Five years ago, when I was in Cambodia with Christopher Capuzzi (British, illiterate), and Danielle Petrilli (charming, good trip planner), I threw a bit of a hissy fit when they denied me my wish to climb a mountain on an elephant. Fearing the wrath of a Grumpy Gart, they quickly reversed course, and we rode the elephant. However, the truth is that the ride was pretty lame and tame.
Today was different.
Today, this happened:
That's me handfeeding a baby elephant, named Pacman
And this:
That's me and my pal, Pacman.
Pacman liked Erica too. So much that it made me make my first gif!
Then we met Big Joe, our elephant carrier. Erica and him got a little too intimate.
Erica and I then climbed aboard and rode the elephant through the jungle. This was awesome, exciting, and bumpy. We had a guide who sat on the elephants head while we sat on his back like Kings of Siam or western colonists. But then things got wild: the guide asked whether I would like to sit on the elephants head while it walked. I hesitated but then exclaimed, "Yes sir! I've never wanted anything more in all my days." The guide then leaped right off the elephant head and asked me to slide on down. So I did
There were a lot of cool events after this, and I tried out all my best poses.
The head scratcher.
The victory.
Downward facing elephant.
The Royal Wave
Swinging an imaginary lasso.
Along the way, our elephants got thirsty and hungry, so we stopped off at a watering hole and fed them some bananas.
That last shot--handfeeding an elephant while riding on its head--is pretty nuts. Let's also see it in video form.
And here's that shot from another angle.
Next, Erica and I switched places.
Unfortunately, most of the good pictures of Erica riding were not taken on the iPhone, so I can't share them yet. [editor: OR CAN I!]
Erica was a true natural riding Big Joe, second only to the Elephant Whisperer, David Gartenberg.
Look, ma, no hands!
Twins.
And here is Erica with Pacman. Btw, Pacman is a pseudonym that I made up. Anyone get the joke?
Lastly, here's another pretty funny video that captures the Elephant Experience:
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