elephant camp

on one of our last days in myanmar

we decided to rent a scooter and go see an elephant camp.

i had been very excited to see some elephants 

ever since we landed on the other side of the plant

and couldn't wait to see a whole camp of them.

we showed up and there was a building full of burmese men

who told us to wait and the elephants would come to us.

we waited for a bit and finally saw the head of a giant magnificent animal

heading over a nearby hill.

the elephant came right up to us!

i was surprised at it's size

yet how gentle it was as we got close and said hello.

we spent some time getting comfortable

with the elephant and finally i felt eager to see more,

specifically a BABY elephant!

we asked the building of men if there were more elephants

and they said yes.

if we spent $10 and went on an elephant ride

we would get to see more elephants. 

so we agreed and watched nervously 

as the men strapped a small wooden seat to the top of the elephant 

and motioned for us to get on.

the elephant walked us slowly through the forest

and at one point even took us through a nearby river.

it was an extremely uncomfortable ride

but on the other hand it was incredible to see the power and 

precision of this great animal up close.

the ride took about an hour

and never once did we see another elephant.

we started getting the feeling that maybe there were no other elephants

and i think we were right because after an hour the elephant

brought us back to the building of burmese men 

who accepted our money and suddenly spoke

no english when we inquired again about seeing additional elephants...

-e