Elephant Postcard

The first thing we did at the Elephant camp (outside Chiang Mai) was to walk straight from the parking lot up a platform. Then we were asked to sit. Then the ground started lumbering away because we had sat down on an elephant. Oh, I was scared and shocked! When I mentioned to Dad through gritted teeth that I was hanging on for dear life, he laughed and reminded me that the 37 year old elephant was not even slightly scared, she did this about 30+ times a day. (Does that sound familiar to some on you?)

The last thing we did with the elephant was get off. This was just as shocking. We were dropped off in a tourists village of people selling handicrafts, ice cream vendor bicycles, and dust, but no sign of our original platform. We stood on the descent platform for 20 minutes wondering if the elephant was going to come back and what exactly we should do. It turns out that you have to ride a cart pulled by oxen to get back (Duh?).

Thank goodness we have a picture or I would never have believed it (our elephant is much cuter now that I am not on her). Next time, I will meet the pachyderm first.