Nomadic Narrative

I set down my backpack to take a quick rest before crossing the bamboo bridge which stretched across the river. Before I could finish one deep inhale and exhale, a man had swung my bag over his shoulder and proceeded down the trail without asking me if I needed help. In earlier years, my feminist hackles would have risen and I might have demanded the return of my bag with indignant pride. Over the years, I’ve become a lot more lax. However, when I was recently directed to a raised wooden platform while the other male mahouts in training were instructed to mount the elephant from the ground up, I demanded equal treatment.

This brings me to tip number one for those of you who might find yourselves wondering how to successfully complete a mahout training course while saving body…and face:

1. Place your foot in the harness to pull yourself up onto the elephant’s neck. Do not attempt to leap directly to the top, unless you are over six feet tall and can do at least ten pull-ups. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the video of our adventure by ContemporaryNomad.com:

Tips continued

2. Wear long pants if you are going to be riding on the neck because your legs will chafe against the elephant’s rough skin.

3. Wear shoes that are unlikely to slip off, or just don’t wear shoes. Tevas are okay but flip-flops are not. It’s a long way to the ground, so the fewer the distractions the better.

4. Use more balance than brawn. While you will occasionally need to clench you thighs to hang onto the neck and to command the elephant to turn left or right, staying on the neck for any length of time without completely exhausting yourself requires balance.

5. If your ride in the basket on the elephant’s back, bring a pillow because sitting on the wooden seat while swaying back and forth gets very uncomfortable after a couple of hours.