Elephant ride

We arrived on foot having walked from the drop off point about half a mile away. We could see three elephants amongst the trees and they were all calm and just stood their doing their own thing. No chains not even a fence holding them in. They were free to roam around as they wished. One thing we were both adamant about was that if we saw anything we didn’t like about they way the elephants were kept or treated then we absolutely wouldn’t do the ride (which is why we didn’t do it in Indonesia - they were kept with chains around their legs there). This place was a world away from that. Around the front of where they were was a wooden fence - the type that are just a couple of poles nailed together (certainly no match for an elephant if they wanted to go through it). Around the back however, there was nothing at all. The elephants were completely free to go where ever they wanted if they chose to. And definitely no chains!!! we went and paid for our 1 hour ride - 100,000 kip each (about £7.50). To get on Moon there was a tower we had to go up and she stood beneath it. To get Moon over to the tower he just called her and waved a bunch of bananas. He dropped the bananas under the tower & over she came. She knew exactly where she needed to stand and just got on with eating her bananas. The man put the basket on her back and asked her to lift her legs up one at a time so he could put the girth under her. Again she did it all to voice commands. It was lovely to watch. No sticks or hitting involved at all. Jody feed Moon a banana from her hand, getting on her was weird as you had to stand on her head! We were bare footed so could feel her prickly hair. cute! I'm sure Moon said ouch when she stood on her head. ==== We had a comfy seat on Moons back and the elephant guide sat between Moons ears. We had a really lovely ride. We didn’t really go very far, we then walked gracefully in to the forest, just along some tracks in the local area but it was very pretty. In to a local village, but now with our vantage point from Moons back we could see right in to the locals houses that were on stilks. We were close to a waterfall and three rivers and yes we got to go through the rivers on Moon. This was great as we really wanted the ride to be nice for her too. She clearly enjoyed it and was given time to slash about in the water. She did spray us too! When we headed back towards home, we had to cross the last river. This is when the man got down from Moon and asked Bryan for his camera which he gave him. Then the guide walked off down the river some distance leaving us on Moon. He took loads of photos for us calling Moon as he went and bless her she just followed him. She was soooo lovely. She would walk a little further, missing all the low branches and stoping for a photo when the guide was ready. Moon walked back to where we started, we dismounted, the guide took off the seat and then left us with Moon, yep, left us with a full grown elephant. Moon was great, she took some more bananas from us, posed for more photos and let us touch her trunk. And when we had all finished she gracefully walked over the the where she started. Moon was just amazing, such a huge animal, so graceful and with a way about her that she knew everything that was going on, giving us a reassurance that she was okay to be with us. I know elephants never forget, but for sure neither of us will forget this most memorable experience.