the old-school guestbook archives
my amazon wish list... my favorite astrologer... my favorite artist... yerba mate revolution! erowid: a travel guide for interior journeys... no more war: MoveOn.org United for Peace and Justice True Majority seek the truth: Common Dreams Unamerican Activities The Nation people I adore, diaries I read: rev.raikes ariana cubiclegirl epiphany glitter333 laurakay wammo the music: the asylum street spankers backyard tire fire blue highway bill camplin wendy colonna freedom tribe joules graves guy forsyth band hamsa lila hanuman libby kirkpatrick leftover salmon pamela means medeski martin & wood the motet the nice outfit nickel creek open road rose polenzani railroad earth south austin jug band string cheese incident taarka tha musemeant the devil makes three tim o'brien band trolley wild sage keller williams yonder mountain string band |
elephants, mahouts, and motorbikes... ~ October 30, 2002 - 11:40 a.m. I came here thinking I could actually get some work done before bed, but I'm realizing that was a bit ambitious. I'm a bit too utterly wiped out to try to think of anything nice to say about surat thani to a bunch of third graders. I've got to do it in the morning, though. I'm still working way too close to deadline, which is making headaches for other people in the organization, because I'm not giving them much time to get my entries up and running before they have to go live. jeez, I just realized I sound like I've got a job. if you can call it that, it really is one of the world's coolest ones. I will try to stop rubbing it in. if you're jealous, try consoling yourself with the fact that I have no idea how I'm going to live when I get back to the states. but what else is new. I had a great big giant huge day today, and it was tremendous fun. for my job, I had to go out to this elephant nature park, a type of save-the-elephant conservation project combined with tourist-kitsch stuff. I couldn't find a good way out there that wasn't some kind of expensive package tour, and I was getting frustrated, so you know what I did? I rented a motorbike. oh yes, I did, you know it. driving on the left wasn't that hard to get used to. what was weirder was getting the hang of the classic tiny asian motorbike. it's nothing like riding a motorcycle. my bike back home has about 650 more ccs than anyone here will ever see. it took me back to when I was 19, 20, and riding around milwaukee on a little red yamaha scooter that I bought off a kid at work. it was also semi-automatic, which was weird. you still shift gears, but there's no clutch. shifting is backwards from what I'm used to, too, so I kept downshifting when I meant to up. but I got the hang of it pretty quick, and played like a local, zipping in and out of traffic, all over the road. it's not as scary as you imagine. the roads here are filled with motorbikes, flying all over the place, in between cars, up on the sidewalks, and people are just used to it. traffic just flows. you do have to pay attention, though-- and realize that when you come around a curve, there could be anything from an oncoming bike to an elephant in front of you. so it was this glorious blue-sky day, and I rode all over creation, rode 50 kms out of chiang mai to this elephant nature park, you know, for my job. oh yeah, I was going to stop rubbing it in. trust me, it can suck too. I'll get around to telling you about my meltdown in pattaya sooner or later. so I got to the park, which at first just kind of irritated me because it was so touristy. but then I went for an elephant ride. I had mixed feelings about it, because I wasn't at all sure that beautiful creature wanted me on this little bench seat on its back. and there were all these rules posted, about how the mahouts, the elephant trainers, were not to be taking personal photos since their job is to ensure safety. and that guests riding on the elephant's neck is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. well sure, I've never seen elephant rides where they let you do that. so I was jouncing along on my little bench, and it really was a beautiful day, and I was surrounded by all these green hills and blue skies and banana trees... and then the elephants started walking down the river, and we were in the sun-dappled shade of the trees overhead, and it was even more beautiful... and then I saw this german guy riding on the elephant's neck-- and his mahout taking video and shooting pictures all over the place. and then I realized a bunch of them were doing it... but my guy wasn't real friendly, and I didn't really want to ask. I was a little jealous, though. and then we got to a point on the trail, and my mahout turned and gestured, did I want him to take a picture? so I grinned and nodded, and then I pointed down to the elephant's neck, and he nodded... so I got to ride on the elephant's neck... and I petted it and loved it the whole time, thanked it with all of my heart for carrying me. they are such incredible creatures, so sweet and beautiful. and for whatever reason, I just loved it. I totally felt like a little kid. my mahout let me ride the elephant all by myself a good long way down the path. on the way back, our elephant somehow got surrounded by three others with no passengers, and their mahouts lounged on their necks and teased each other, flirted with me and practiced their english. you have a boyfriend? I may be a truthful girl, but the answer to that particular question is almost always yes. there's road headaches I just don't need... when we got back to the starting point, I thanked my mahout sincerely-- ko pun ka-- and he smiled just a little and averted his eyes, and then I realized that he wasn't unfriendly-- he was shy! and really just such a kid. I left there in a fabulous mood, rode the scooter back to chiang mai, with a stop at the hilltribe museum... then I went out for a traditional khantoke dinner at the old chiang mai cultural center, complete with traditional music and dancing. oh yes, it's been quite a day. and now it's more than past time to find myself some sleep...
(((rings))) |