BATHING WITH ELEPHANTS

Laos was once known as the land of a million elephants.

My highlight, along with many backpackers to Laos, was the opportunity to bathe with elephants in the Mekong River.

The best fun is to do a mahout course or a long elephant trek over several days. There are  many opportunities for short elephant rides throughout Asia. But the chance to spend some real time with elephants, trekking through the country-side,  is extraordinary. At first they seem gigantic & a bit frightening but after a couple of days you get accustomed to the height & appreciate their slow gentle nature.

The elephant l was allocated the last time l was in Luang Prabang was a 35yo female named Nong. She was powerfully strong & knocked over a papaya tree with one swing of her trunk. Being vegetarian they seem to be constantly eating, about 200 kg a day! Anyway Nong obviously needed a snack & even though l was commanding her to go forward as the mahout had taught me, there's no way a peckish elephant weighing about 5 ton can be deterred by a pint-size Aussie.  So with just one swing, the papaya tree came down and the other elephants on the trek also turned back & joined in on the mid morning munch.. While we were forced to sit there patiently, the locals in the village seized the day & sold us bananas to feed the elephants & shots of the local lao-lao whiskey for us to drink.. lt's quite acceptable to be in charge of an elephant whilst under the influence. And it was proof that the elephants were actually the ones in charge.

The best part of the 2 day trek was definitely swimming with the elephants. They love the water & are great swimmers. Nong went deep into the river & disappeared under the water with me sitting on her neck. Then up she would come, showering me with water.  On the command of the mahouts the elephants would buck & throw off their riders. They are so massively strong & then they gently swim up under their riders & allowed us back on. lt was truly one of the best days of my life.

After a couple of days, you get to know the personalities of the elephants as well. One of the elephants had a 1 yr old calf. l was interested to see how baby elephants suckle with the trunk in the way. So l climb down to have a look.  The baby lifts its trunk up & to the side & suckles at its mothers teat. As l  walked away, satisfied in what l'd seen, the mahouts yelled "Run!" The baby elephant had taken offense to me scrutinizing & was charging at me. Weighing twice my body weight l had to bolt, but he turned back once he'd chased me out of his space.

There's also several conservation parks in Thailand & some beautiful river walks down the river by elephant in Chiang Mai. Most of these elephants have been saved from logging & are now employed in the tourist trade. Some are still being mistreated. lt is advisable to so some homework & search for recommendations. Prices range from $20 per hour to $100 for 2 days.
Luang Prabang in Laos is by far one of the best places to experience jungle treking by elephant.

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