Day 8 - Part 2

So, now the rest of the day is missing. So, the thing with the baby elephant was really cute, but somehow also really strange and stupid. Nevertheless, you don't want to miss this moment, especially when you see the pictures. But let's continue.

We were informed about the further course of the day and divided into groups. Each group consisted of about 8 people and we were assigned another guide. With him, we went to our elephant group. The elephants in the group were pretty big for Asian elephants. But probably only because we were so close. But before we went to feed our respective elephants, we had to be coached. How do I approach the elephant, how do I recognize if he is in a good mood, if he has slept well, if he has had a good digestion, etc. That was really interesting and exciting because we were really prepared for working with the elephant. The most important commands were also explained to us. Then each of us was assigned an elephant and thus also a caretaker. My elephant's name was Bou Ton Mae. Unfortunately, neither my elephant nor my caretaker seemed to have slept well. I went to my elephant with a basket full of fruit, introduced myself to both the elephant and the caretaker, and... Nothing. The guy just ignored me, sat on the ground, crumbled soil, and I just started feeding the elephant. A big mother elephant with a 15-month-old calf. I tried several times to talk to the caretaker, but tourists didn't seem to interest him much. I can understand that it's annoying when someone different comes every day and asks the same stupid questions... But then you shouldn't do the job. The people during trekking and rafting were nice. And we had spent a lot of money by Thai standards. But I hoped things would get better. After the basket was empty, my elephant walked away... The guy stayed sitting. I asked if we shouldn't follow. He said no. So I stood there stupidly next to this guy who ignored me and dug in the ground, and I felt pretty stupid too. At some point, I just went to Vera and took some photos. She had better luck with the elephant, but her caretaker was also stupid. Great.

After feeding, we were called together again and we were told that we would now wash the elephants. So I went back to the guy who had by now 'captured' the elephant. Then the elephant laid down by command and I first patted him with twigs and then sprayed him with a hose. Okay, done. It was actually fun. The next task was to climb up and ride. Okay. We were shown how to climb up. There are different ways to do it. Of course, my caretaker chose the most difficult one for me. I had to hold onto the elephant's ear and to a rope that was looped around the elephant's body. Then the elephant raised a knee, on which I had to stand, and then the elephant was supposed to lift the leg so that I could climb up like on a ladder. But of course, he didn't really raise his leg and I, a weak fatty, had a hard time hoisting myself onto the elephant. Annoyingly, I was also pushed from below. Embarrassing! But whatever. I was up there... And up there was pretty high. I sat between the ears of the elephant and it was quite wobbly. Still, of course, a great feeling. A group photo quickly and then off we went. I thought we would only ride around the block once, but no, we went into the jungle, over sticks and stones. My guy then directed the elephant with loud shouts to the left or right from the ground. At first, everything was okay... But then it was just downhill, steep downhill, and Vera and I thought we were both going to die. I was so scared of falling down and I felt so helpless on the tons on four legs. Oh my god. I just clung to the rope behind me and thought, ANYTHING BUT FALLING! Unfortunately, my elephant didn't feel like following anymore and impatiently shook his head, which demanded all the strength in my legs to not slip off. The caretaker didn't care and couldn't understand that I was really scared. Then my elephant got hungry, completely turned away from the group, and marched with me on his back into the forest, right into the bamboo. That was enough, I shouted for help because a long bamboo almost knocked me off his back and the elephant bent his head back to pick bamboo and almost pulled it straight through my face with full force. You can't imagine how effortlessly an elephant builds up so much horsepower and knocks down a whole bamboo WITH ME ON HIS BACK! Now, that asshole of a caretaker finally came and tried to get the elephant to come out of the bushes with commands. But my lady didn't like that at all, she stood in front of the guy, put her ears up, and snorted. Not a good sign. Fortunately, she seemed to have completely forgotten about me on her back. The guy said I should just wait quietly. Yeah, sure. Great! But after a few minutes, Madame finally condescended to come out of the thicket and followed the others steep downhill. I was really fed up. Everything hurt. I was sitting completely cramped on this giant and just hoped that it would be over soon. After what felt like an eternity, we arrived at Camp 2 and I was supposed to dismount. I asked for a few minutes because I was trembling so much from exertion and also from my racing heart that I couldn't descend. But then it worked. The elephant went down in front and I slid over his head into the arms of the caretaker. That was even fun. But still, I needed a few minutes until I could walk normally again. That was going to give me sore muscles. Riding was definitely done for me now. There was really good lunch, all served on banana leaves, and the elephants splashed around in the pond next to the waterfall. Such a wonderful sight. After lunch, we went into the water with the elephants, up on their backs, but in a lying position, and scrubbed the elephants. Also quite funny. Finally, some photos with the elephants and then we were supposed to ride back. Oh no. But we were assured that it was only a short distance. Okay then. Somehow, it was like the story when you fell off a horse. The second time, the elephant also nicely raised his leg and it was no problem to climb up. There you go. Riding also went much better now. It just didn't go steep downhill. That was fun. The descent at the end also went great and now, of course, I would definitely get on an elephant again. Good thing I went up again.

Back in the city, we went to the Sunday market. It was crowded everywhere again and thousand of smells and loud noises... Now it became too much for us and we went home early, among other things, to process the experience. What an adventure!