11. I rode an elephant in Thailand!!!
Good evening, it's Liz! \(^o^)／
Even though I said I'd update in two or three days,
quite a few days have passed... (－_－；)
Since last time,Safari WorldI've been writing about when I went there.
If you want to read from the beginning,click here
Today, I'll talk aboutriding an elephant in Thailand!I've wanted to ride an elephant for a long time.
So I'm glad my wish finally came true♪
Before going to Thailand,
I told everyone I was going to Thailand,
and quite a few people said,
"Oh, I've been to Thailand too!"
Unless they've never left Japan,
pretty much everyone has been to Thailand (based on my personal research).
Among them,
"I rode an elephant!"
people who said that,
almost 100%(based on my personal research),
almost everyone has ridden one.
See, now you want to ride an elephant too, don't you? (￣▽￣)
Ireally wanted to ride an elephant,
so I researched it like crazy.
I researched, and researched, and researched some more,
and rode an elephant at Safari World.For information about Safari World,
click hereWhether you've never ridden an elephant before,
or you have,
if you're going to Thailand,
I highly recommend the elephant ride at Safari World!!!!!
The elephant ride at Safari World allows you to
ride the elephant directly!!!!!!!!
Huh?Directly?
If you've never ridden one, I think it might be hard to imagine, but
elephant rides in Thailand usually have
achairon top of the elephant like this,
and you sit in that chair to ride.
Being up on this chair is apparently
super scary,and since I have
acrophobia,I was hesitant, thinking it might be impossible...but I thought, since I'm here, I might as well ride in the chair!
However, when I actually got to Safari World,
I was glad to find out I could ride directly!
Riding directly is more stable,
so it's less scary than a chair!
Probably!
Also, since you're riding directly,
you can touch the elephant's skin.I thought, oh, so this is what elephant skin feels like...
Also, you can feel the
vibrations of it moving,so it really feels like
it's moving!It seems children can ride if they are with an adult.A child who looked like a first grader or maybe a bit younger
was riding with their father.
I'm not sure if you have to pay for two people or not.
The path I took to be able to ride an elephant
Researched various tours because I wanted to ride an elephant
↓
Couldn't find a good tour and was at a loss
↓
Safari World is a zoo, so I held out hope that maybe I could ride one there!?
↓
Asked if I could ride an elephant before booking on KLOOK,
but was told, "That's something only the tour company would know."
↓
After booking, I asked the tour company,
and was told, "It's not on the schedule, soconsult with the guide on the day of."Later, they said, "It looks like you can ride, but make sure to have money ready."
↓
Consulted with the guide on the day of, and my wish came true \(^o^)／
It was quite a long journey (－_－；)
On the day, it took about an hour to get from the hotel to Safari World,
so I told them first thing that I wanted to ride an elephant.
Then, the guide said,
Guide: "Riding an elephant costs3000 baht."
Th-th-th-three thousand baht!?
3000 baht is 12,000 yen!!??(As of February 2024)
That's so expensiiiiiiiiive!!!!!!
Me: "What should I do... 3000 baht is..."
Mom: "...It's expensive, but you've been saying you wanted to ride one forever, so
just you, Liz, go ahead and ride."
Me: "...Yeah... I guess so."
That's what we said, but once we arrived at the site,
perhaps because they thought our reaction was strange, the guide sent us a photo.
Wait, it's 300 baht?!?!
(Just a simple misunderstanding)
Everyone, please rest assured \(^o^)/
It's 300 baht! (As of February 2024)
Oh, but it is separate from the admission fee. You can also feed the elephants, but that is an extra charge. If you just want to touch them or take photos, there is no fee.
Even if you don't ride,
you can take photos from this close♡
Hearing it was 300 baht, my mom said, "Well then, I'll ride too!"
Even though she kept saying she wouldn't ride... ( -_-; )
My mom has bad knees, so she said
riding an elephant with a chair-type saddle
would be absolutely impossible, but Safari World lets you ride directly, and like this↓
the elephant pulls up close, so she said, "I think I can ride this!" and
she rode it. After all, what we thought was 3000 baht was actually 300 baht 😆
Safari World elephant riding system
Watch the elephant show ↓ After it ends, give the money to the
guy near the stairs near the stage (cash only) ↓ Receive a paper ticket
in exchange for the money ↓ Line up at the stairs ↓ When it's your turn, hand over the ticket ↓ Ride the elephant. A word of caution for everyone here! Since it's a zoo, I think many people go in groups of two or more, but when riding the elephant, it's better not to ride one after another. This is because while you are riding,
you can't take photos!!!!!!
Some people were letting go of their hands, but I was scared I would fall off, so it was
absolutely impossible
for me. If you are
someone who wants to capture good photos or videos of yourself riding
, you must line up one by one
. Elephant riding is popular, so the line won't disappear immediately. We asked our guide to take photos and lined up together. Since adults can only ride one by one, I rode first, but honestly, the guide wasn't very good at taking photos...
Well, they aren't a professional photographer, so it can't be helped... (T_T) Actually, they
took good photos and videos of my mom who rode after me, but I didn't have any photos from straight on, and I didn't have any videos either... ( -_-; ) It can't be helped, though... So, if you want to keep photos or videos, make sure to take them yourselves! It might be fine if you have a guide who is good at taking photos and videos
based on your interactions up to that point, but I think it's safer to take them yourselves. Even if you fail,
if you took them yourself, you can accept it
! However, having a guide take photos for you might be difficult unless it's a private tour, so you need to check. In the first place, if it's not a private tour, you might have to wait in line to ride the elephant, so it might be difficult time-wise.
Also, I don't know if elephant riding is
only after the show or if it's available
at times other than the show. However, the elephant show was fun \(^o^)/, so personally, I recommend
watching the show and then riding the elephant
♪
If you go to Thailand, please try riding an elephant♪
I kept shouting, "
I'm falling----! " (Is that why I didn't have any good photos?) You can't ride them in Japan, and after all, it was fun to be able to ride, so I'm really glad I did. For information about the Safari World tour and points to note, please refer to my
previous note
♪ In the next note, I'll write a report on how I went around Safari World! I'd be happy if you came back to see it♪ Finally, I'll write a little about the content of the elephant show. If you say, "I don't want to know the content in advance!", please don't look below the ★
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Warning: Elephant show spoilers ahead
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About five elephants appear in the elephant show♪
First, five elephants appear with their tails and trunks connected.
This is so cute!!!!!!
(I am sending this without images so you can imagine it for yourself.)
Also, they ride on the backs of the elephants in front of them,
and they put hula hoops on their trunks.
Then, two elephants have a soccer match,
and one elephant draws a picture with its trunk.
(From my position, I could only see their backsides, though...)
The illustrations drawn with their trunks were being sold for 1,000 baht.
I have seen many shows, but
the elephant show is fun and I recommend it♪
It is extremely hot, so be sure to take thorough measures against the heat!