forested areas and every tree and bush seem to be in constant bloom. The brilliant flowering bushes are very similar to the orange blossoms that make an appearance in Cairo every spring. Remove Cairo’s cars and roads; add some trees and a lot of flowering bushes and you’re about half way there. It is simply that beautiful.

That evening, after a less than stellar buffet diner, I met a fellow traveler, Jacob, who explained to me local elephant treks were a popular tourist attraction. Years ago I abandoned over-planning my travels and instead left my discovery experiences to happenstance – I was glad I had met Jacob; for if not, I would have missed this great opportunity of an elephant trek. Jacob told me, as we finished our dessert, that elephants in Thailand were much smaller than those in Africa, and that this was the only pachyderm that could be trained. An elephant trek in Thailand was looking like a rare experience – one that I would not miss.

I rolled out of bed at 10.00 am, missing breakfast, which didn’t bother me, as last night’s lackluster buffet left me with little hope of a delicious breakfast. I opted instead for an extra two hours of sleep. I tossed two granola bars, for energy, into my backpack and set off.

As I exited the hotel lobby, I passed on seeking directions to a local elephant trek site, as I prefer to explore and stumble onto interesting sites by myself. My feet were sore from three weeks of what seemed like constant walking; I exited the hotel’s gates and found a single lane road which led up and into the hills. If felt right in my gut, so I followed the road.

Not more than twenty minutes passed before I saw a sign with an image of an elephant and a big red arrow pointing up the hill. That was easy – who needs to ask for directions anyway? Smiling and feeling confident in my natural ability to find interesting travel locations, I quickened my pace - and then the hill got steep.

Thirty minutes later, gasping for breath, I wondered if I would ever reach the end of the series of elephant trek signs. I passed four in all, and none of which gave any indication of the distance I was walking. I reached into my backpack for a granola bar and bottle of water, then realized I forgot water. Oops.

Determined, tired and sweating I continued on; another fifteen minutes passed before a tour bus approached. I waved it down and the driver, Han, simply opened the door and let me ride for free. I was surprised by the gesture, as it is rare that a tourist is not harassed for every last dollar. I fell in love with Thailand even more - kind people who help you out. Three-hundred meters later we arrived at Suma’s Elephant Trek. I had walked for nearly an hour, and got a ride the last few hundred meters. I smiled.

#

All told there were four of us in line for the elephant trek. The cost was minimal, a few Thai Baht. I’m relatively certain that Baht is the Thai local currency; as my pocket gave few clues as it contained currencies in multiple colors and sizes, from seven different countries. Dehydrated and a little light-headed, I removed a wad of cash from my pocket and let Han-Sin, our tour guide, pick out the appropriate bits. It was apparent that Han-sin had gone through this currency exchange before, as he was un-phased by my gesture and executed the transaction without hesitation. I smiled, watching the three other trekkers, a British citizen and two Koreans, copy and repeat my gesture. The three seemed to look at me as if I were the all-knowing traveler. Little did they know, I probably knew less than them.

The sheer mass of a one-thousand kilo elephant makes for an imposing beast; as such I always try to form a bond with animals of this size. Elephants in Thailand may be smaller than African elephants, but they are huge in comparison to my small frame, and they smell just as bad. Their skin is dark grey and thick, wrinkled, and spotted with thick strands of hair which look more like oversized rose bush thorns. I brushed my hands across the beast’s skin and it felt like desert rock. Not believing it could be that rough, I touched it again, this time with my finger tips -- the pachyderm’s skin felt like cement.

Han-sin directed me to the top of a set of wooden stairs and a platform, which required a giant stride onto the elephants back. I was not at ease as I began to step onto the back of the elephant -- the beast was intimidating. As I extended my leg, the elephant began to back out of the stall and slammed into the wooden stairs and platform. I held on to a loose railing as Han-sin corralled the beast and directed me to step aboard. I gingerly stepped out and onto the platform, and tumbled into the seat. There is no graceful way to climb into an elephant’s wooden saddle, and I proved as much with my less than grateful entry. And we were off.

Five minutes into the ride I began to feel at ease; gently swaying with the beasts lumbering pace, enjoying the scenery of flowering bushes around me. Slam! The beast’s legs stopped moving. My body obeyed the laws of motion and continued forward slamming my chest into the saddles wooden support bar. The beast jerked forward, my back slammed into the rear support bar. I felt like a rag-doll.

A rush of fear came over me as I grabbed the elephant’s saddle - holding on for dear life. It felt as if beast and passenger were about to plummet forward, sending saddle and all into the pool of mud below. I imagined the sight of it, the pain, and the rapid-fire chaos as elephant and passenger fell together into a pretzel’d mess, as we both struggled to crawl out of the mud pool, covering ourselves from head to toe. The elephant would surely roll onto its side and step on me as it struggled to stand.

Suddenly the beast reared backwards, my head jolted forward, my chest slammed against the saddle’s wooden support bar. I knew we were toppling over. The beast bellowed, its rib cage vibrated below me, my skull rattled in sync with the low frequency vibrations. A deep, heavy breath expanded the elephant’s rib cage by a half-meter, my legs spread. The beast leaned forward, this time I held on a little less. I now had the plan of jumping free as we tumbled to the earth below.

Another low rumble from the beast shook my bones inside out. The elephant leaned purposefully to the left, and from my vantage point, I could see that it’s right foot was stuck, suctioned into the earth mud below. The elephant paused for a second and then, with a might greater than I have witnessed, the elephant lifted its foot freeing it from the hindrance below. Shear power.

And we were off – again.

Even though the elephant’s legs were as long as I am tall, swift is not a word I would use to describe the rate of our trek. It seemed to take hours to travel a very short distance. The open field we were trekking couldn’t have been more than one-hundred meters across, still it took us over ten minutes to reach the other side, and it was then, that I fell into a groove with the animals pace and bumpy ride. What began as a completely foreign and fearful experience became standard issue as we followed the well marked trek path.

In all the elephant trek lasted two hours and provided me with an experience I will never forget. The view of Thailand’s hills from my high perch gave me a wonderful view of the hilly terrain north of Chang Mai. As far as I could see there were rolling hills, covered green with nearly every type of tree known to man. And after I relaxed I was able to enjoy the scenery and even snap off a few pictures. I would recommend a trek to anyone visiting Thailand.

Someone much wiser than me once said, “Fear is little more than wasted energy”. And even though I had my reservations at the beginning of the trek, I have to say that fear of the unknown is always much greater than the impending reality. And with that, I am glad that I boarded the elephant and experienced a ride I will never forget. Next time I may ask for directions however.

Contact:
E-mail:
Steve: steve@stevedigre.com

Back to:  Writing Front Page, Music Front Page, Life Front Page