Today I went on a local elephant safari. There are a couple outfits around the city where you can see an elephant show, go for ride on one of the lovable creatures, ride in an ox cart and also take a bamboo raft down a slow river.
It was certainly well worth the price of admission. I was a bit nervous that I would be confronted by animals that might not be treat well, but it looked like everyone (human and pacaderm alike) were all living harmoniously.
The day kicked off with the pick up of all the participants. There were 11 of us in total. There were two couples from Denmark, one couple from England, one couple from Dubia, and a newly married couple half English and half Thai. No points for guessing which was the bride. I am always the gooseberry in the group. However, being on my own generally makes me a target for those couples looking for someone to chat with. Traveling solo for a year still seems to be a quite a novelty for many. It is surprising how many people want to know just much money I have or if someone else (Daddy) might be footing the bill. They are not generally satisfied to hear that I saved up for years to do something like this.
When we arrived at the elephant camp, we were treated to a show. Elephants played soccer, walked on two legs, lifted their riders by their trunks and even painted. Now, I had heard of painting elephants before, by I assumed that meant abstract splotches of colour randomly splattered on a canvas. These elephants actually painted things. The closest to me painted an elephant! I am not sure I could do that. It was amazing to see it develop on the canvas. He hit the same spot over and over again to bring shadow to the legs and even drew a flower in its trunk. Amazing!! 
Elephant artist at work
After the show was over there was a chance to get on one of these incredible animals. Several of them surrounded me and at one point all I could see was elephant. It was a bit overwhelming. I was overcome by a sense of being watched and when I turned around there was a particularly large female staring me down. They have an incredible gentle quality to them. Their eyes are soft and introspective. But yet the are tons of muscle, tusks, and determination. You do not want to get on the wrong side of these beauties.
We were ready for our ride next. My elephant was called Maeko, and was 14 years old. I hope this teenage stays on the path and doesn't get any funny ideas about rolling in the river. I was on my own, which actually made things a bit harder. I slid around the seat quite a bit and at times had to grip on with everything I had. There were several food pitstops along the way. For 30Baht you could give your elephant a snack of bananas and sugar cane. Mine was quite determined to stop at each and every one.
We were off loaded into a souvenir strip - they don't miss an opportunity to offer up all kinds of tat. Actually, I picked up a sweet little bag for less than two dollars.
We returned to the main part of the camp via ox cart. Not as elegant as the elephant by still quite efficient. Then it was onto a buffet lunch, which turned out to be quite nice. I was partnered up with the Dubia couple for lunch. They drilled me with questions about Canadian universities since they are quite certain they will end up there when their children reach university age. The husband works for Siemens / Nokia and was quite impressed when I told him had worked for Rogers. Apparently, Rogers is well regarded by his regional team.
We departed the elephant camp by bamboo raft. I am telling you, this tour was like a transportation schmorgesborg. The raft was handled by two pole wielding men. One of whom, we knicknamed him Mario Andrette, was determined to get down the river as fast as possible. We were overtaking other rafters left and right. He took a quite a bit of glee in pushing past a group of kids who were screaming "faster, faster" to their rafters.
On the way back into town we stopped at a tiger farm. Several people from the group paid to have their picture taken with various cats. I opted to view from the safer sidelines. They really did look like big cats, but when they yawned you could see they had enormous teeth. 
Looks harmless from here
The final stop was an orchid farm. Nice but not that impressive. However the free bloom I received on the way did sit nicely in my hair when I went out for dinner later on.
Overall, it was a great day. I was communing with Mother Nature and her animals. Plus I got another great view into the worlds of other travelers.
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