Continuing the Wild Goose Chase

After having failed miserably at finding anything about elephants on my first day in Ban Don, I headed out to the area for a second time, but still with not enough information about how to actually find a place that looks after elephants as though they are dignified, wild animals that should be rather free of human interference and in environments suited to their size. Of course, if I really found such a place, it would be unlikely that I would see any elephants because they would be out roaming in their habitat, acting like elephants. They wouldn't be in town shopping for grass or sitting in the local pub. But I did really want to know that elephants sent up here to live out the later years of their lives were actually treated well.

So I hopped on the bus and headed out for a second time to the Ban Don area, in particular looking for the Yok Don National Park. I had seen a sign alerting people to the presence of the park on the road the previous day, so I figured I would get off there and have a go. This was a typical sort of thing that I might do, actually. I get a hare-brained kind of idea and figure that in a countryside where I can't speak much of the language and I have no expectation of the people I meet being able to speak my language, with thousands of square kilometers of space around, I can just hop off a bus and wander around in the expectation that I will find exactly what I'm looking for. And yet, when I enact those sort of half-baked plans, things tend to turn out quite well. And often, I DO find what I'm looking for. I don't exactly know how it works that way, but it seems to.

As we passed the spot with the sign, I got off the bus. I don't know how I would have managed it if someone else hadn't been getting off at the same place, but I'm sure it would have been possible to pull the foolish visitor card and gone, “Oh, Yok Don, can I get off here?”, making some kind of flap about it and getting let off without too much consternation directed my way.

The sign pointed down a side road and it suggested that the park was 900 meters away. Tra-la-la la-la, I headed down the road. I passed by a number of shacks and houses and over a river. I thought I had gone quite a bit farther than 900 meters though. I was just on the point of giving up and abandoning my quest, when I found the spot advertised on the sign. Now... Was it what I was really looking for?

I went to the entrance and there was a ticket area. And then it seemed to be much like the village of Ban Don, except much smaller. And there were no elephants, not even waiting for eager tourists. But there were a bunch of other visitors to the spot. That was more promising. Other visitors is a good sign.

This very small community was also sitting right at the edge of the river, which was really raging this day. I guess there had been a lot of rain the previous night. There was also a little collection of rope and bamboo bridges, but much less extensive than in the village of the previous day.

The river at this point was also quite large.

Then I went and investigated the very small village. There were little huts, where I presumed people live, but they didn't look lived in.

And then I found something interesting. Under a shelter, there were two of what looked to be elephant graves. Perhaps I was on to something. If I had found a place where they loved elephants enough to bury them with seeming honour, could this be something of a sanctuary place for old elephants?

And then the rain started. I went to the restaurant to wait it out, and get some lunch. In the restaurant, I was served by a woman who also talked to me a bit. I asked her if there were elephants around, and she said, “No. Sorry.” This was not abruptness on her part. Her English just wasn't strong. She waved that they were off in the jungle. Another good sign. Then a man who seemed to be kind of in charge of the operation of this area came up to me and he asked me what I thought. I asked him also about the elephants. He told me there were four that were attached to this place, but they were off on a trek and would be back around five o'clock. I said that was too bad. I also asked him how they were treated. He told me that during the day the elephants were in the village, but at night they would be off in the jungle across the river.

So it seemed that I would not be seeing any elephants, but I was more comfortable that elephants brought here for retirement were actually finding a reasonable life. Then Huong the waitress came back and talked to me some more. I asked her about Yok Don National Park. She told me it was vast and extended into Cambodia. I had read that there were lots of protected animals in the park, among them the elephants as well as tigers and a couple of other animals. I asked her about the huts in the village here. She told me that visitors can stay in them. She asked if I was going to stay. I would have, but my stuff was all back in Buon Ma Thuot. When I explained that I would have to go and get my stuff and then come back, we both agreed that that would take a long time and I would be too tired. But it would have been a fun thing to do, I think.

I learned about some of the culture as well. I learned they live communally there. They do live in houses like those in which visitors can stay. But it seemed this family or group lived in the structure above the restaurant. Across from the restaurant was a long house. Inside they have ceremonies and there were lots of instruments that are played during the ceremonies. I also learned about how to tell if a woman in the group is single or married. During the working day, all the people wear traditional-ish clothing. This includes a sarong-like skirt. If a woman is single the ties for fastening the sarong are visible. If the woman is married, the ties are hidden, tucked inside. The culture there also seems to be matriarchal, but I couldn't figure out how to frame the questions so that she would know what I was talking about, so I don't know for sure. But the things I saw suggested that women are very important in much of what happens in how they celebrate and make various offerings or gestures to the gods.

Then Huong told me about the long house just opposite. She told me there was music inside and I should go and see it. I asked her when. She said it was all the time. Then she took me to show me. First we climbed up a little ladder to get inside. There was actually a little set of stairs on the side, but she took me up this ladder. She called it “Mama”. There were two breast-like things on it. She grabbed them to steady herself as she went up the ladder. When I didn't do the same, she got a bit annoyed and made me do it properly. Hmmm...

Inside she showed me drums and dugout canoes and some gongs. At the end there was an old man who played some interesting musical instruments made of bamboo. I didn't think to take any photos though. Oops. But there was a horn that looked like bagpipes. And a xylophone thing as well.

Next she took me up to see the elephants' graves again. She explained that they had died and they had buried them because they were like the community's family.

Then we went back out to the restaurant, where I said good-bye to Huong. I also got her to take a photo with me. But as I was preparing to leave, the man who had talked to me earlier, Tru, told me to wait. There was an elephant coming in twenty minutes. I wasn't sure if he had called an elephant to come just for me, but I didn't want to be rude and leave, so I stayed. Sure enough, an elephant trundled in from the road a short time later. I went out to look at it. And then Tru asked me if I wanted to go for a ride. I inquired about the price which wasn't too bad. And then I thought about it. This place seemed to care for their elephants. I could hope that the money raised by giving rides to tourists is used to benefit the elephants and help with their care. It seemed likely, and so I decided that I would go for a ride. The elephant was saddled up, but seemed a bit ornery and so it took a little while. There was also a couple of bouts of rain in between and it all took a little over an hour before the elephant was ready to go. In the meantime, I talked with Huong some more. And then I asked her if she was going on the elephant with me. I had thought it was just a way to chat, and I was surprised when she said she would come. That was nice. Unfortunately, soon after we boarded the elephant, it began to rain. Heavily. I was not able to get a photo of us on the elephant as a result, but I did get a few of the elephant browsing through the vegetation to get something to eat.

And of some of the scenery.

And proof that Huong came with me.

After the elephant ride, I was going to go and catch the bus back to town. But Huong stopped me and told me that Tru would take me back to town in his car. I was a bit leery of that and how much it might cost, but it had started raining again, and I had no umbrella, so I was a bit stuck. I accepted. And he took me right to my hotel. And he didn't charge me a thing. That was a pleasant surprise.

So I had seen something of the fate of retired elephants and elephants rescued from bad situations. And I had met some nice people in an ethnic village in the central highlands of Vietnam. This little side adventure had been quite successful.