There are certain small but surreal events that occur when traveling through countries for the first time that are very hard to explain at a later juncture; moreover, it's particularly difficult to contextualise regarding my frame of mind and hence avoid the "you had to be there" scenario, nevertheless I'll give this a go.
It had been a long journey north from Ko Phi Phi earlier that day; three flights, various taxi rides interspersed between each stopover, all taking me to my final destination, The Ramming Lodge in Chiang Mai. The hotel was very nice, which is a rather bland term, but it was just that, clean and nice. In fact, it was more boutique than hotel and for £20 a night, a real steal. I retired to my room for an hour or so, finger punched the remote control and before I knew it found myself immersed in a light hearted, soppy film on HBO. Life was altogether 'normal' and my surroundings felt comfortable and familiar.
I decided to take a stroll; hunger was getting the better of me (again). I gravitated towards the local street vendor outside the lodge and tucked into some Banana Rottee and raisins, thats a fatty pancake cooked in oil and butter to you and me. Nothing out of the ordinary, just your regular tourist street scene, internet cafes hogging both sides of the street, music blaring out of the bars further on down, coupled with the notorious and gracious calling of the Thai bar girls "hello...welcome,welcome!", the cooing just faintly brushing past my ears as I rolled on down the street. This was like most tourist hangouts I'd seen in Thailand and so I decided to do a quick tour of the surrounding blocks to get my bearings for the next day whilst contemplating grabbing a quick beer and game of pool on the way back.
Head down, focused on spearing each carefully squared slice of banana Rottee with my makeshift spoon come toothpick, my attention was suddenly drawn to a heavy figure just to my left; a quick look up was to reveal a sight that both surprised and delighted me, an elephant of about 6 foot in stature standing in the middle of an alleyway. My immediate reaction was to burst out laughing; we were in the middle of Chiang Mai city, I had an internet cafe to my left full of travellers furiously typing away emails, whilst to my right a row of retail stores, and yet there stood this elephant, for all the world as if it actually belonged in the alleyway and it was I that had intruded. There were a group of people standing around the elephant chatting away in a manner that suggested the elephant far from being the main attraction was actually just one of the gang, hanging out and catching up on gossip...and then before I had time to shoot more photos, the group said there goodbyes and dispersed. I could have sworn I saw nelly give a considered wave of the trunk as he sauntered off.
I later discovered whilst in conversation on a flight to Laos, that the elephant is infact something of a icon in Chiang Mai. Moreover it can be regularly seen wandering around the city with its Thai owners. I was also informed the cheeky fella has a flashing light hanging from his rear end, one can only assume this was not of his choosing but instead intended to give moped traffic fair warning when looking to dodge and weave through the streets of Chang Mai at great speed.
Hey Jason or should I say Indiana.
Nice travelogue and good writing! You look like some intrepid investigative reporter in your photo.
Besheer
Posted by: Besheer Abdalla | December 04, 2007 at 03:25 PM