Day 13- The Elephant vanishes
Trip Start
Dec 17, 2007
1
23
30
Trip End
Feb 14, 2008
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Our first activity was riding elephants. There were about ten elephants in the clearing including two babies. The American girl and I mounted an elephant named Hanbai side by side on a raised bench. We were paired with another elephant on which the local guide rode. One of the baby elephants walked with us and its mother. So we had a a good view from the top of the elephant as they started walking.
One thing I learned about elephants is that they eat 500 pounds of food a day and soon our elephant was begging for food. They bring their trunk back over their heads and I got a close up view of their nostrils and smell their breath. Along the trail are raised stands where they are selling bananas and sugar cane for 20 babt a bag and I bought one. So I was soon spending most of my time breaking off bananas to feed to our elephant. They are fun to ride and I had a nice view of the countryside which reminded me of Southern Oregon in August.
Next we went to a mountain village and watch an older women weave a scarf. Then we started a mini-trek about a hour over the hills. It was getting hot and luckily we stopped off at a waterfall to cool off. We walked through a banana plantation and came out at another mountain tribe's village that was of a different tribe than before. There homes were on the ground compared to the elevated homes of the other tribe. We got to walk into a house and see how they lived with a small stove burning wood and raised sleeping platforms.
Next, we went rafting on bamboo rafts that were 2 meters wide and about 10 meters long. The boatman stood near the front with a long pole. The others sat on the raft which was right on the water meaning your but got wet but I got to stand at the back with a pole and help propel the boat. There were some rapids but I was able to keep standing. Then we reached a bigger rapids and the boatman made me sit so I knelled down hoping to keep my bottom dry but it didn't work. The water came all the way up to my waist. It is dry season so the water was low but I could see how high the water gets and it looked like it knocked down a foot bridge. There were small bamboo platforms which were covered set up along the river where the Thai people come to pick-nick and enjoy the water.
So it was a pretty fun day, I rode an elephant, went trekking thou the hills of Thailand and went rafting on a bamboo raft down a "wild" river. Beats working.
