Day 8: Elephant Trekking

During some free time in the afternoon, we decided to go elephant trekking. A group of 10 of us found this place where you could ride elephants through a jungle. It was so much fun. Our elephant, Chong, was great. The ‘driver’ would get off of Chong every now and then to smoke or take our picture, and Chong was so obedient. Our driver would grunt “Hah” and Chong would follow. While he was sitting on the elephant, the driver pulled leaves off of trees and made us this little grasshopper. I asked him how to say “grasshopper” in the language, which he told me, so every now and then, I’d hold it up and say “Tikatin seedon” and the driver would laugh. After a while, all the drivers cheered and laughed when I said it, so I’m thinking I was fooled, and Tikatin Seedon means something I would never say in English.

After the ride, they took us to this gargantuan elephant who if you wanted to, would grab you in its trunk and lift you up several feet in the air, parallel to the ground. Who’s gonna pass that up? Also, husband sat on this elephants tusks and was lifted off the ground. Fun stuff!

All in all, the trip was fantastic. As much as I loved eating steak and burgers, sipping a Vanilla Latte at Starbucks, or lounging at the beach with a book, I was ready to head back to our home. It was a great morale booster, and I feel that much more equipped for the job after taking several workshops.