Trekking with Elephants in Thailand 2 (see preceding post for more info)

MeeMee, my Old Lady. She is 20 years old, the Matriarch of the herd and notoriously difficult. I don't want to sound like the typically arrogant me, but I know we bonded the best of all the people and their Elephants. She is a Lady with a Mind of Her Own, and me being the biggest (and oldest) there, they assigned me to her not so gentle care. Initially she gave me a lot of grief, but once I allowed her to walk to the front of the herd where she and I,(lol) rightfully belong, she was kind enough to show me more respect. Here, after being on her back up the mountain and into the forest for more than an hour, I am showing my gratitude for her eventual acceptance by feeding her my whole lunch. Even the Mahout (Elephant Handler) in the background just had to smile. Once we are back home I will post more of this stunning Old Gal.

She worked some muscles on my butt I forgot I had ....


Mau feeding his Sweet Girl some Bamboo. She is 7 years old. They do take the food from your hand soooo gently, even if your whole hand disappears into their mouths!!











From the break at lunch we went on to the mud pool where, as you can see, great fun was had by all. Never been so dirty and full of mud in my life. Each of us had to ensure our respective elephant was covered in mud. In return, they kept spraying and splashing us with mud ..... pure pleasure and fab interaction with highly intelligent and sensitive creatures.

Here is Mau with his Lady.





From the mud pools we rode them down to and into the river to wash the mud off of them and ourselves. This is one of only 2 places in Thailand where you can ride these beauties bare back ....
Pure magic!!!!


I promised to give Joe, the local man and his family who owns and runs this business some exposure. They are a wonderful, kind and welcoming family with years of experience in working with Elephants, and they go out of their way in their rustic surroundings to make things as easy and enjoyable as possible. Joe even hopped on a bike to go buy some of us cigarettes when we ran out after the Trek. If ever you wanna Ride with the Elephants, this is their site. We did the one day package. If interested, just tell him Jay and Mauro (To-Morrow, heehee) from Shanghai / South Africa referred you and they'll get you a better deal.
http://www.thaielephanthome.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Trekking with Elephants in Thailand

Yesterday was one of the two best days we have ever had in our respective lives. It ranks right up there with, if not higher than, the day we saw and cuddled our first ever pandas in Chengdu, China two years ago.

We went on a full day trek with elephants into the jungles of Northern Thailand, about an hour's drive south of the Burmese border.

How amazingly lucky and privileged we indeed are. We often wonder what we, two simple guys from Africa, have done to deserve all this abundance of undeserved blessings.

I am trying to post photos of this too, but the internet connection this far up north in Thailand is quite slow and it keeps throwing me off. Luckily I did manage to get the tiger photos done today. Will keep on trying, though .....

Today we are taking it slow, exploring the provincial capital of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second largest city. It is a beautiful, warm place with stunning food and warm, friendly people.

How strange it is to be in a place with so many Westerners again - and in a place with so few people!!!

Day of the Tigers

On Saturday the 24th we went to the Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai to "touch and play" with the tigers.

What a great experience, as you might see from the images.

We chose to go in with the 7-odd month old cubs, 2 brothers and one sister (the one her back in the photos).

They are very well kept, all off-springs from captive tigers and, as there is no place in SE Asia safe enough for the release of these creatures, they will spend their lives in captivity. We spoke to a volunteer guardian from Britain and his wife about the conditions, which on the surface, seem very good. He has worked with many Big cats around the world (including lions in Zimbabwe!!) and the two of them assured us that no de-clawing, de-fanging or drugging of these animals occur - for, as he said, if they had done these things to the Cats, he would not have worked for them.

A great place and a great experience.

Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur

Our constant travel companions, Monkey (from Africa) and Panda (from China) outside yet another touristy site.

A beautiful building in a beautiful city. And a hot, humid city at that.

What we have found here in our short stay is that the Malay people are as warm and friendly as their weather. Everyone is smiling, everyone is helpful. And it is quite a lot of fun to be in a country where everybody understands English for a change!

Breathing Space, at Last

So we are off to Malaysia soon. Sitting here waiting for time to pass and the normal stresses associated with travel (for me, any case) to pass and to get there.

After three years of hard work, 10 days vacation per year, we deserve this.

It is time.



















Five odd weeks of just nothing really planned. We know we will be arriving in Kuala Lumpur sometimes in the next 12 hours, spend 2 days with the family and then we are off to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Where we are going to stay, what we are going to do, what route we will follow ... we do not know.

Exactly the way we want it to be.

The only "clock" we have to work to will be the 15 of February when we have to be in Phenom Pen in Cambodia to catch a flight back to Shanghai. And then we still have a few days to relax before the damned work calls again.

Freedom for one month!!!

Let it be.

Inspiration

I have not posted on here for 13 months now, as I have had some occasional trouble getting on.

However, the remarkable Dame Julie has inspired me to get going again. You can view her blog here: http://julie70inlondon.blogspot.com/

We are leaving for Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia tomorrow, so armed with our new Mac, who knows. If time allows, I might just be back on here before we return in 4 weeks.

Happy Holidays and as always, enjoy ....