Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Balance

Hi,

Welcome to part two of the great adventure weekend. In this episode we'll spend the morning with a group of elephants, and some people too.

Looks like this song was a little 'Easy'. Many got the title, but not the group. There's a hint later:
"(Stay the night) need your lovin' here beside me, (Shine the light) need you close enough to guide me, (All my life) I've been hopin' you would find me, you're the __ __ __ __." Clue: As you can see, the title is really only 4 words. The group name is also the name of a famous salad. Hmm, no it's not 'tossed'.

The Anantara Resort is known for it's elephant rescue program. For many years they have been offering a home for elephants, and the families that they worked with in the teak forests of Thailand. When teak harvesting became illegal, there was nothing for these elephants to do. Many ended up on the streets, their mahoots using them to make money by having people touch their trunks for luck. It was very unhealthy for the elephants. This was the beginning of the rescue programs. When we found out that 'Mahoot Training' was being offered in the weekend package, we were overjoyed.

Our thoughts of sleeping in on our getaway weekend were dashed when we were instructed to report at 7am for our training session. If it's not dogs getting us up, it's elephants. There were six of us and we were driven down the road and dropped off by some giant steps. Our guide's name was Em, and after we joked about the stairs being for elephants, she told us we were right. We made our way down to a meadow where we saw six very large animals standing around. Not long after we arrived they were taken into the river and bathed. It rained the night before, and they like to throw dirt on their backs when they get wet. Their mahoots gave them very thorough scrubbings before handing them over to us.

Lisa was bonding with one of the elephants. When Em asked who wanted to go first, and nobody else responded, Lisa volunteered. The look on her face, once she was on board, was priceless. Little did we know that each of us would soon have that same look on our faces. I was the last to climb up on my 'ride'. She lifted her foot, I stepped up on it, and was then told to grab her ear. As soon as I gripped her ear I was pushed up, and hanging on for dear life. Once seated on the elephant's neck, my first thought was: 'This is a bad idea'. Not only was I way up in the air, there was nothing to hold onto. Her ears were too low, it felt like I'd just tumble over her head. I soon learned that the trick is to just rest your hands on her head. Our little parade of elephants walked all the way back to the main camp, about a half a mile, with the purpose of us getting acquainted with our charges. Once back in camp we were helped down, and given instructions on the basics of controlling the elephant.

After we'd learned how to direct them to go forward, backward, turn, and kneel down, it was back on top for some drills. With a 'real' mahoot on the ground, we were told to move our elephants over to the 'slalom' course. A series of pilings we had to weave in and out of in order to work on our turns. Then we practiced backing up, and then getting off and on. There are several ways to do both, and the one we used the most was sliding down the elephants head. Very strange thing to do.

Here's a quick guide for you: To go forward, kick behind both ears and say 'Pai'. To stop: Squeeze your knees on the neck and say 'How'. To turn: Kick behind the ear opposite of the direction you want to go and say 'Baen'. To back up: Rock back and forth and say 'Toi'. If you want to get off, over the head: 'Tak Lung'. To give your elephant a treat, lean forward, tap on her head and her trunk will come up. These elephants do this all the time and were very cooperative, unless they saw some vegetation and decided to have a treat. They made us look good, and I'm cool with that. I now know how to 'drive' a Thai elephant. My body is still sore, but I'd do it again if given the chance.

Have a Happy Tuesday.

Peace,
Danny

"Our outward behavior is just a reflection of our
inner balance or our out of balance."
~John-Roger

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style
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