A Mahout for a day
Set in a bamboo forest, the Anantara Golden
Triangle Resort looks down over a jungle
canopy into the Mekong River and the green
hills of Laos. It is also home to 24 rescued
elephants that live with their mahouts - keepers
and trainers who look after their elephant for
the rest of the animals’ lives. Guests at the
resort are encouraged to undertake a unique
three-day mahout training programme to learn
more about these amazing animals. I decided
to give it a go.
"Okay, you can go up now," says the trainer.
Instinctively, I look around for a ladder that
would ease my climb, but Ploom, my sevenyear-old giant friend immediately crouches low
enough for me to climb, quite clumsily, on.
Perched high on Ploom's neck, it seems a long
way down. I place my hands on Ploom’s head
to steady myself and press my knees together
behind his ears to get a better grip. Now my
next task is to learn how to control the elephant
and not worry too much about falling off.
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