Have howdahs, will travel (the long journey home)
Have you ever ridden an elephant? Not on the neck but in the box, the howdah or the yeng chang?
If you have you will probably have noticed a dirty little secret of my trade; ummmm, how to say?, well, errr.... it is not actually that comfortable.
My record days must have been at Tiger Tops, in the 1000 square kilometers of Chitwan National Park, I have memories of long, hot days out in the thick grassland on the rhino counts, or tracking down a snared rhino for the vets or, my personal favourite, tracking down one of the Government's domestic eles that had eloped with a wild bull; later named Romeo he was to become father to Nepal's most successful breeding programme (in the time honoured fashion of letting your young ladies loose in the forest and attracting the interest of the wild bulls) but at that point he was young and caddish, disappeared as soon as we turned up on the scene.
One of my missions, since I arrived in Thailand, has been to find some yeng chang (the local name) that would not only look nice but be comfortable - we've imported one from Nepal (Thai mahouts, understandably, were not keen on foreign technology), we've had them made by carpenters (mmmm... beautiful yes, but comfortable? No). Just when I had given up hope and had become resigned the fact that yeng chang making was a lost art and that we would have to use the modern, standard issue Thai welded metal basket on a piece of old carpet I went to Laos, saw and travelled in the local version...
...mmmm... bliss, I ordered four and sent the cash to the Hong Sa Howdah maker, gave me a great excuse to return for the festival, but how to get them home?
...well, it took an effort I can tell you! Travelling with some outsized packages - but perhaps the less said about the next slide the better, taken by a passing friend as I sat on the beach at the Thai side waiting for customs to decide whether they were furniture or wood - as furniture carries more duty perhaps my pose was not the best (but it does demonstrate the comfort of the thing).
Well it had been a hard week of ele-festivalling!
PS. In the end we compromised and decided they were halfway between wood and furniture - just so you know.
If you have you will probably have noticed a dirty little secret of my trade; ummmm, how to say?, well, errr.... it is not actually that comfortable.
My record days must have been at Tiger Tops, in the 1000 square kilometers of Chitwan National Park, I have memories of long, hot days out in the thick grassland on the rhino counts, or tracking down a snared rhino for the vets or, my personal favourite, tracking down one of the Government's domestic eles that had eloped with a wild bull; later named Romeo he was to become father to Nepal's most successful breeding programme (in the time honoured fashion of letting your young ladies loose in the forest and attracting the interest of the wild bulls) but at that point he was young and caddish, disappeared as soon as we turned up on the scene.
One of my missions, since I arrived in Thailand, has been to find some yeng chang (the local name) that would not only look nice but be comfortable - we've imported one from Nepal (Thai mahouts, understandably, were not keen on foreign technology), we've had them made by carpenters (mmmm... beautiful yes, but comfortable? No). Just when I had given up hope and had become resigned the fact that yeng chang making was a lost art and that we would have to use the modern, standard issue Thai welded metal basket on a piece of old carpet I went to Laos, saw and travelled in the local version...
...mmmm... bliss, I ordered four and sent the cash to the Hong Sa Howdah maker, gave me a great excuse to return for the festival, but how to get them home?
...well, it took an effort I can tell you! Travelling with some outsized packages - but perhaps the less said about the next slide the better, taken by a passing friend as I sat on the beach at the Thai side waiting for customs to decide whether they were furniture or wood - as furniture carries more duty perhaps my pose was not the best (but it does demonstrate the comfort of the thing).
Well it had been a hard week of ele-festivalling!
PS. In the end we compromised and decided they were halfway between wood and furniture - just so you know.
Posted by John Roberts at Fri, 23 Feb 2007 07:45:00 GMT 
Categories: Golden Triangle Elephants, Regional Elephants
Categories: Golden Triangle Elephants, Regional Elephants
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