Thailand: The Show at the Elephant Camp

Okay, this is out of order, but my mom has been begging for these photos, so fast forward to a year after the place in my last entry. These pictures were taken on December 23, 2008. I decided (yes, I because Markian didn't want to do this, he thought I was crazy), 2 days at an elephant camp doing a mahout (elephant trainer) course. This was the best thing we did in Thailand. I can't say enough good things about it. We flew from Bangkok to the north of Thailand to the second biggest city, Chiang Mai. We then took a taxi about 45 minutes away to Maesa Elephant Camp. I had signed up for the course online. Getting there was a bit of a hassle. Our awesome hotel the night before helped me out (I have pics of that as well, but not downloaded yet). The photos I am showing you today, are not from my camera, but the ones the people at the elephant camp took for me and put on a cd. Mine are still on my memory card. I have been very sick (got sick in Thailand...long story), plus busy with going back to work. I have a three day weekend now and am feeling better so I'm posting this for my mom.

We arrived at the camp and were taken to our lodging and given mahout outfits to put on. The camp runs a show three times daily. We were first taken away to see the show and what they do here.

We participated in a darts game during the show. It was us against an elephant. The elephant didn't do so well that day, but apparently the day before she was really good and didn't miss at all when he played some other people. I think she hit two. Anyway, she is throwing them at balloons a few meters away.

It was my first time being that close to an elephant and wow, they are so big. I know it sounds stupid, cause "duh" elephants are big. But, really, just being that close and seeing it is something completely different.

Markian was quite good at this and only missed like once.
I on the other hand, missed every time but one. Pathetic. I couldn't even get the dart to reach the balloon area, until they let me cheat and step forward.


We got some key chains with elephants on them for being good sports and participating. I was still nervous, as we'd just gotten here and I had no idea what all this was going to be like.
The elephants then patted us on the heads. They are So cute and so smart.


During the show the elephants demonstrate logging (like they used to do before machines took over), and parade around and also give (massage) with their feet which is rather scary. Lots of people turn up to see the show. Most of the benches were full. They also demonstrate their painting skills.
After the show, you can buy the paintings they just painted in front of you. Some of them sell really fast, as you can see two are missing and this picture was taken right after it was done. Different elephants have different painting styles. More on painting later though. Next it was on to learning how to ride an elephant.