Heffalumps.
Today involved riding through a forest full of lush green vegetation, butterflies and dragonflies.
I had my own elephant and I sat on his neck... dangling my feet behind his ears, which kept flapping against my legs.
In the afternoon we went down to the river, where he splashed around a lot and I very nearly lost my balance and fell off. It didn't really matter though, I was soaked to the skin anyway.
I learnt about the mahouts, the elephants and how they behave, and how to instruct them in Lao so that you don't head off in totally the wrong direction and get lost in the jungle ("Pai pai! Pai-xai! Pai-quoa!... and most importantly, "Ya ya", which means "Oi! Stop misbehaving".)
All in all, it was a really good day. I didn't even mind too much that we were dressed in some kind of denim pajamas... I suppose they have to keep the elephants amused somehow!
Tomorrow we head South on our way to Si Phan Don.
xXx
I had my own elephant and I sat on his neck... dangling my feet behind his ears, which kept flapping against my legs.
In the afternoon we went down to the river, where he splashed around a lot and I very nearly lost my balance and fell off. It didn't really matter though, I was soaked to the skin anyway.
I learnt about the mahouts, the elephants and how they behave, and how to instruct them in Lao so that you don't head off in totally the wrong direction and get lost in the jungle ("Pai pai! Pai-xai! Pai-quoa!... and most importantly, "Ya ya", which means "Oi! Stop misbehaving".)
All in all, it was a really good day. I didn't even mind too much that we were dressed in some kind of denim pajamas... I suppose they have to keep the elephants amused somehow!
Tomorrow we head South on our way to Si Phan Don.
xXx