11/7/98: Went on a jungle safari today, with a diverse bunch: a lone Japanese woman, a couple from Belgium, a honeymooning couple from London, and us… The Thai tour guide was hilariously speaking English in the most broken or inappropriate ways, it might have been accidental, but I think it was part of his routine to keep the tourists amused… The tour included a ride through the jungle on an elephant. I was ethically conflicted from the beginning of the ride, because it seems exploitative to me. My conscience was confirmed during the ride, when I witnessed the handler “steering” the elephant we were riding by striking it so hard on the skull with the spike end of a prod that it broke skin and lodged in the bone. I was so angry I was tempted to throw the man off of the elephant… And yet I am the privileged American tourist paying for the ride, so how absurd would it look to any of the Thai people for me to criticize them for how they make a living… I did report the incident to the tour company where we bought the tickets, but I regret participating and won’t be doing that ever again… We also got to hike through the jungle with brief stops in villages populated by Hmong and Karin peoples, who were warm and friendly… After a dip in the plunge pool under a jungle waterfall, we also got to travel downriver back to the bus by way of bamboo raft, which local guides made on the spot… Floating down stream with lush foliage all around was lovely… They even let me take the pole to serve as a guide for a brief stretch of the journey…
NOTE: The photo above shows me crossing a jungle stream over a surprisingly sturdy bamboo bridge.
