Elephant Starts With E

In 2002 I took a 4-month backpacking trip with friends.  The trip included stops in the Caribbean, the Mexican Rivera, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.  By far the most memorable event of that trip was my ride on an elephant's head.

Most rides on an elephant (or camel, or any other exotic animal) take place on some sort of wooden bench or chair for two strapped to the animal's back.  Indeed, my animal did have that.  But, traveling in a group of three that day, one of us was going to be left out.  Not to be discouraged, our guide used a little creativity.  Looking straight at me and taking note that I was wearing "trousers", he found a special seat for me...

Look at the photo again.  Yes, that's my hand on top of an elephant's head!  My front-row seat for an hour-long elephant ride was hovering over the elephant's neck.  Let me tell you, it was invigoratingly harrowing!

To start with, I'm not an animal person.  Add to that the fact that elephant hair is coarse and wiry and their skin is extremely dry; not the nicest resting place.  Then consider that an elephant is considerably wider than your normal riding-type animal.  And finally, let me explain to you that when an elephant is nervous, or concentrating, or struggling down a riverbank, he will wrap his ears back tightly against his body and around whatever else he finds there...in other words, he will wrap those rather strong ears around your legs and hold them still until he's comfortable again and feels like letting them go.  

Now looking past all that, believe me when I say my elephant ride was one of the most INCREDIBLE experiences of my life thus far.  I would do it again in a snap and absolutely recommend you jump at the opportunity should you ever find yourself in the wilderness of northern Thailand. Just be sure to travel in an odd-numbered group and wear your trousers...

(My one piece of advice is this:  Elephants are large animals and so logically have large poo.  Large poo makes a big splash when dropped in a river.  Elephants may be tall, but an elephant poo splash will always be taller-look away and keep your mouth closed.)

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