The Long Way to Kansas: Ox Carts

One of the first things we did in Chiang Mai was go on an Elephant Safari, where they kept us busy with several activities that lasted all day. The van picked us up at the guest house first thing in the morning and drove for about an hour up into the mountains to an elephant camp. We had about thrity minutes to mill around with them and got to see them up close, close enough to pet and feed them. They lifted everyone up with their trunks, we took some good pictures, and it was really fun. There was also an elephant show, and Jack got some really good pictures. My camera battery died almost first thing, so he was the photographer for the day. The camp had bundles of sugar cane sticks and bunches of little bananas ready for us to feed them, and they really liked the sugar cane. A few times during the show, they just came up to the short wall in front of the bleachers where we were sitting, reached over and stole whole bundles of sugar cane with their trunks!

After the show we went on an elephant ride. It was kind of scary at first because we were so far off the ground and didn’t know if was alright to trust the little carriage we were in. But, after a few minutes, we relaxed and enjoyed the swaying back and forth. We went on a pretty long ride, maybe 45 minutes, long enough to know it would be a hard day’s ride if that was our means of transportation. All along the path were tall stands, about ten to twelve feet high (elephant height) that sold more sugar cane sticks and bananas. Our elephant knew where the stands were located and demanded sugar cane at each one. He would veer off the path and go to the stand and started poking around the inside of it with his trunk. The person in the stand would hold stuff out of his reach as the handler was trying to make him get back on the path and stop being so rude. He would get very annoyed and slap his trunk on the ground and make snorting sounds to show his displeasure when we didn't buy him anything. The person in the stand would throw one or two cane sticks onto the path in front of him to divert his attention from their stand, and he get back on the path to retrieve it, then would trundle on kind of satisfied. At one stand, however, he actually stole a whole bunch of bananas before they could be moved, and the lady said, “You should buy bananas, that elephant is hungry!”

Eventually, the ride was over, and we went on an ox cart ride. I don’t know why anyone would think that riding an ox cart would be fun, because it was not. Fortunately, it was a short, although bumpy ride. I imagine a buckboard or covered wagon would be just about as comfortable. After that, we had a really nice lunch back at the camp, and then we went rafting down the river.

When I first saw the rafts we were supposed to ride, I did not want to get on one. They were made out of big bamboo poles that were tied together, and looked homemade. Workers were putting benches on them for us to sit for the trip down the river. But, I watched for awhile from the end of the line, and when the people in front of us didn’t sink, I decided it would be alright. Also, the water was only about two meters deep and we were wearing life vests, so we could wade out if we fell in. There was one man in front and one man in back of each raft, guiding them down the river with long bamboo poles to keep them away from shallow places and rocks. The man in front of our raft was very cheerful and talked with us while we floated downstream. He taught us how to count to five in Thai, took pictures of everyone with our cameras, and explained some of the scenery along the banks. I didn’t think I would like the river rafting, but it turned out to be fun and relaxing.

Our last stop of the day was at the orchid and butterfly farm. It was really interesting and really up my alley. We had a lesson on how to propigate them, learned that they take a year to get big enough to transplant into soil, and that the farm has over 80 varieties. Jack let me use his camera and I got some good pictures of many of the different colors and varieties that were there. The butterflies were also pretty and I got a few pictures of them as well. They always seemed to know, however, that I was around, and would fly off just as I was ready to snap the picture. So, there are not so many good pictures of the butterflies.

All in all, it was a great day! We had a lot of fun, got some great pictures, and learned a lot!