Kelsey's Time in Thailand: Kanch - Installment Five (Elephants)

It has been a long time since this trip, but I still have a few things that I haven't shared yet.

One of those things, and the best experience of that trip, was the elephants.

Firstly I would like to assure everyone that the handlers were fabulous, and I had a very good feeling about the treatment of the elephants there. Nothing seemed "off" or sketchy, the commands they gave the elephants were mostly verbal with some light foot or hand tapping. The area they were kept in was clean with a simple wooden fence and the handlers did not have the elephants chained up when they were not being used. In fact, they seemed to have a special bond with their elephants, and their kids were also playing with and riding on them.

The first thing we did when we got there was ride on the elephants through a trail on a farmer's
field. The surroundings were beautiful, and it was interesting watching the farmers work as we rode by. I forget my elephant's Thai name, but her English name was Honey. Our handler was especially nice, and he let me ride on the elephants bare neck within the first few minutes of our trip!

It was actually quite difficult at times to stay balanced, especially when the elephant felt hungry.

The fields we rode through (click to enlarge)

The next and most exciting thing we got to do was play with the elephants in the water. I truly feel like the elephants had a fun time with us as well. They would wallow around in the water, and duck their heads under once in a while. They also used their trunks to splash us, and would try to "buck", or shake, us off.

One of the elephants seemed like she was not in the mood for our frivolity, so she simply parked herself by the shore and wasn't made to come in the water with us any more than she wanted to. Another good sign, I thought.

One thing I can't forget to mention: the wonderful smooches and hugs from the elephants! The elephants seemed to love to (gently) wrap their trunks around you in a sort of embrace. They would also give kisses. Two varieties in fact, a "blow" kiss on your cheek, and a "suck" kiss on your cheek. The second picture below is taken right after a "blow" kiss.