Elephant Conversation Center Lampang

I arrived here yesterday in good hope to make a mahout-1day course. I've just stopped in front of the visitercenter as a tube crashed....half an hour later, bike repared, I noticed there was nobody here...office closed. ok - also restaurant was about to close doors, in addition rain made me mad. Not my day!
So I had to look out where I could stay for the night. There where some homestayplaces, nice intimate cottages and in good hope I knodded some doors to let me in.
Friendly thai people...one hour later I had a sleeping place and delicious diner!
Next day I was lucky and could take a reservation for a one day programm. So I am looking forward to what will happen!
I took a one day mahout training. We had to learn and practice orders and let elephants working for us. not easy, often I had to insist hardly that they followed my orders, like sit down or let us ride...go forwards or stop, go backwards and to to the left or right side. Great fun was to take a bath with the elephants. They enjoyed it very much to swim and sputtering around.
Happy that the mahout always was near and could insist if they seemed to be out of control.
Mahouts life is to live together with his elephant his whole life. an elephant can get over 60 years old. They have to take care and look after them carefully. It sounds like getting married.
In the elephant conversation center is the only elephant hospital in Thailand. They medicate elephants which were badly treaten and are suffering about walking in the streets of Bangkok or somwhere else.
This training was great fun, but i deinitly prefer to cycle!
Read more about the center: click link in the list.