Elephant logging

After declining a 4am eegg and rice breakfast, we spent four hours on a very very very dusty road heading into jungle.

Arriving at the elephant camp, the mahouts had lost their elephants, so there was a wait of an hour while they found them, giving Tom a chance to show the locals our photos from home. When they eventually found the elephants, the ride was anything but comfortable, as the nellies mounted steep hills, and lumbered through bogs.

After about an hour of holding on for dear life, we jumped off and the Mahouts took the nellies up the hill to push down two immense logs (trees really). The mahouts then hack off the end of the log and make a hole with a machete (health and safety not of paramount importance here). The logs are attached to the elephants with chains, and off they go. Or so we imagined. In reality the work is not easy, and the elephants really struggle to pull such a heavy load. It’s actually not that nice to watch as they struggle over obstacles of trees that would be easily moved to aid the process.

Everyone is working illegally. The government pays the mahouts for six months of the year, and the other six is for the elephants to rest. In reality, this is when they make the most money selling the logs on the side for $50 a piece.

Had we known all this in advance, would we have gone? I’m not sure. I’m glad we saw it – a very real experience of Myanmar, but not an endearing image to take away.