Archives for March 2010

With commentary.

I took so many photos at the Nature Elephant Park that I had to whittle it down for the post. Here are a few extras:

First, photos that make me laugh.

This photos reminds me so much of the “revolutionary home haircutting system” the Flowbee, that I chuckle every time.

Out tour guide was very passionate about the elephants… and passionate about photography. He was determined to get the best shot and he did not quit until he did (as in, wouldn’t give the camera back). He knew all the angles and just what to do to make a photo “Beautiful!” This was one that didn’t turn out quite like he was hoping.

Apparently, I’m not a very skilled elephant bather. I didn’t realize it until reviewing the photos… but in nearly everyone I miss the elephant by a good two feet. Oops! Hilarious.

Meet Bruno, poor poor Bruno. Bruno was a sweet Italian man who spoke little English. He somehow mistakenly joined our elephant group while intending to join a different group for mountain biking. Of course, he didn’t mention anything until we’d reached our destination. When the mistake was uncovered Molly asked, “Did you think biker right from the beginning? I did.” I said, “Um, no. I just assumed that was his elephant bathing outfit!”

Now a photo that makes me sad:

This elephant was not cared for properly. The bulls were allowed to mount her so frequently that she broke her hip! It seems as though she’s in a lot of pain, but the park is reluctant to euthanize her. This is because when elephants are really and truly in pain, they will refuse to walk. She’s up and about so she’s doing ok for the time being.

And some others:

Flowers in the garden.

A herd of these guys live here too.

Our tour guide set up this shot:

This one too:

Yep, I stuck my hand in there.

Scrubbing some buns. I’m a marginally bettter bun scrubber than I am splasher.

Molly’s a good splasher.

This was my first experience elephant feeding. I was a bit timid at first… but it’s quite exciting!

Molly and I are out in the water in this shot. I’m mostly terrified that I’m going to drop my camera or fall in the water… but I’m also glad I finally got it back from our tour guide.

And have I mentioned that when Lek first began her efforts to save the elephants, she had to go into hiding? Going up against the illegal logging industry and the very lucrative elephant tourist industry was a very dangerous endeavor. What an amazing woman to continue with her efforts when faced with such opposition.

xo, jill

Also known as Awesome Town for Elephants.

That last post was a bit of a bum out. Honestly, I had to tell you all of that. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to fathom just how amazing the Elephant Nature Park is… or worse, you might have gone off and rode an elephant!

The Elephant Nature Park all began with a Thai woman, Sangduen “Lek” Chailert. Growing up with a respect for elephants, Lek was appalled at how the animals were being treated when she began working in the elephant tourism industry. She began efforts to save as many elephants as she could. In 1995 the Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary for abused elephants, was founded.

Early in the morning a van picked us up and we started our approximately 1 hour journey to the park. I really appreciated that the Nature Park did their best to maximize our time. The tour guide immediately began introducing us to their project and then played a short tv episode featuring Thai elephants and the park in particular.

Arriving at the park we joined up with other groups of visitors. Some visitors come for the day, like us, other stay overnight, and a lucky few are able to spend weeks in the park as volunteers and interns. We learned the rules of the park and headed out to meet the elephants.

Unlike elephants kept under different circumstances, the elephants at the park are not chained down during the day. They are free to wander the grounds and form family units of their choosing. The elephants form friendships and generally live a life of leisure. Because the park is not fenced, the elephants are chained during the night. This keeps the elephants off the private property in the area. You can imagine the kind of damage an elephant could do if it wandered into your garden. The locals have not reacted well when this has happened in the past so keeping the elephants tied down is the best option.

After mingling with the elephants a bit we got the chance to feed them lunch. Each elephant has a unique diet and you must be careful to not mix their food. This can be tricky when mischievous elephants use their trunks to snatch their friend’s food out of the basket or even out of your hand!

All of the approximately 3o elephants in the park have been rescued from horrible situations. Situations that make you want to cry. I’ll briefly tell you about Jokia:

After the logging ban in 1989/1990, Jokia was unemployed. The family that owned her sold her to an illegal logging operation where she worked for the next few years. Evenutally, Jokia became pregnant. While working (no maternity leave for elephants!) Jokia gave birth to her baby. In a scene I don’t even want to imagine, the baby fell out and rolled down the hill behind her. She was not allowed to stop and tend to her baby. When Jokia was finally able to return to her baby, she discovered it was dead. Heartbroken and furious, Jokia refused to work. In order to compel her to work again, her mahout used a slingshot to blind her in one eye. Jokia went back to work for a few more weeks although she became very angry and dangerous to be around. Her mahout figured that she’d become more submissive if he blinded her completely. This time he used a bow and arrow. Not surprisingly, this only worsened the situation. Jokia became even more dangerous and refused to listen to commands. Thankfully, Lek found Jokia and persuaded her owner to sell her to the park. Now Jokia lives a peaceful life. She even has a bodyguard in one of the other elephants who accompanies her around the park. Each elephant has a story. Read more about them here.

After the elephants eat they are keen for a little wash in the river. The visitors to the park are encouraged to get in the water and give the elephants a good splash. It was a lot of fun to scrub and splash elephants. I can’t say it’s something I ever predicted I would do!

We also had the chance to view the baby elephants. It’s not safe for visitors to get too close to the babies, so we peeked at them from a viewing platform. I have to say… baby elephants are cute… and also really weird looking. Right?

After watching the documentary that I mentioned in the previous post, we had another chance to feed and splash the elephants.

Our tour guide was a bit sneaky and convinced us to touch an elephant tongue (which was against the rules!).

We even got some kisses during the day.

I left the park that day feeling really positive. I felt like I met an organization that really understands the problem they are trying to solve… and doing a fantastic job. They invite people in to witness elephants in a very natural habitat. The elephants are not forced to perform tricks (except the kisses!) or carry visitors on their backs. It doesn’t take much convincing to realize the genuine awesomeness of these creatures. Personally, I’ve happily added the Elephant Nature Park to the list of organizations I support. No pressure, but if you ever find yourself looking for a good cause… you can easily help the park here.

I also appreciated the organization’s attitude towards tourists and traditional elephant tourism. Our guide told one visitor contemplating an elephant trek, “Sure, go ahead. Take a look at their elephants and decide for yourself if they are being treated properly. Decide if they are well fed. Compare our elephants to their elephants and see what you think.” The park could tell visitors to never under any condition engage in the elephant tourism industry (I mean, it is their competition), but they don’t. They are so confident that what they are doing is right that they let the visitor determine his or her own opinion. I really respect that.

Elephant day was my favorite day of our trip.

xo, jill

And I want your commitment in writing.

Many visitors come to Thailand with “ride an elephant” on their tourist-to-do list. You can see elephants walking up and down the streets in the cities. You can hitch a ride on an elephant to explore the wats. You can watch an elephant show, take an elephant trek, and even purchase paintings made by the animals themselves. But please, don’t.

Let me explain.

While researching our trip, Molly and I discussed the opportunity for elephant riding. We both felt a little weird about the whole thing… but still harbored wistful ideas of sitting high atop the classic symbol of Thailand. After considering a few options, we decided to visit the Elephant Nature Park to get our elephant dose. I’m so thankful we did.

Traditionally in Thailand, elephants were employed in the logging industry (while a few performed sacred ceremonies). In 1990, Thailand banned logging in an effort to protect their dwindling rainforests. While this decision proved beneficial to the forests, it created an entirely new problem. What to do with the elephants?

Mahouts (elephant keepers) became creative in order to feed their elephants (and their families). Some mahouts engaged in illegal logging. Because illegal logging operations are constantly in danger of being discovered, the mahouts force the elephants to work quickly. Quicker than elephants are able to work. One technique is to hide amphetamines in the elephants’ fruit. As you can imagine, drug addicted elephants are not a good thing. But they exist.

Other mahouts use their elephants to beg in the streets of Bangkok or Chiang Mai. Because tourists are tourists… and often don’t realize the situation, they are easy targets. Mahouts solicit money from people for the opportunity to feed the elephants inadequate portions of bananas and other fruit. Although mahouts can make a lot of money this way, it’s torture for the elephant. Consider this. Elephants read vibrations in their feet. Vibrations that travel up throughout their entire body. Imagine the vibrations an elephant will feel walking up and down the busy streets of Bangkok. Then factor in the bright lights, loud noises, and drunk tourists (mahouts target bars). We learned on our visit to the Nature Park that many street begging elephants display similar symptoms to people (such as those who have autism) when they are overstimulated, like rocking back and forth. Street begging is now illegal in Bangkok, but it still happens. Thankfully, Molly and I didn’t see it.

Legally, elephants are able to work in the tourism industry. This is where elephant riding comes in. Tourists can book trekking tours or entertainment shows with countless companies. It might seem harmless… but think about it. Trekking elephants are asked to carry people and supplies on their backs without being given adequate time to rest. Our guide at the Nature Park gave us this example, “When you go out on a hike, your backpack doesn’t feel all that heavy… but after several kilometers it becomes a real pain.” Plus those benches people sit on, can actually deform and break an elephant’s back.

Ok… but this is the really terrible part. Have you ever thought about how these wild animals are tamed to the degree that they will let a human sit on their back? Part of our visit included the viewing of a documentary that shows elephant “training.” This isn’t the exact video, but it gives you an idea.

If like me, you couldn’t actually watch that entire video… I’ll quickly fill you in on the details of how it works. The elephant is lead into a small cage so it cannot move. Then, several people approach the elephant and beat it into submission. That’s pretty much it. Sophisticated techniques are used such as jamming a sharp hook into the elephants head. Poking the sensitive inner ear with metal spears. You know. Fun things like that. But when they’re done… there’s another rideable elephant! Woot!

Some good stuff now, please.

You have to know all of these horrible things to fully understand why the Elephant Nature Park is so out of this world fantastic.

But that I’ll tell you tomorrow. (with pictures!)

xo, jill

Via rock climbing.

Our first day in Chiang Mai Molly and I booked a little rock climbing adventure. Might seem like a strange thing for someone who is scared of heights to do… Let’s be honest, I didn’t quite think it through.

Our guides came and picked us up at our guesthouse and took us to get situated. Both of our guides were young, fun, and skilled climbers.

We drove about 40 minutes outside of town to Crazy Horse Buttress, a very popular climbing spot.

Our guides began to set our course… and I began to sweat. Thankfully Molly cheerfully volunteered to climb first… but my turn did come.

For the record, I very proudly made it up to the top of 3 routes. The fourth course was a bit tricky for me. Just shy of the top, I suddenly felt stuck! The guides called out to move my right leg, left leg, and left hand… all at the same time! Or some such nonsense like that! Pretty much I panicked a bit and whimpered that I needed to come down. But you know… for someone whose limbs are uncontrollably shaking as she’s scooting up a mountain… nearly 4 courses is pretty impressive!

Then there’s Molly… this is how it went. Our guides would spend about 15 minutes setting up a course. Molly would climb said course in about 5. I timed it. Both guides commented on what a skilled climber she is… especially for a beginner! I think maybe she’s found a new outdoor activity…?

All in all, I’m very proud of my achievement. I’ve been working on challenging myself (hello, moving to Abu Dhabi!) and rock climbing certainly qualified as a challenge. Then you know, there’s the other side of me that’s still asking, “What were you thinking?!??!”

xo, jill

I might be set for life.

We woke up early, early, early the next morning to squeeze in some more bicycle time before heading on to our next destination.

I believe this is also the day that Molly declared she wanted to see more lotus flowers. Check.

At this point in our wat viewing… we had seen just about enough… but still enjoyed our early morning with the piles of bricks and headless Buddhas.

We kept laughing at what the woman just down the street at the information booth was thinking as we tried over and over for this shot.

Eventually, we hopped on our bus to head north to Chiang Mai… and happily discovered three monks sitting in the back.

xo, jill

To the bus depot.

After some miscommunication, Molly and I missed our transport to the bus station on the day we headed to Sukhothai, the site of even more ruins. Our appearance 15 minutes late at the front desk sent our proprietress in a panic… dialing on her cell phone and disappearing on her bike. Eventually she was able to find a taxi to take us to the bus station. What a thrill to be whizzing down the streets in the early morning in a little truck-like contraption. We needn’t have rushed. The bus was late enabling us to not only eat breakfast but play a rousing hand of Uno.

6 hours later we arrived in Sukhothai, 450km north of Bangkok. Sukhothai is considered to be the first Thai kingdom gaining its independence in 1238. Since 1991 it has been recognized with the well deserved title of World Heritage Site.

After picking a guesthouse we headed to the historical park just outside the city. We grabbed a map, rented bicycles, and began the exploration.

Exploring ruins on bike at golden hour with one of your very favorite friends… this is why we travel.

xo,
jill