Travel & conservation writer, Lauren Jarvis, travelled to Thailand with us to experience our ethical elephant encounters with her friend, Ruby, in tow. Here’s her travel story about how this ETG adventure created new bonding memories for them—while their shared smiles and silliness, reminiscent of their schooldays in Streatham, remain as strong as ever.
We follow our guide, Choo, through the lush cloud forest of Northern Thailand, the hum of insects filling the air, as the bells from a golden temple drift down from a distant peak above. Stopping on a steep mountain slope tangled with vines, Choo calmly motions for us to stop and be quiet, as we’re getting close to the animals we’ve come to seek: Asian elephants.
I’m on a four-day Mountain Adventure with the non-profit Mahouts Elephant Foundation, which works in partnership with Thailand’s indigenous Karen hill tribes to develop community-based tourism models for observation-only elephant encounters. The projects enable elephants to live naturally in large areas of protected forest, while tourists watch from a safe and respectful distance with local mahout guides: elephant carers, responsible for tending to the needs of domesticated elephants.
I’m travelling with my friend of more than 40 years, Ruby. With her daughter headed off to university, I’ve stolen Ruby away for an epic ETG trip: one of only a handful of holidays she’s taken without her daughter, while juggling her demanding job as a dentist and being a mum. On the road together for three weeks, we wonder if the close bond we’ve shared since we were eleven will stay strong. Or would we be the kind of friends who are like sisters in the familiar world of home, but who discover irritating irks and unknown quirks when faced with being together 24/7 in a far-away land? And after all our years of phone chats, nights out in London, countryside walks and (a lot of) birthday celebrations, would we even have anything left to talk about?
Far away from the restaurants of Soho and rambles around Kent, we’re truly in the wild – up near the border of Myanmar in the heart of Thailand’s notorious Golden Triangle, where opium was once the trading commodity of choice, and wild monkeys, wild boar and barking deer roam the forest. Below us, a large female elephant and baby are crunching their way through the trees, eager to chow down the bamboo shoots, grasses, leaves, roots, bark, fruit and twigs, which they eat for up to 18 hours a day. It’s an amazing sight: no bars, walls, circus tricks or the sharp bull hooks that are used in many of Thailand’s elephant entertainment camps to control and manipulate these intelligent, sensitive animals. We are both in awe, but soon have the mahouts in stitches, as Ruby spots tiny, wriggling leaches worming their way into the top of her boots and fills the forest with shrieks of the human kind, as she frantically hops around in an effort to cast off the blood-sucking beasties. I help brush them off and peace is restored.
Did I know leaches were her “thing”? Did she know that sharks are mine? Neither phobia causes us much concern in South London, but come to the surface for Ruby in the jungle and later on the beach at The Tubkaak Boutique Resort in Krabi for me, as my friend wades fearlessly into the ocean and dives under the sea, while I follow cautiously, stopping when the waves reach my waist, and keeping my eye on the horizon for any sharky-style fins.
Back in the forest, unperturbed by the kerfuffle, the elephants start to wander our way, their probing trunks investigating the mahouts’ boots, caps and bags. Rescued from the tourism industry, seeking food from humans is a learned behaviour, and one that is now being lovingly discouraged by the Foundation, which is on a mission to see Thailand’s elephants living wild and free.
Guests on Mahouts’ Mountain Adventure have the option to stay with families in a traditional Karen village or at a private lodge, with meals taken in local homes, and the chance to learn traditional textile and basket weaving skills. Bookings support the Foundation, which is currently fundraising to save six more elephants from entering the tourism industry. Mahouts’ co-founder and CEO, Sarah Blaine, explains over a dinner of delicious vegetables and rice, prepared by a local family:
We work closely with the local community to offer visitors an authentic, immersive Thai experience which benefits people and elephants. The Karen people own more elephants than any other group in Thailand, and community-based tourism is a fantastic way to support them. Our hands-off, observational approach with the elephants ensures they can continue to live in the forest and express their natural behaviours.
On our three-week tailored trip with ETG, we have ethical elephant encounters with resorts and organisations like Mahouts, working hard to redefine how tourists interact with elephants, which have been rescued from the logging and entertainment industries. As Sam Clark, Co-Founder of Experience Travel Group, explains:
“In the past – and still seen in a few places around the country – very dubious practices involving elephants were carried out for profit, and supporting these poorly managed experiences could encourage more elephants to be mistreated, taken into captivity or used for breeding. But in recent years, the tourist demand for high-quality and ethical practices has driven an improvement in conditions at a majority of camps in Thailand.”
At Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort, an hour’s drive from Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand, we discover more exciting elephant adventures on the border with Laos and Myanmar. Overlooking the Mekong River, this spectacular mountain sanctuary is surrounded by a 160-acre bamboo forest and gardens, where we spend the morning roaming the forest trails with elephants rescued from the logging and entertainment industries. Here, the elephants are allowed to be fed bamboo, all under the watchful gaze of their mahouts, ensuring respectful encounters to keep the elephants stress-free and the guests safe.
While a spider dangling from a light fitting can freak out my friend, a 4,000 kilogram Asian elephant trundling up the road draws nothing from her but smiles, and the magic that lights up her face reminds me of the excitement of our first concert, eighteenth birthday parties, and driving for the first time after passing our tests. Later, we dine high in the sky with Anantara’s new Canopy Tree Top Dining Experience, the fanciest afternoon tea we’ve ever had in what’s easily the most spectacular location, overlooking Asia’s most iconic river: life, we decide, has turned out OK.
That night, like all besties, we choose to have a sleepover and stay in one of Anantara’s luxe Jungle Bubbles: transparent, domed en-suite bedrooms, with private decks. After eating an amazing Thai meal served by a personal butler, we watch two of the camp’s elephants settle down to sleep in the paddock a stone’s throw away, while we lounge in the private plunge pool under the stars.
We’re a long way from our school days in Streatham, but a week into the trip, we’re still talking, messing around and laughing as much as we did in the sixth form. And now we’re back home, the memories of Thailand are never far from our minds: the forest treks, golden temples and astounding elephants still enliven everyday conversations; the shared experiences strengthen our friendship even more, and inspire plans for the future.
If you’re considering a journey with a friend, my advice would always be, DO IT – the saying goes that elephants never forget, and your adventure will make memories you’ll remember forever, too.
Huge thanks to Lauren Jarvis for sharing her story with us. Lauren is a freelance travel & conservation writer and her work has been published in National Geographic, JRNY, Grazia, Selling Travel, The Independent, Breathe, Wanderlust & more. Follow her on Instagram.
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