Riding Day

I can’t believe how happy I was to see Dern Pen today – it feels like I’ve known her for ages. Her way of saying hello was to sniff me all over with her trunk looking for bananas!

After our morning chores were done it was time to try getting on her. You just have to trust her and go for it. She lifted her leg, I stepped up her leg to her thigh area but then there’s nowhere left to step so you have to reach over, grab her other ear and pull yourself over. It wasn’t graceful or elegant but on the second attempt I was on!

I was nervous and a little scared at first but she listened well and after a while I had managed to get my bum comfy as I sat on the back of her neck and used my feet to control her. I put off getting down as long as I could and so while she was munching her leaves I just chilled out and admired the view. Picchan knew what I was doing and so he told me it was time to try getting down. You have to put all your weight on their ear and climb slowly. Again the grace and elegance went out of the window and I ended up sliding down her body but I got down!

When we ride the elephants we do it bareback but when the tourists come the mahouts have to put a special seat on the elephant so we can get 2-3 people on at a time. I had just dismounted for the second time when a large group of tourists arrived and all the elephants were required to go out. We were told we would take out tourists later on in the week so I thought this meant I had free time…..boy was I wrong!

Picchan gave me a red t-shirt and told me to go to the platform where the tourists get on and off. Our tourist test had been moved up and I had to get on Dern Pen from the platform in front of the tourists I would be taking around the camp. I swear getting on from the platform is much scarier. You have a two foot gap and you have to just step on the elephant, keep your balance and then get into position.

It was such an adrenaline rush I almost didn’t have time to be scared and before long it was all over and we were done. Thankfully the people enjoyed their time and we even got a tip. The only criticism they had was that Dawn and I were shouting our commands a little too loud and the tourists thought something was wrong. Other than that, we we’re pro’s!

After all that hard work, we had a trip to the local town for some local cuisine -grasshoppers - yummy!

After a relaxing afternoon, dusk started to fall and we were told we could help take the elephants to their sleeping place. We were told the elephants sleep in the forest but they forgot to mention that to get to the forest we would have to battle the busy roads. Luckily the elephants are used to the cars, trucks and motorbikes and Dern Pen carried on as normal.

It was pitch black when we got to the forest but climbing down an elephant in the dark isn’t as scary as it sounds. After saying goodnight we headed back to camp for dinner and then back to our room. I spent the next hour scrubbing my hands and feet; looking after elephants is dirty work!