The country of Laos is known as the land of a thousand elephants. However, Chiang Mai was my destination when it came to elephants. I had been fighting against my better self over the past half week to resist the temptation to visit an elephant park near Luang Prabang, where all visits included an elephant ride and mahout training. (Mahout is the title of an elephant trainer.) Elephants aren't always terribly fond of mahouts nor of giant wooden structures strapped to their backs in which tourists plop down for a ride. But things are different in Chiang Mai. Yes, there are still plenty of places there which will let you perch your butt atop an elephant, but if a different experience is more to your liking, this is the place to go. Online, I'd read up on the Mae Sa Elephant Conservatory, but upon arrival, my hostel owner suggested a similar site where a baby elephant had just been born: the Elephant Retirement Park. This was, hands down, the coolest thing I did on my trip.
Here, I got to know 26-year-old second-time mother Buathong, 10-year-old Phet, 15-year-old Ben, 3-year-old Ngam, et 13-day-old (eee!) baby Lanna.
The Elephant Retirement Park is an organization which rescues abused and overworked elephants. Instead of the guests riding elephants and watching them do tricks, we learn the commands to get the elephants to open their mouths (so we can feed them bananas), to hug us, and to kiss us. (Elephant kisses are kind of slobbery and involve a lot of suction.) They also taught us how to tell the elephants when they'd done well (the equivalent of telling a dog "Good boy/girl"). We spent the day feeding the elephants, bathing with them, and rolling in the mud together.
The elephants love to roll around and splash in the water with the visitors. It's a little scary when suddenly an elephant foot or trunk pops up right next to you in the water (mostly for the sake of your toes!) but it is so insanely cool. We scratched and scrubbed and splashed and pet the elephants. They were happy to interact. You could even put out your hand and they would clasp it in their trunk or even wrap their trunk around your wrist in a sort of playful elephant handshake. (From the strength in their grip, I was really happy that these elephants were not temperamental!)
We learned that elephants flap their ears and wag their tails when they are happy, but we didn't need that lesson to see that these elephants were clearly in a good place emotionally. And 13-day-old baby Lanna was the best thing ever. This place is a must-see for anyone visiting Chiangmai or anywhere in Thailand.
Here, I got to know 26-year-old second-time mother Buathong, 10-year-old Phet, 15-year-old Ben, 3-year-old Ngam, et 13-day-old (eee!) baby Lanna.
Ben
Ben is a picky eater, and will only eat fully ripe bananas. (The elephants in this park also eat corn and sugar cane.) At 15 years old, Ben is not yet fully grown. While taking some tourists for a ride one day, she made a misstep and fell, injuring her leg. In response, her owners locked her in a cage and prevented the injury from properly healing. She is now on lease and is healing at the Elephant Retirement Park. (Elephants are very expensive to buy, so all the adults at the park are currently on lease.)
Phet
Phet loves to hug the visitors, but he wasn't always so trusting. He was rescued from an elephant camp after he simply refused to continue working because he had been so badly abused that he stopped responding to humans. A mahout at the Elephant Retirement Park had to kneel before Phet offering him bananas for many hours before he was even willing to interact enough to accept food from a human.
Ngam
Ngam is a little over 2.5 years old and he too was already seriously abused in his short life. He is a friendly one these days, and his trunk wanders a bit much when he goes in for his slobbier kisses.
Buathong
Buathong just gave birth to her second baby, Lanna. The pregnancy came as a bit of a surprise to the Elephant Retirement Park. They hadn't realized just how friendly she'd been with another male elephant who has since been transferred to another elephant sanctuary. That wasn't a problem for Buathong since, in elephant social structure, only the females live together and they collectively care for the young. An elephant's gestation period is 22-24 months, so Lanna had plenty of time to beef up before her birth. Buathong was in labor with Lanna for a full day, and the entire surrounding village heard her screams and grunts. Her baby has only gained about 5 pounds since her birth, and at around 200 lbs, that's no easy birth. One surprising thing I learned when meeting Buathong is that elephant udders/breasts are unexpectedly high up on the chest, and there is only a pair of them. They looked weirdly human (just gray and wrinkly) compared to cows, cats, dogs, and goats (the only other animals whose mammary glands I've seen in person).
Lanna
Baby Lanna is only 13 days old, and is a little wobbly on her feet. She is also quite furry-- who knew baby elephants had so much extra hair? She is already very curious and wants to explore everything, so mama Buathong has to constantly use her trunk to keep Lanna in line.
Ben is a picky eater, and will only eat fully ripe bananas. (The elephants in this park also eat corn and sugar cane.) At 15 years old, Ben is not yet fully grown. While taking some tourists for a ride one day, she made a misstep and fell, injuring her leg. In response, her owners locked her in a cage and prevented the injury from properly healing. She is now on lease and is healing at the Elephant Retirement Park. (Elephants are very expensive to buy, so all the adults at the park are currently on lease.)
Phet
Phet loves to hug the visitors, but he wasn't always so trusting. He was rescued from an elephant camp after he simply refused to continue working because he had been so badly abused that he stopped responding to humans. A mahout at the Elephant Retirement Park had to kneel before Phet offering him bananas for many hours before he was even willing to interact enough to accept food from a human.
Ngam
Ngam is a little over 2.5 years old and he too was already seriously abused in his short life. He is a friendly one these days, and his trunk wanders a bit much when he goes in for his slobbier kisses.
Buathong
Buathong just gave birth to her second baby, Lanna. The pregnancy came as a bit of a surprise to the Elephant Retirement Park. They hadn't realized just how friendly she'd been with another male elephant who has since been transferred to another elephant sanctuary. That wasn't a problem for Buathong since, in elephant social structure, only the females live together and they collectively care for the young. An elephant's gestation period is 22-24 months, so Lanna had plenty of time to beef up before her birth. Buathong was in labor with Lanna for a full day, and the entire surrounding village heard her screams and grunts. Her baby has only gained about 5 pounds since her birth, and at around 200 lbs, that's no easy birth. One surprising thing I learned when meeting Buathong is that elephant udders/breasts are unexpectedly high up on the chest, and there is only a pair of them. They looked weirdly human (just gray and wrinkly) compared to cows, cats, dogs, and goats (the only other animals whose mammary glands I've seen in person).
Lanna
Baby Lanna is only 13 days old, and is a little wobbly on her feet. She is also quite furry-- who knew baby elephants had so much extra hair? She is already very curious and wants to explore everything, so mama Buathong has to constantly use her trunk to keep Lanna in line.
The Elephant Retirement Park is an organization which rescues abused and overworked elephants. Instead of the guests riding elephants and watching them do tricks, we learn the commands to get the elephants to open their mouths (so we can feed them bananas), to hug us, and to kiss us. (Elephant kisses are kind of slobbery and involve a lot of suction.) They also taught us how to tell the elephants when they'd done well (the equivalent of telling a dog "Good boy/girl"). We spent the day feeding the elephants, bathing with them, and rolling in the mud together.
The elephants love to roll around and splash in the water with the visitors. It's a little scary when suddenly an elephant foot or trunk pops up right next to you in the water (mostly for the sake of your toes!) but it is so insanely cool. We scratched and scrubbed and splashed and pet the elephants. They were happy to interact. You could even put out your hand and they would clasp it in their trunk or even wrap their trunk around your wrist in a sort of playful elephant handshake. (From the strength in their grip, I was really happy that these elephants were not temperamental!)
We learned that elephants flap their ears and wag their tails when they are happy, but we didn't need that lesson to see that these elephants were clearly in a good place emotionally. And 13-day-old baby Lanna was the best thing ever. This place is a must-see for anyone visiting Chiangmai or anywhere in Thailand.
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| The Elephant Retirement Park: I can't recommend this place strongly enough. |
It was a pity I wasn't able to squeeze in more time in Chiang Mai itself. I think Chiang Mai would be a great place to kick back for a half week or so. The food is up to the delicious Thai standard with which Bangkok had spoiled me, and yet the city itself is calm and laid back, a real hippie destination. Some fellow hostelers and I actually spent an evening at a reggae bar listening to a local band called the Reggae Croissant.
But late April temperatures outside were eating me alive, and I will confess that on my only full day in Chiang Mai, I checked off a few temples and monuments mostly to say I'd been-there-done-that. I proceeded to spend most of the day getting massaged and enjoying a Starbucks iced coffee that bought me a few hours of mid-day air conditioning. (Monsoon season in Southeast Asia begins around June, and the time building up to it can become rather unbearable.)
But late April temperatures outside were eating me alive, and I will confess that on my only full day in Chiang Mai, I checked off a few temples and monuments mostly to say I'd been-there-done-that. I proceeded to spend most of the day getting massaged and enjoying a Starbucks iced coffee that bought me a few hours of mid-day air conditioning. (Monsoon season in Southeast Asia begins around June, and the time building up to it can become rather unbearable.)
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| Chiang Mai: been there, done that, could use to do it again when it's a little less hot and humid. |
Recommendations: Don't wait until late April to go to Chiang Mai. And be sure to visit the Elephant Retirement Park.
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