Travellers the world over are constantly on the lookout for something ‘new’; something ‘different’. The seasoned amongst us will have been bored with the beaten track of our chosen destinations long ago and ever since have spent countless days searching for that one experience that nobody can relate to. Experiences that, once home, will stand out in a crowded environment of common tales.

Spend the time to read the blogs of your average traveller. No doubt amazing, no doubt fun and no doubt fulfilling but all too often not unique. I would count myself amongst these searchers and have been fortunate enough to find some very ‘different’ experiences, of which my recent conservation work with elephants in Thailand is one.

The day after a thoroughly Thai welcome into the country (i.e. a night of plenty of food and smiles from the i-to-i team!) we made the very visible transition from modern city life to traditional rural living as we headed east out of Bangkok towards Surin. Concrete skyscrapers and daring taxi drivers were replaced by never-ending rice fields bordered by empty roads. As if stepping into a time warp we had suddenly re-entered the country 50 years previous and the so began our unique cultural adventure in our elephant village.

In the ensuing days we were quickly dunked into village life, working and living alongside our Mahouts (elephant owners) and what would be perceived as a surreal sight back at home soon became part of daily life. On waking on a morning at the Mahouts family home we would wander down to breakfast, bleary eyed, sharing morning conversation with our new family only to have to take a detour around the end of the driveway, not because of a car blocking our way but due to a fully grown elephant munching through a few hundred kilos of grass for his breakfast.

Just as this became normal so did the daily tasks of helping to look after our new found, if slightly oversized, friends. Sweeping, cutting, planting and harvesting in a sweltering heat soon made us appreciate the lunch breaks as well as provide us with the satisfaction of making a real difference to both the lives of the elephants and the Mahouts. Levels of appreciation for meal times were heightened further due to the spectacularly delicious Thai meals cooked up for us by our adopted “mum” who was only to happy to show us the secrets of her success.

Magical as all this sounds, everything I did at the project and probably everything I did in my whole time travelling the rest of the country, was totally eclipsed by the final task of each day; elephant bath time! After mastering the art of mounting an elephant and learning to sit in the least uncomfortable position on his neck, we would gently wander through the village streets and out into open countryside before walking straight into a lake where our elephant would roll over, spray water and hide under the surface whilst we washed behind his ears and legs.

With the sun in the late stages of setting the walk back home to the village will always be the first thing memory that springs to mind when I think of Thailand. Even more vivid a memory comes from a moment between my elephant and the Mahout owner. On one lazy walk back from the lake, with the sunset as a backdrop forcing the rice fields to shimmer and highlight all the greens of the landscape, my Mahout spent time to whisper and nuzzle with his elephant displaying the true bond and understanding between man and the gentle and beautiful beast.

As we drove away from the village, due for Bangkok, I thought back to that moment between the two. The picture spoke a thousand words and cemented the knowledge that I had just experienced something very unique. I, alongside the handful of fantastic new friends I had made, knew we had found that of which travellers look for; the ‘real’ part of a country, the ‘real’ people; the ‘real’ experience.

Coming back to Bangkok’s busy tourist streets was only tinged with excitement and as I stood at the end of Ko San Road, the lights of Burger King and Subway illuminating the night, I found myself beyond content that I had found a part of the country that the vast majority of the hundreds of backpackers roaming the streets had not. I hope that by sharing this tale of my experience I can encourage travellers, new and old, to take a walk off the beaten track, take a risk and discover their own ‘something different’.

• Thailand
• volunteering
• conservation
• elephants
• Surin
• animals