The day after my birthday, we took the night train to the Thai/Laos border and broke a record for the most number of transportation categories in one day. We crossed the second Friendship bridge of our trip (such a good metaphor for Friendship-a bridge) and rode the 24 km to Vientiane on the back of a pick-up like vehicle that was based on a motorcycle chassis (harder to explain than ride on). It was apparent immediately the moment we crossed the bridge that we had changed "worlds." Laos reminded me of many African countries we visited and in some ways, I realized I felt more comfortable amidst the potholed roads, chaos, and dust. There are many similarities between Thailand and Laos and I suspect many subtle differences as well. Much like Canada and the U.S., these differences are much more apparent once you've lived in both countries.
Vientiane is much more laid back than Bangkok and it has a much more managable scale. In our four day visit, we saw the major sights and had lots of time for Laos massage as well. We visited many wats. One wat had over 10,000 Buddha statues and another was famous for it's mosiac finish.
We flew to Chiang Mai from Udon Thani just in time for the third place World Cup game. Mcdonalds in Thailand celebrated the World Cup with a new type of "burger." It looks like a soccer ball and tastes, as Liz says, "very Asian." Its bun is made of sticky rice and its burger is two pork patties in a sweet and sour sauce. In the name of the World Cup, I had to try one and it was most unique for Mcdonalds.
We watched the World Cup final in a progressive dinner style in three restaurants moving continent to continent in dining as the game progressed. I'm happy to report that a team I was cheering for-finally won a game. I think restaurant and bar owners around the world are mourning the finish of the World Cup.
With the World Cup closed, we moved onto the Thai jungle to begin our work with elephants. Our first morning we were introduced to the two "babies." Ging Mai who is seven months old and Hope who is 18 months old. The two young elephants came running to greet us when we emerged from the van. How could I not do anything to melt when the Ging Mai reaches out with his trunk and gives me a kiss on the cheek? We helped out with bathing, feeding, and walking the babies. What an amazing experience to be sharing a living space with two elephants? I am really lost for words (for a change).
Though most fell immediately in love with Ging Mai, I reserved by heart for Hope. He's a bit of a bully these days and likes to push newcomers around. We carry nails to convince him that humans "hurt" when he pushes too hard-an elephant tough love. He and I reached an agreement and got along quite well until I was feeding him at bedtime. Between bottles, he took an unexpectly lunge and knocked me and the bottle of milk/rice/banana mixture over. Hope's mother was killed in a jungle fire and Ging Mai's mother was killed by villagers. Lek, the founder of the Elephant Nature Park, rescued them both.
Lek, who was given a National Geographic "Hero for the Planet" award has given her life over to Thailand's elephants. She's raising the two orphans. She's rescued six adult elephants from cruelity and has mountain haven for them. Lek answers the call to attend to any sick elephant anywhere in Northern Thailand and she works tirelessly on many other projects. She works 18 hour days and gets up to feed the babies most nights. She receives death threats because she is asking the logging and tourist industries to face the reality of what they are doing to elephants. Lek is an inspiration and I feel privileged to be spending this time working on some of her projects.
After spending two days with the babies (who aren't so small-Hope weighs about 600 pounds), we went "up the mountain" to elephant camp. We met the six rescued elephants at the river side. We gave them a good scrubbing and shampoo in the river-mine helped alot by squirting her back and me with her trunk. After the bath, the mahouts (the elephant handlers) gave the command for the elphants to get down and we climbed aboard. We each rode alone on the neck of the elephant. No harness, no seat, no saddle-just me and Mai Perl.
Mai Perl is 89 years old and a wonderful grandmother. She walks with a graceful lilt and I felt like I'd always belonged on her back. I was awestruck as we rode along the mountain path, higher and higher into the Thai jungle. Mai Perl would stop now and then to pull up her favorite green morsels. It was a bit nervewracking when her vegetative wants was down a steep hill and I looked 30 feet into the abyss below her trunk.
I arrived at the jungle camp safe and in a cosmic high. A truly amazing experience once again. We cut tall corn like plants for the ellies to eat and then wondered up the mountain to spend the night grazing (elephants eat 20 hours per day consuming 150-300 kilograms of food). The next morning we climbed high up the ridge to find the elephants to ride them back to camp for more grass and for some of the elephants to receive medical treatments.
That afternoon, we went looking for dung beetles. The great dung beetle hunt was one fo those experiences that I was glad about having once it was over. We left jungle camp following one of the mahouts. His exertion level appeared to match that of a leisurely Sunday afternoon stroll while the rest of us panted like dogs who'd played fetch too long. The search for elephant dung (poop, shit, ca-ca) piles that were just the right age to house a dung beetle (not too new, green, soft, and smelly, not too old, yellow and loose) impelled us up ridge after ridge. While our mahout never broke a sweat, we were drenched and dripping instantly in the humidity of late afternoon. Even Kurt Hahn, the founder of Outward Bound, would have been proud of the challenge-swifter, higher, faster-in pursuit, not of sensible self-denial- but of a black, hard-bodied shit eating beetle-our dinner.
When the appropriately aged dung pile was found, the green mass was thrown aside aside revealing a two inch hole. With hoe in hand, hte mahout dug a three foot hole chasing the beetle. About every second hole revealed a beetle and much sadness descended on our group when the hole was empty because it appeared that we couldn't return to the hut until we captured the requiaite number of dinner morsels. Turning back wasn't an option either as evrey square meter of Thai jungle looks like other square meter. It is very easy to become discombobulated (I love that word) and lose the way.
Based on exertion to calories earned ratio, we didn't have a very successful mission. After we returned to camp with only five beetle, the other mahouts went out and brought back more plus some frogs and jungle crabs as well. They fried up the beetles. What did they taste like? Well-a little like chicken. I'm not kidding. Their meat actually had more of a meat consistency that other insects I've eaten-though Liz did have the kindness to wait until after the meal was finished to say "you are what you eat and those beetles had the consistency of dung." Thus another eating adventure closed....bring on the scorpions.
We're off to visit a park tomorrow and witness some elephant abuse first hand and then up to the mountains again to provide medical care to hilltribe elephants and people.
