There is no shortage of stuff to do in Chiangmai, both in town and within a pretty small radius of the city. Zip-lining, trekking, temple crawls, and……riding elephants and cuddling with tigers. It’s all here for the taking. Since Nancy is not big on large animals, I waited until the first guests arrived to visit to partake in this kind of stuff! I knew that somebody would eventually show up that would want to do these things. And last week, a couple of friends from Wuhan arrived that were totally into heading for the nearest elephants and tigers.
It was easy to hire a driver for the day. For one day of hauling us around from place to place, he only charged us about 1600 baht, once the gas money was added in. That only worked out to about $50-60 for the day of driving, which we thought was a pretty good deal. We jumped in his SUV and off we went. Mr. Chiang spoke pretty good English and chatted away pretty much non-stop as his Beatles Classic Hits CD pounded away in the background throughout the drive!
Our first stop for the day was Maetang Elephant Park. Choosing a place to see elephants is a difficult decision when visiting Chiangmai. There are many “companies” that offer various elephant packages from a quick ride through the jungle to overnight stays that include courses on how to care for and train these beautiful animals. From what I have read, they all have their pros and cons when it comes to location, treatment of the animals and the overall experience. Our driver suggested Maetang and we didn’t really care where we went!
Maetang Elephant Park is located about 50km from Chiangmai and took less than an hour to get to. It is set in a beautiful and very scenic valley. The first thing we noticed when we arrived was the number of tour buses and hordes of Chinese tourists. This place was definitely big business. However, despite the crowds, it didn’t take long to get our tickets and we were on our way within a half-hour or so. We skipped the elephant show and went for the ox-cart ride, elephant ride, and bamboo raft ride, in that order.
We started off with an oxcart ride through deep mud and hilly terrain. The oxen were definitely struggling to pull us but it would have been worse if we had a full cart of four or five people. There were only three of us and the guide seemed to be whipping the crap out of the animals to get them to pull us up some of the hills. The ride was very rough and, although interesting, not the most pleasant part of the afternoon. But hey, what do you expect…it’s an oxcart! We chatted about how miserable it must have been in the old days for people travelling any distance in these things. We ended up back at the elephant camp after about a half-hour jaunt through the woods and along a scenic road. Now it was time for the elephants.
We “boarded” our elephants from a tall platform and sat on metal seats that were attached to the elephants back. Apparently, this is not the nicest way to travel on an elephant. At least, from the elephant’s point of view. Many, if not all, of the other camps have you ride bareback, which is much more gentle for the animals. In our case, only the mahouts sat bareback on the elephants’ heads. However, having said that, John and Patti said it was a much smoother ride than one they had taken outside of Bangkok a few days earlier. There was also a restraining bar that kept us safely in place during the ride. Although maybe not so gentle, it seems like a much safer way to ride for an average off-the-street tourist! I couldn’t imagine everybody being able to balance themselves on the back of one of these lumbering animals as they rode through the jungle. It’s a long ways to the ground when you are perched on one of these creatures!
We travelled along a well-beaten path through the woods, and came across at least a dozen others along the way. Currently, there are about seventy elephants “on staff” at the camp so it is a very busy place! Despite the fact that the trainers are not supposed to ever leave the ox carts or the elephants, they did both in order to take our photos. It was a little nerve-racking each time and I’m sure some people would not be impressed to be left alone on the back of an elephant half-way down a steep incline!
The elephants themselves seemed well taken care of and we certainly didn’t see any abuse during our time there. I suppose the whole idea of them carrying people around on their backs all day is a type of abuse in itself but it is a major money-maker for the locals and provides funding to help other elephants in distress. Maetang also provides medical care to local animals that need it. The couple that owns the camp provides decent employment and a place to live for all their workers. Our mahouts were very friendly and seemed to have a wonderful relationship with their elephants.
The day ended with a calm bamboo raft ride down the river. The guide was hilarious and kept up a constant banter of jokes along the way. Although the scenery was not breath-taking, it was great seeing elephants from other camps bathing in the river and trekking along riverside trails. Apparently, there are four camps in this area.
If you don’t want a touristy afternoon, along with hordes of others, this is not the place to visit. It is not really a “back-to-nature” place; along with the rides you can watch the show that involves the elephants painting and dancing. You also won’t be white-water rafting, but only drifting lazily down the river. However, if you want to experience a lot of stuff, while staying fairly relaxed, and only have two or three hours in your busy schedule, this is a great organized elephant camp to fit it all in while enjoying some scenic backdrops and Thai hospitality. There is also a reasonably priced buffet lunch available if you want to partake in some good Thai food during the day.
If you are coming to Chiangmai and are looking for elephants, here is a partial list of places to visit. Check out the websites, read the reviews and determine which one you think is the best! Please leave a comment if you have already been to any of these!
