Chronicles: The Pattaya Elephant Village

The elephant village was more than what the title suggests, but indeed there were alot of elephants. It was a place opend about 30 years ago for former working elephants, kind of like a sanctuary where they could live out the rest of their lives.

One of the things I definetly wanted to achieve was getting to ride one of these bad boys. I've been to several zoos and the closest I'd come to one was having one grab a piece of fruit out of my hand, so being afforded the opportunity to touch one as well as ride on one was one opportunity I couldn't pass. We loaded up the two person basket on top of one with a good supply of water (it was HOT!) and fuel for the elephants (bananas) and headed out through the local forest. I was hoping it was going to be like when Indian Jones rode the elephant in 'Temple of Doom' with his legs straddling the neck but that seat was take by the driver. As we started out though we walked through a river that came up to the elephants neck, almost to the point where we could touch it. We crossed several groves of sugar cane, jackfruit and pineapples seeing where they used to work. I was hoping it was going to be like when Indian Jones rode the elephant in 'Temple of Doom' but that seat was take by the driver. The rest of the trip took us over much of the farmland and local jungle in the area.

Standing next to my transportation, I named her Bertha.

Our package included more than the elephants, so the next step was trek through the jungle. Before hand though they introduced us to their pets: Three domesticated gibbons. Now like the elephants I had never got to hold a primate that was unanesthitized, (the three years working with contagious Rhesus Macaques at Walter Reed), and not counting that time I jumped the fence at the zoo back home to grab one of the gorilla's fingers sticking through the fence. (shhh) Anyways so here I was totally amazed at how close I was getting to these monkeys. As we walked through the jungle they would swing through the trees, then jump and land on our backs, rest for a few moments and then take off again. Truly only a Thailand thing.