24 July 2010
The road to Pai was long, windy, and bumpy. We went up and around the mountains passing herds of wild buffalo and cattle on the way. I was so excited about seeing Wassana again, I couldn’t even appreciate the breath-taking scenery or concentrate on the job at hand — all I cared about was Wassana.
When we arrived at the camp, Wassana was being loaded up with a chair and I watched in absolute horror as two well dressed, well spoken, and seemingly well educated tourists, clambered onto Wassana’s back. They were laughing and holding on to each other out of fear of falling out of the chair. Meanwhile, the mahout was directing Wassana with a hook that was longer than my leg. Wassana, gave me a long hard look and then turned to begin her trek up the mountain. It would be over an hour before she returned…
While she was gone, Anon and I negotiated with the owner. We went to the bank and then to the district office to finalize the documents needed to transport Wassana back to Sukhothai. We were both agitated, eager to get back to our girl, and take her away from that miserable life forever.
We were kept waiting for nearly an hour at the district office, only to be told that the only person with the authority to sign the transportation documents had the day off! We were told to come back on Monday….
With very heavy hearts, we drove back to the camp, and I spent the rest of the afternoon standing with Wassana and the other two females who share the tiny stable. Cars and motorbikes whizzed past. A few of them stopped to take pictures of the elephants and then went on their merry way. I had to take deep breaths and stay focussed on the fact it would just be a matter of a few more days until this would all be over for Wassana.
As it began to get dark, Anon encouraged me to say ‘see you later’ to the elephants and leave. It was tough leaving her behind and it felt so very wrong, but there was nothing we could do.
This morning we were making arrangements to travel all the way back to Pai on Sunday night, so that we would be at the district office first thing Monday morning. I glanced at the calender and had to do a double take — Monday 26th July 2010 — public holiday!!!!
It feels like we are having lots of stones thrown our way, unfairly delaying Wassana’s imminent arrival at BLES. These obstacles are sent to teach us and it is a good thing I am open to learning!
Thank you for your understanding and patience. I know so many of you have been on tender hooks, desperate to know what has been happening. As soon as I know for certain what day we will be leaving again to get Wassana, I will inform you all. In the mean time, please keep her in your thoughts and send strong energy her way. These last few days will be some of the longest we have been through for a long time. For Wassana, each day drags into the next. The regime is grueling, but there is hope.
You are all a part of this rescue and I can feel you with us with every challenging step we take. We will get there. Wassana will be here soon. Thank you for making this possible. We would never have been able to save Wassana without you.
