Kanchanaburi

One of the greatest things I’ve ever done so far – Elephant Riding.

You would think an elephant is soft, but its hair is coarse and prickly. The skin is not completely gray; there are splotches of skin tone behind the ears and around its trunk.  Chelsea and I rode one elephant together, and all I could do when I sat down was grin.

As we sat on the chair, we thought we’d go on a nice little walk…. but our elephant guide moved us away from the track, and into the bushes. I’m not sure whether I was scared he’d leave us there completely or that he’d leave for too long and the elephant would wander without instruction.

Eventually we made it back to the group after he gathered some leaves to make hats for us (how cool is that!). Our guide then had us to sit on the elephant outside the seat as we walked to the river and back. Freaky and soo insanely unbelievable!!! Used more core and thigh muscles in those 20 so minutes than I did the whole week. And when I was feeding it bananas, I felt like I would fall, but, the elephant was so responsive to all my moves it used its ears to cover my legs/keep me in place. Though all of this could be because the elephant was trained to be responsive to the riders or because it was very responsive to our guide who stood and watched us from behind.

What threw me was how the camp functions as a family. There are people who are the tour guides, the ones who take the photographs, the ones who sell snacks, the ones who create performances for tourists to view, and the ones who maintain the grounds which are surrounded by younger or older families members (who all most undoubtedly worked or will work with these creatures sometime). 

I wondered if the elephants would be better off in the wild, and if there were no elephants for these people to care for, would they still live as they do - away from developed areas? But the concept of poaching entered my mind as I had a discussion with a friend – these beautiful creatures would be at risk without humans caring for them. These individuals grew up learning this single trade, and so without elephants, they most likely will be unable to support themselves. I guess both elephant and these caretakers need one another.

As for the second excursion, bamboo trekking was more floating then rafting which was something I didn’t expect, but fun all the same. We attempted to fit 7 on the raft and let’s just say there was a reason for 6 seats, not 7. As we moved down the stream, I kept thinking how great, nice, and calm it was – an escape from the bustling city. These outdoor adventures just made me want to kayak, find a waterfall to jump in when I come back to Kanchanaburi, and swim in the ocean that much sooner.