Elephant trekkin'

30 Apr 06

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Yes, I know it's beyond cliche for a vacation activity but we just had to...

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We visited the Mae Ping Elephant Training Center for a day of adventure. We drove north of Chiang Mai for about an hour--through agricultural areas, past large estates and military facilities. Driving in Thailand isn't as crazy as in other Asian countries; as the various modes of transportation such as cars, pick-up taxis, tuk-tuks, motor-bikes and pedestrians all seem to know exactly where they belong on the roads. Driving on the left side of the road does take a bit getting used to for us. We arrive at the elephant center, head down the stone and concrete steps to immediately start feeding 3 elephants some bananas and sugar cane that we purchase in bundles of 20Baht each.

There's a young elephant in the group--perhaps 6 months old who takes a liking to trkr.

Then we watch the elephants bathe in the Mae Ping River. The banks are quite muddy as it's rained quite a lot the past few days thanks to Cyclone Mala (they refer to it as a 'depression' around Thailand) passing through. The elephants splash and dip around the water--as they climb out up the banks they spray water all over themselves and us spectators.

Then the elephant show starts. First, the elephants march around in a queue with a welcome sign borne between the trunks of the first two in the queue. Then the elephants stand, sit, balance on 2 fore and then hind legs, stand on one leg, balance on a log, dance, play instruments (harmonicas, tambourines, bells, drums), kick soccer balls, lift specators with their trunks--you name it.

One elephant even paints this nice picture of red flowers. Incredible!

Their show is quite impressive. I had no idea that elephants could perform many of these moves!


From the show, we walk over to this 10' tall platform where we mount the elephants for an 1-1/2 hour long trek. rnrB teams up with Trekkie and trkr pairs with me. We plod along through muddy paths, up steep embankments, down steep drops to the river, we ford the river with about a 1' clearance above the rushing waters. A guide 'steers' the elephant by sitting just behind the nape of the elephant's neck and pressing the backs of the elephant's ears with his knees. We're seated on metal-framed raised seats that are strapped to the elephant with a harness that runs around the elephant's mid-section with another rope that loops behind the elephant's tail. The guide carries a stick with a metal hook that's shaped like a scythe--to help cut out of vines as necessary along the route or to retrieve items off the ground without having to dismount the elephant. We wander along and every so often we pass these elevated stands where women and children from nearby hill tribes sell traditional handiwork from the region. Bottle holders, hats, coin purses--brightly colored and quilted materials.

We meander around the tropical forest--cicada chirping plays loudly in the air as do birds but we don't see many as they seem to stay really high up in the dense tree canopy. We see chickens, chicks, roosters, guinea hens scattering around the scrub-brush. We return to the other side of the river.

Where we dismount and then head upstream a ways where we board traditional bamboo long-pole rafts for a float trip down the river.

We get to don these 'groovy' hats for the trip--they're nice because they block the sun which is a necessity being so close to the equator. We're all wearing 45SPF sunscreen with DEET and we're still getting quite tan.

The float downstream is nice and relaxing. In the distance we can see the elephants relaxing, oxen eating in the fields and occasionally a passion fruit will bob up and down in the water and float past us.

We dismount the raft and are transferred to traditional ox-carts that we still see being used quite a bit around the region.


We are carried along bumpy roads in the rickety wooden carts. Again we pass by villagers who peddle their handicrafts to us. We enjoy a wonderful buffet lunch at the Mae Ping Royal Resort with the highlight being the banana fritters! Our day of adventures continues...