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Late DealsUK/IRELAND

■ SCOTLAND: Wilderness Scotland(01479 420 020) offers guidedcanoeing break departing May 20from Fort William to Inverness todiscover the new 60-mile GreatGlen Canoe Trail, through GreatGlen, including Loch Ness. Packageat £575 includes four nights’camping accommodation, all meals,all transport from Fort William, fivedays’ canoeing with guiding andinstruction, use of canoe andcamping equipment.■ GUERNSEY: Fly Guernsey (0845230 3240) offers four nights’ B&Bfor price of three – £319 in four-star Bella Luce Hotel in St Martin,for stays until April 23, ex-Gatwick,airport parking and car hire. Otherregional departures available.■ EDINBURGH: Hand Picked Hotels(0845 458 0901) offers B&B withthree-course dinner at NortonHouse Hotel and Spa from £139 perroom, as part of offer at its 17country house hotels running untilMay 4. Edinburgh Zoo nearby andhistoric city of Edinburgh just 20minutes by car.

SHORT BREAKS■ BRUSSELS: Travelzoo (020 33273599) offers three nights weekendB&B until July 31 at four-starMondo Hotel Leopold in the centreof Brussels from £169 per person,saving more than £100, includingreturn Eurostar travel. Book byApril 4 .■ MOSCOW: Regent Holidays(0117 921 1711) offers three nights’B&B at Radisson Royal on MoskvaRiver from £610, saving £165, forstays July 9-September 2, if bookedby April 10. Package includes directBA flights ex-Heathrow, but visasnot included.■ ROME: Citalia (0844 415 1956)offers three nights’ B&B at three-star Augustea Hotel from £249,saving £140 per couple, includingflights ex-Birmingham on June 30.Ex-Gatwick from £315.

SHORT-HAUL SUN■ SICILY: Citalia (0844 415 1956)offers seven nights’ B&B atcharming Villa Paradiso, Taormina,with views of Mount Etna, from£695, saving up to £300 per couple,ex-Gatwick April 16 and includingtransfers.■ SORRENTO: Citalia (0844 4151956) offers seven nights’ B&B atfour-star Jaccarino Hotel from£539, with free Amalfi Coast tour,with return flights ex-Gatwick May2, saving £260 per couple.■ CORFU: Sovereign Luxury Travel(0844 415 1936) offers sevennights’ all-inclusive at MarbellaBeach Hotel from £579, includingreturn flights ex-Gatwick May 2and private transfers, saving up to£544 per couple.■ IBIZA: Escapades (0844 412 5970)offers seven nights’ all-inclusive attwo-star Punta Arabi in Es Canafrom £322, ex-Stansted May 16.

LONG-HAUL■ RED SEA: Travelzoo (0800 9539397) offers seven nights’ half-board at Ritz-Carlton in Sharm el-Sheikh from £499, saving £368,with Egypt Air flights ex-Heathrowon selected departures in May andJune, if booked by April 4.■ WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Austravel(0800 988 4834) offers 14-nightApollo Motorhome holiday from£959, saving up to £300 per couple,including return Qantas flights ex-Heathrow to Perth on selecteddates in May.

ONCE in a while I experiencesomething which will stay with mefor the rest of my life.

Although I’m in a job whichpunches above its weight when itcomes to accessing out of theordinary activities, I can count thosespecial days on two hands: picnickingwith penguins in Antarctica; divingwith manta rays in the Maldives; andchanting with monks in Bhutanbeing among them.

On the do-before-you-die scale, I’veprobably hit the jackpot.

So I wasn’t expecting to add to thatpeerless list on this trip to the PhangNga province of Thailand.

“If you can imagine it, we canorganise it,” says the Sarojin Hotel’saptly named ‘ima gineer’, DavidKoegelenberg before casuallymentioning we can go elephant riding— b a re b a ck .

I can hardly believe my ears.Riding skin to skin like a mahout is

a world away from trekking on one ofthose sloping thrones you seeharnessed to elephants; it provides awhole new level of intimacy.

The full span of my arms barelycovers the massive prehistoric-looking skull and while her head iscovered with bristly broom-lengthhairs, the soft pink skin behind herears, where I’m asked to tuck mydangling legs, is as smooth as marble.

My mount slightly tightens hersensitive ears around my calves asmy toes hook themselves into the

lower groove of her speckled pinke a r s.

I’m told that 35-year-old Bua,meaning lotus, is a single girl yet tofind her destiny.

And just like that, we are off; aneveryday stroll for her but a completeadventure for me.

Just like a mischievous pony, shefancies a bit of greenery en route tothe lake and reaches high into a treefor the sweetest looking leaves.

As she dextrously shakes the tip ofher trunk to free the branch a showerof red ants covers her back — and me.

Yes, they bite and, yes, they hurt.With nowhere to run but quite a

way to fall I urgently brush them offmy naked limbs and shake out my (ohthank goodness I was wearing) wide-brimmed hat before sweeping theremainder from her head.

Of course, they don’t seem tobother her at all, that leathery pinkand grey skin is as impenetrable as itfeels to touch.

And so we continue — now with asense of perilous expectation.

It takes a little while to regain somesense of internal composure and Iurgently fight to recover a centre ofgravity that feels seriously wobbly.

My eyes scout for anything thatmight resemble a forthcomingelephant temptation.

All the while, the skilful mahout(who I like to think of as my safetybelt), is perched nimbly on Bua’srump calling ‘hun hun’ (on on), as hetaps relentlessly with his tiny legs.Mowgli and madam continue on.

Bua senses the refreshing coolness

of the lake long before it comes intoview and raises her trunk to rumbleher internal delight of anticipation.

It feels like a Goliath cat’s purr ofpleasure with a confusing paradox: Ifeel cat-sized, perched high, and attimes vulnerable, on this massivec re at u re ’s neck.

I’m doing it without much thoughtand no training, and once in situbegan the journey without evenknowing if there was a handbrakeava i l abl e.

I realise that the immediate trustand respect we hold for these benignmatriarchs and patriarchs is as

intuitive as our relationship with,say, our pet dogs.

I expected the intimacy to holdsome kind of energy or vibration,such is the apparent wisdom andintelligence of pachyderms, but feelnothing but my own awe.

As each steady slip-slip of slipper-

silent foot transfers its weightforward to its destination I sway everso slightly with the natural motion ofan elephant on the move.

Then I spy the lake — a massiveclearing giving way to a vast expanseof sparkling tropical waters.

It rains generously in Thailand

resulting in dense swathes of rubberand palm oil forests — the numberone and two earners for the regionfollowed by tourism in third place —and the surrounding hillside is apicture of shiny greens morphing inall shades and hues.

Quite a dazzling vista but theelephant had only one thing in mind:w at e r.

We effortlessly enter the lake andthen plunge with tangible relief intoits depths.

Bua’s trunk fills and empties gallonupon gallon of the cool refreshing

liquid. With no fear of falling orinjury, I sway this way, that way, androcked with delight on my elephantro d e o.

She is having fun and so am I;leaning forward to stroke the bridgeof her elongated trunk, then back torub her ears and splash water acrossher brow.

We move in a relaxed kind ofunison with an equal sense of utterjoy and contentment.

They say elephants never forget —neither will I.

Everyday stroll for an elephant but it’s a complete adventure for meLife is not measuredby the number ofbreaths we take butthe moments thattake our breath away,says Heaven on Earthtravel writer andtelevision presenter,SARAH SIESE. Here,she relives one of hermost magical travelmoments yet

Where

■ Sarah stayed at The SarojinHotel (www.sarojin.com) basednorth of Khao Lak and at the heartof an 11km-long beach.

Khao Lak is just north of Phuketin the unspoilt Phang Ngap ro v i n c e .

What

■ Something of a sanctuary, TheSarojins 56 rooms are built in ahorse-shoe design on a 10-acreplot surrounded by a perimeter offeathery casuarina trees andpalms.

Its direct access to the beach is abenefit but many guests choose torelax in the oasis around the pool.

“It never feels busy, even at fulloccupancy, as guests choose howto spend their day from a long listof options including beach picnicsunder a sea almond tree just ashort stroll along the beach; tosunset cruises that hug thenorthern coastline into picturesquemangrove collared bays,” saysSarah.

Factfile

BAREBACK: Heaven on Earth travel writer and presenter Sarah Siese ridingelephant Bua bareback with her ‘skilful mahout’

HOTEL: The Sarojin Ficus RestaurantTHE SAROJIN, THAILAND

BOAT: Phang Nga Bay in Thailand SARAH SIESE

AL FRESCO: Dining on the sandy beach at The Sarojin, Phang Nga,Thailand SARAH SIESE

BAY: Phang Nga Bay, Thailand SARAH SIESE

Massive OutdoorAdventures

Special TV charactershow daysT rave l T rave l