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As we arrived at the elephant sanctuary we immediately got our first sighting. It was a bunch of mybe 5 or 6 elephants tied up to a tree. The first thing that strikes your attention is the sheer size of them! They stand about twice your height and could crush you with their baby toe.
As we headed deeper inside the sanctuary we realised that the place was packed with them, all congregating down by the wateringhole for their daily bath. ASround 20 elephants entered the pool each with a guide riding on its back. They wased right in to the deepest part of the pool, so deep in fact that a few of the small ones were fully submerged with only the tip of their truck sticking out acting like an oversized snorkel. The rest of the other elephants acted like small kidsin a waterfight, picking up huge amounts of water and playfully spraying it over the others with a large grin on their faces.
After they had cooled off, the elephants joined up in a long line. They all held the tail of the elephant infront with their trunkand marched in sequence. They even had a elephant at the front hitting a drum with surprising rthym to keep them all in step. It was like a scene out of Jungle Book.
We followed the procession to a large stadium where the guides gave us a show demonstrating why they use elephants in the logging buisness. This included balancing on small logs and also picking up huge trees between several elephants and neatly stacking them in a pile. One of the more impressive demonstrations was where they got the elephant to paint. Although i expect this has little use in the forest it was really impressive. They held the brush in their trunks and actually managed to draw reconisable pictures, including self portraits, similar to something a 10 year old may draw.
After this it was our turn to ride the elephants. Me and JEn rode on a 40ish year old elephant, sitting on a seat on its upper back, while the strange and kinda scary guide sat on its head. We had a rope on the front of the seat to stop us sliding out, but this proved pretty much useless. I never thought that riding an elephant would be a scary experience, but it was. As we headed down the steep jungle paths we had to fight hard to stay in the seats and not get thrown out by the jerking movement of the elephant. I turned around to see everyone else having the same experience. Personaly i think it made it more exciting and enjoyable.
At the end of our half hour ride we had the chance to feed fruit tot he elephants. Ocassionally they grabbed your arm instead of the fruit letting you feel the incredible strength of their trunks as they tried to rip your arm out its socket. Taking photos infront of them also led to close encounters as when you turned your back to them they swing their trunks at you an drool down your face like dogs trying desperately to get your attention.
We left the sanctuary a few hours later and headed for the village homestay to stay in a local community for a night.
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