Playing With Elephants

I feel bad you guys. Not only do I keep beginning blog posts with apologies for my tardy posts but I actually have reason to make those apologies. Hopefully this will be the last time this happens.

So. I promised at least two blog posts from my nine day adventure. Therefore, this is part one in a two part series detailing the trip. I don't even know how I can even convey the sheer epicness of this trip. Because trust me, it was epic.

Side note, I promise the other interns and I aren't just on vacation here in Cambodia... we actually have internships. Internships we spend a lot of time at. This recent trip was actually scheduled for the very end of our three months here but visa issues forced us to leave the country sooner than later. We had a real reason for an excursion; we just capitalized on it. So shoot us.

Our first stop was a small town in the Cambodian province of Mondulkiri. I'm pretty sure it's like in the northeast part of Cambodia but, honestly, I'm too lazy to look at a map right now. But if you're burning to know exactly where it is I point you in the direction of Google. Anyways, after a four hour bus ride, we arrived our little resort type thing called the Nature Log. I was also greeted by this little bungalow just for me.

Aside from the brief battle I had with some fire ants that were under the covers, it was quite a comfy little place. I approved. 

We spent the evening in the Nature Lodge's restaurant eating yummy food (I had an incredible coconut shake and a tasty veggie burger with fries in case you were wondering) and then spent some time playing cards by candlelight since the power decided to go out. 

I believe that I share this sentiment with several of the interns, but ever since I was little I've had a dream that someday I could be like Mowgli in The Jungle Book and ride an elephant or two. I think it's something that MOST children in fact at some point wish they could do. It's kind of romantic in a way; trekking through some unknown jungle with only a giant grey creature as your companion. 

I'm sure you all guess this from the post title but I got to fulfull that childhood dream! After waking up fairly early after the first night in Mondulkiri, a car picked us up at the Lodge and brought us to a small village about twenty minutes away. But before we got to meet our elephant friends, we got a chance to hike through some Cambodian jungle. Here are some pictures.

Deforestation is a HUGE problem in Cambodia. I've heard about it a lot but I actually got to see it firsthand. It was pretty sobering.

Mud. It was pretty much a trend on the whole trip. Dat butt tho... haha jk.

Once we reached our destination, we had to wait for the villagers to finish bringing the elephants so we decided to go see a waterfall nearby. It was a tad treacherous hiking down a brief steep slope to get there but ho' boy was it worth it.

You guys. I have the best faces. I can confidently say the only other person who can rival me in epic picture faces is my dear Kaitie Woodmansee.

And then we climbed up the hill and were met by these pretty faces.

Well hello there Ms. Elephant. My name is Dustin, what's yours?

And then we got on. Kelsey and I got to ride the crazy Mr. Elephant first. Apparently he didn't play nicely with others.

Off to the races!

#elephantselfie

Mr. Elephant would stop all the time to rip off tree branches and bamboo shoots to have as a snack. It was actually quite fascinating watching him do his thing. If I had a trunk, I'd randomly walk up to trees and rip off branches too; it just makes sense.

Kelsey decided to whip out her iPhone and play some jungle music while we journeyed. Definite epic movie montage moment.

Okay. I don't mean to shatter anyone's dreams or anything but riding an elephant is not nearly as glamorous as you might think. I mean, I guess if you get to ride on a cusion or a basket while on top it could be leagues more enjoyable, but we were priviledged enough to go full Mowgli style and ride bareback. Ho'magosh I stretched muscles I don't think guys are ever allow to stretch. And when you're sitting like that for almost two hours, it hurts. A lot. Since I had knee surgery and my knees were in an awkward position for a long period of time, they hurt tremendously. I have no shame in saying I had to bow out a bit early and walk the rest of the way to our destination. It's okay. I gotta have some alone time before the rest of the gang showed up.

After everyone else showed up and we ate lunch we decided to do some cliff jumping.

Again with the face. Eat your heart out Kaitie.

Who needs the Real Housewives of Orange County when you have the Real Interns of Cambodia?

To make things even better, we got to swim with and bathe our elephant friends!

Oof, so much grace on my part.

Our elephant friends were kind enough to drop a deuce in the water while we were bathing them. Apparently it was quite the site from above to see some of us swimming with the elephants and then freaking out when fifteen or so elephant gifts started popping up in the water. Good times.

We still loved them though.

Afterwards, we got to elephant ride/hike back to the village and got to be in a Cambodian jungle when the weather decided to rain. It's okay. I got to get this awesome picture taken.

We then had to say goodbye to our elephant friends and head back to Lodge. We all took good and long hot showers, ate yummy food, and promptly went to bed. Riding elephants was exhausing.

To wrap up our trip while still in Cambodia, we left the morning after the elephants to a city called Kratie (pronounced Kra-chaa) and got to stay at this cool little house.

What made this place exceptionally cool was the fact that it was it's own little NGO. High school and college students run this house and its restaurant to learn business and hospitality skills. They can also take classes at its school about other useful skills such as gardening. As a international development it was a neat experience to see and contribute to a small NGO making a real difference in the lives of young people.

We then decided to keep up with the wildlife theme and go see some endangered dolphins that live in the Mekong River.

The dolphins never came near the boat, and they really would only come in and out of the water very briefly, but it was still cool to see them. I mean, they are endangered and all. No wonder they were so scared of humans. I also loved to just sit and enjoy the beauty of the Mekong River just after a big storm had rolled past. It was a pretty serene experience.

Well that about does it for this post. I hope to post soon about my adventure in Laos. In the meantime though, I'm still trying to figure out how to bring an elephant home with me on the plane. I'm sure one of them could stay in my backyard. Right, Mom?

Until next time.