Chaing Mai part 2 Elephant training.

The second time I came to chaing Mai it was even better than the first, I came back on a 4 hour mini bus which was just as windy and hideous as the way there but this time I had good company in the form of the lovely Stef, we spent most of the 4 hours chatting about every topic under the sun and before we knew it we had successfully made it back to chaing mai and checked into our lovely hostel named the little bird.Little Bird is the back packers haven its dirt cheap, clean and friendly and even after stef left the following day I was still surrounded with plenty of likeminded and lovely people who were all up for a chat and game for a laugh.I did have to check out on my second day for a 2 day stint in a private room with ensuite due to another tummy bug finding my poor body and leaving me helpless in bed for 48 hours holding nothing but a tiny bit of water down and wishing I had my mum with me (not wishing I was home though,believe me it will take more than a little case of food poisoning to make me wanna come home so soon).Anyway once I was feeling well again I checked back into the social surroundings of the Little Bird and signed my ass up for an elephant training course the following day - which may cost a whopping 30 pounds but is worth every freakin penny.I woke up the next day feeling awake and excited, I had a quick bit of banana bread for breakfast and then got myself down to reception to wait for my pick up which is where I met Kara a lovely girl from County Durham who would later become my own personal boomerang, she leaves and then returns - obviously I don't chuck her in the air like a wooden toy but you get my gist. Me and County Durham Kara along with 8 other people were picked up and driven an hour out of Chaing Mai to the elephant sanctuary where we donned our compulsory elephant training outfits which were actually quite fashionable ….. back in the 80's when shell / track suits where all the rage and worn by everyone, not just chavs - oh we looked like weird version of the 118 advert guys dressed in navy cotton trousers with elastic around the ankles and waist and matching long sleeve top, attractive or what?!

After this we went to meet all the elephants where we fed them sugar cane and learnt about their personalities and habits as well as how they act in the wild compared to on a reserve.Then it was time to learn how to ride them, we would be doing it the old fashioned native way- bareback! Have you seen the width of an elephants back? I knew I wouldn't be walking straight for days! However there was a bigger obstical that I hadn't considered that had to be dealt with first, how do you get onto a giant elephant? The trainers explained and showed us the technique of getting on and off the elephants, they made it look so easy, you just put one foot on the elephants ankle, the other on the knee, hold onto the top of the ear, shout a command so they raise their foot and then haul your ass up on there, simple!

Jesus you should have seen us all, there were arms and legs everywhere, the poor elephants must have thought we were a bunch of retards from the happy bus judging on the way we tried desperately to scramble up there.There were a few of us who were naturals … I was definitely not one of them, Kara has a picture of me on my first attempt which although took me a while was successful but the picture is of me doing the splits up the side of an elephant believing my little legs will definitely go over it if I just stretch far enough, oh my naivety.

Anyway after a funny morning of learning how to make an elephant go left, right, forwards and sit (without having to hurt it like some schools in Thailand) we had lunch and got ready for our trek to the river to give them a bath.Right one thing they don't tell you when you sign up for the course is that you might die, yes die!! We set off on the trek which just turned out to be a walk up one side a hill and down the other and within minutes I realized not only had me and Kara been given the elephant which was previous put in an area alone - when I asked why the instructor said the elephant named "Faar" was on time out for bad behaivour, so you know my ride wasn't going to be straight forward but to add to the horror I had nothing to hold onto was god knows how high in the air on the back of an elephant that was trying to climb the side of the steep hill whilst eating everything in site (including almost my flip flop the greedy b*****) and if that wasn't nerve wracking enough the delightful Faar added to the ambience by farting none stop which created a smell which Im pretty sure melted my teeth and dissolved my eye lashes.So if I didn't die by falling and breaking my neck I would most certainly spend my final minutes suffocating on Faars toxic ass gas - Kara was laughing her head off at my predicament, I couldn't laugh until I was safely on the ground and as far away from Faars back end as possible.

Bathing the elephants was great though we got into the water with them and they played around soaking us with their trunks and enjoying a good scrub behind the ears - I discovered Faar loved his belly scrubbed and this time blew bubbles out of his nose not bum to show he was enjoying it.

The day was an amazing experience that I would gladly do again, I learnt so much about such a wonderful animal and got to spend time with them and look after them.At the end of the day after some pictures and final farewells me, kara and the rest of the elephant crew made our way home exhausted but so so happy. A day to remember!