Yesterday we hired a car to visit a Monkey Cave. What was initially a one half-dozen primate welcoming crowd quickly multiplied at the sight of our peace-offering banana bushels. Climbing down the cliffs and running through the trees, our little petting zoo was about to turn into a pack of pocket pickers. We ditched the fruit and peanuts and hoofed it a few hundred meters uphill to the cave. The space was nice, if damp and dark.

(Did I tell you about my new Surefire flashlight? It rocks.)

Then we drove a little more north to the town of Mae Sae. It is an official border crossing with Myanmar (Burma) at the northernmost point of Thailand. Lots of gimmicky tourist retail shops and more Burmese beggar chilren than you could shake a stick at. I bought some authentic gross-weight snack food that looks like brown lima bean popcorn and tastes like peanuts.

Back to our hotel to swim and dry off before a dinner cooking class from the mahouts. In the middle of a jungle clearing, under a bamboo thatch hut we learned how to cook sticky rice in bamboo log containers and fry fresh fish from the Mekong River. These men have been partners to their elephants for a long time - 10, 20 and even 30 years. It is a lifelong commitment and I should feel a little silly thinking that I could tame an elephant in two long days.

The extent of my real mahout skills is getting on and off of the elephant (no small task). Turning left, right and backing up is at the animal's own will. We would be making a good slalom course around the camp when La-Wan (my elephant) would lumber off to snap some fresh bamboo or steal a few dozen bananas. But it was quite fulfilling to sit on her head by myself and go along for the ride.

We are driving to Chiang Mai today- a very big city only four hours south.  ¶ Permalink 7/20/2005 08:43:00 PM