elephants and the jungle

today we went on a one day tour trekking adventure into the jungle! there were about 10 of us in a big van lead by our adorable and friendly thai guide. first on the day's agenda was elephant riding! we went to an elephant camp and they have elephant keepers that ride on the head of the elephant. then luke and i say in this saddle seat thing that was strapped to the back. we crossed a river and went up the mountain! our elephant was not interested in following the group, but was rather hungry so he felt the need to eat every bit of bamboo in sight! which was a lot, considering we were in a bamboo jungle! luke rode on the elephant's neck when the guide got off and lead from the ground with a sling-shot, but i was just fine sitting on the seat where i had something to hold onto!

next step was to eat lunch and then go to the village of the Karen people. this was a weird experience. the moment we arrived we were bombarded by small children trying to sell us their little bracelets for 6 cents over and over and over again. all the weavers have their silks and scarves out and are trying to sell them to you. i do suppose that the village has a weird sort of symbiotic relationship with tourists, but it still seems invasive. also, they were basically selling all this stuff on their front porch, because their houses were above us. we bought one of the weavings. you feel like you have to support these people.

then we hiked in the woods for a bit to a waterfall. because of all the rain the river was raging and we could not swim in it. it was really cool though. after that we made a quick stop at another village and then on to bamboo rafting! the river here was quite fast also due to the rain. the rafts were flat and made of several pieces of bamboo lashed together. you definitely get wet. luke and i sat on the bamboo while chris and our guide stood up at either end with a big stick of bamboo puching off of obstacles on the sides. we definitely had a few close calls with tree branch obstacles! it was very fun though, and for the cost of the trip so worth it. the elephant riding alone was worth it - that was my favorite part.


a tidbit, especially for ally: there are lots of elephants everywhere - on clothes, statues, logos, etc. i asked our guide about this and she said that long ago there was a war between thailand and burma. thailand won because the king fought with elephants - the thai people had domesticated them and had them on their side. so from then on the elephant was considered lucky. if you give the king a gift it is usually a white elephant because they are the most rare and the most lucky. unless of course you are at a white elephant christmas gift exchange in america...then maybe not so lucky.

it was cool to see rural thailand - which is more like the exotic place that people picture when you think of the south pacific. so many banana trees! and i also saw a papaya tree.