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I rode an elephant in Lao. And I experienced it as a real learning experience.
Body and mind, I experienced what it meant to « let go ».
I feel that it is very common to speak about the importance of learning to let go.
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In my life, I had learned to try to control things – schedules & time, meetings, setting objectives and making sure they are reached…- rather than to let go.
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Since I decided to change the course of events, I am learning so much to let go. It is a real new attitude towards life.
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And riding an elephant was an amazing experience of the power of letting go.
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Lao is known as « The one million elephant country ».
Nowadays, there are much less than that. But still, in Luang Prabang, a traditional activity offered to visitors is visiting elephant farms and ride elephants.
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It is important to be careful about choosing the right place. Because in some elephant farms elephants are not treated well. In the Lonely Planet guide they provide great advice on that.
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Being in Luang Prabang for a little while, people would tell me about that. I must say I was not incredibly excited about it, but I decided to try.
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I wanted to experience what it was like to be close to such an imposing animal.
To ride an elephant.
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Tours offer what they call « Mahout training ».
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The Mahout is the person who takes care of elephants and rides them.
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A guide brings you to an elephant farm. There, the guide teaches you how to speak to an elephant : « to the right », « to the left », « go ahead », etc.
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So many new words. I thought : « I will never remember all this elephant language vocabulary and I will never be able to speak to the elephant !! » Huge issue, right ? 😉
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The farmer suggested to write the basic vocabulary on the skin of our forearm. Fabulous idea. And here I was, with a new ephemeral tattoo that was SO local. Haha !
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Until now, it was quite easy.
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And then, I climb on the back of the elephant.
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No shoes (what if I fall ?! I will twist my ankle !).
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There are 5 people around to help me – I realized it afterwards, on the pictures !
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I sit on the neck of the elephant. Each feet on one side of the elephant. Legs under the ears. Hands on the head.
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It is not that high. But I feel that I don’t have much control, right now.
I hope that the elephant will not become nervous or angry and decide to run and eject me from his back. I imagine that I could have an accident and think about my family.
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Fear, fear, fear… It makes me think of Mark Twain who wrote : « I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened ».
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An old Mahout man is sitting behind me. I am glad it is so, I feel reassured.
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I feel a bit of fear because I know that I have NO CONTROL at all.
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And in the same time I feel so happy and excited.
Happy because I made this gift to myself to live such an extraordinary experience. And indeed, I feel that it is magic to be sitting on the neck of an elephant along the Mekong river.
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Excited because I am so close to this animal, I have never experienced that. I feel that I am connecting to Nature. I feel that I am reversing the classic human/animal power relationship. I feel that I am so fragile and helpless while standing on the neck of this huge animal.
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I look at the elephant from my new point of view.
I touch its very thick skin. I notice the very thick hair on his head. I look at his ears and am so puzzled by their strange shape.
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It is as if I see an elephant for the first time.
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And here we go.
The Mahout, who is sitting behind me, shouts – not so loud, but still.
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I try to also speak to the elephant but with my normal voice, I don’t want to shout. So I don’t know if it really works.
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I let the Mahout behind me do the guiding.
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Because I need to focus on my balance !
We leave for a 1 hour walk.
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It is hard to find balance on the neck of the elephant. I only can grab the head of the elephant. I try very hard not to be shaken too much.
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When I see that we are entering a forest and will go uphill and downhill on a very irregular ground, I am thinking : « I will fall ! I can’t go further » !
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But then I think that I want to go further.
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I will learn a way to be more stable.
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And I experiment. I try different techniques.
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I want to trust. I choose to trust.
And quickly, I feel that I can let go and stop trying to counterbalance the movemements of the elephant.
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I follow the movements of the elephant. I go with the flow.
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And there is harmony and fluidity.
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It is not so easy all the time and sometimes I ask the Mahout behind to hold me. We go in a river, up a hill, there are holes in the ground and plants that scratch me…
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At one moment, the elephant stops and starts making strange noises… A few minutes later, we leave again.
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I let go, I go with the flow. I find a way. And it is magic.
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At other times I am too self-confident and almost fall. But each time I manage to react on time.
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I really felt that it was a metaphor of life.
About finding the right adjustment whatever happens.
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About choosing softness and fluidity instead of fighting or resisting.
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About accepting situations and transforming what appears as « going wrong » into a new opportunity.
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About choosing trust over fear.
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In a way, after a while, on the neck of this elephant, I felt like « dancing with the universe ».
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