This was another one of those days in Thailand that completely toyed with my emotions and moral values. I was pretty excited to do the Kok Chang elephant safari, but our hotel had no idea where this place was (it was down the road), so they booked us in to this middle of nowhere elephant safari place that I apologise but I have forgotten the name of.
The tour bus came and picked us up around 10-11am so we were able to enjoy yet another buffet breakfast at the resort. It was all they had for breakfast and it was nearly $30 a head! But we wanted to spoil ourselves a bit on this trip.
When we arrived at the safari place I was pretty disappointed. It was definitely not what I was expecting. But what was I expecting? A lush green garden where the elephants were roaming free frolicking in streams and when the people called them over the elephants would happily oblige? Obviously not, these elephants were the main source of income for these people. They were chained up on posts, just standing there, eating the sparing hay on the ground. Everything about this place hurt and as soon as we got there I wanted to go home.
Young children armed with these large spikes sitting on top of these poor under stimulated beaten up elephants. None of these elephants looked healthy or happy, and why should they be. They all had cut up faces and chunks out of their ears from where they had been "guided" with the spike.
This was the worst experience in my whole Thailand trip. Even worse then Similan Islands 10hr travel the day before. I wish I never stepped on that elephant. As soon as we sat on the chair contraption and fastened our seatbelts, the young boy in front of us hit the poor elephant with that spike to make it move. I can't express how much I hated this. I wanted to cry the whole time. The poor elephant would pause to eat some grass or go to the toilet and this kid would just hammer it's head with that spike. And if he wanted to turn it around he would jam the spike in to the elephants ear and drag it in the direction he wanted the creature to move.
I wish I never rode an elephant.
This was the poor elephant we rode. Look at the cuts on it's forehead. How could you treat such a beautiful animal so cruelly.
I am utterly obsessed with elephants since Thailand. They truly are such incredible creatures. Those eyes...
...that smile.
After the ride we got to play with the baby elephants. If you want to see elephants but don't want to ride them you should go to one of the safari places and just ask to play with the baby elephants. It's a small cost but it was a lot less upsetting. The elephants pose with you and play with various toys.
This was a highlight of my trip with Luke. Elephants are literally our favourite animals now.
They kept getting their trunks caught in my hair and then they would proceed to blow my noses. By the end of this I had so much elephant snot in my hair, but I didn't care it was so much fun.
Playing the harmonica
'Paint me like one of your french girls.'
LOOK HOW HAPPY THEY LOOK! Argh I just love elephants so much!
After the elephants we went back to the resort to hang by the pool until our next tour later that afternoon.
And in summary I would like to just pose the question "WHERE'S MY ELEPHANT!?"
erica
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