How to Ride an Elephant

Join the Adventure!

I have never had much desire to ride an elephant, or a camel, or a even a horse. But siting on my patio one evening, I conducted a more thorough mental examination of the issue. If I don't ride an elephant now, I may not have the opportunity to do it again. I should be able to say I've ridden an elephant, because that seems really cool, which seems like a good enough reason. This was, I confess, my shameful motivation.

Yet how does one ride an elephant? They are such very large animals, presumably wise yet consistently obsessed with their primal need to consume 300 kgs of food daily.

First, one goes to Mondlekiri Province. This is one of the few places where one can ride elephants in Cambodia. In this region, there are many options for those seeking the elephant riding experience. We [myself and our three "interns" who journeyed out for the long weekend over King Sihamoni's birthday] arranged the adventure through our guesthouse who packed us out with six other Western tourists to a small minority village. A total group of 10 went out, on five elephants, with perhaps 10 Khmer guides and random observers.

Secondly, one must climb up a ladder into a small basket. This might be the most terrifying part of the entire process. Once you reach the top of the ladder, you have to climb further into a small basket. You are climbing over a live animal and somehow he stands still as a puny human asserts her dominance and props herself in this small basket. At last you find yourself seated with your feet under your chin, crushed against a fellow passenger, and a small child sitting behind the elephant's ears with a stick to "drive" it. You are easily 10 foot on the ground, and you realize a kid is managing this large animal, and then you consider if perhaps there was something more sane you might have considered instead of elephant trekking.

Third, one must hold on and brace oneself. Elephants are heavy-footed animals and utterly incapably of anything other then violent jerking as they plod forward. You have to somehow anticipate their movement and sway with them, all the while unable to readjust in your basket. On the other-hand, they are very surefooted, and low and behold, can ford streams and rapids!

Finally, enjoy! It's a little challenging to enjoy swaying in a basket on top of the world's largest mammals. However, once you get the hang of the rhythmic jerking and overcome the five minutes of fear, it's a priceless experience. You ride through forests, through streams, past a field of marijuana, and think to yourself, I'm glad I'm actually giving this a shot.