Thailand Part 2

We were picked up early in the morning in this pick up truck.    We rode in the back.  There were two benches along each side for us to sit on.  I was amused because just as we were leaving the hotel room, I was debating whether or not to bring our little booster seats for the kids.  Silly me.  I assumed our transportation would have seats and seat belts for each of us.  At least there was a roof on the back of the truck.  We couldn't just bounce out!  The ride was about 15 minutes and then we arrived at the elephant sanctuary!   Nearly upon arrival, we were able to touch and feed the elephants.  They were magnificent!

I loved seeing all of the elephants gathered together. 

 She was eating pineapples whole!  She would grab them with her trunk and snap off the green part and then put the fruit in her mouth.  When all the fruit was gone, she ate the green part too.

Now, time to get on!  In our group, there were 4 adults and 5 children.  So, each adult had their own elephant.  Scott took Wyatt and I had both Lily and Madeline with me.  Each elephant also had a guide too.  Our elephant ride was about 2 hours.  We walked into a national park where the elephants could wander along a path that had a lot of choices and variation for the elephants to choose from. We really went where they wanted to go.  We did not stay together in a group. 

Scott said his elephant was pretty mellow.  He and Wyatt enjoyed their ride!

 The girls and I were on a hungry elephant!  We spent most of the time wandering from tree to tree to bush, finding more food to eat.  At one point, our elephant used her trunk to pull down a tree!  We learned that our elephant was 43 years old.  Scott's elephant was 42.

 The park where we rode the elephants was gorgeous!  So green and lush.  Unfortunately, we all got quite a few bug bites.  I didn't think of it until we were already on the elephants.  I had some mosquito sticker patches (they are awesome, I don't know why they don't sell them in Austin).  I put the patches on the girls and myself, but I couldn't get anything to Scott and Wyatt.  I think mostly, we were being bitten by flying ants.  The mosquito patches didn't help us with the ant.

After our lovely ride, the elephants all took a dip in the river that ran through the park.  We stood on the bank and watched.  The elephants seemed very relaxed and happy.  Their guides seemed to genuinely care for them and to have a relationship with their elephant.  There are 9 elephants living in this sanctuary.

 We had a few minutes of down time at the elephant sanctuary.  Next up we went to a school to check out a festival!  It was a national holiday in Thailand, called Children's Day.

On stage were these adorable little dancers.  Over on the left side of the picture is a little boy pulling his shirt up by the collar.  He was so cute.  He cried the entire song.

The little girls were very made up!  They had on a lot of makeup and their clothes were pretty skimpy I thought, for their age.  I think these girls were mostly 4 to 6 years old.  It was interesting to me because the moms were very covered.  This part of Thailand is about 80% Muslim.  Most of the moms were covered with a Hi jab.  

There was a baby elephant at the festival!  He was a special treat for the kids.  Our guide was friends with the person that brought the baby elephant to the celebration.  He said the elephant was only 3 years old.

Here's Madeline, on the baby elephant, surrounded by a sea of Thai people.  I'm not sure if I took more pictures of them or if they took more pictures of us.

I love this picture because you can see our friend Sean with his daughter on his shoulders.

 There was a table set up where the Thai military had some of their equipment and weapons on display.  They even let us pick up the guns!  Whoa!

Now off to lunch.  We were taken to a beautiful tropical Thai restaurant.  It was outside and next to a river.  The food was fantastic.  *** A note about the food in Thailand***  We loved it!  On our first night there, we ate at a little restaurant close to our hotel.  Scott had some green curry and proclaimed that it was the best meal he has ever had in his entire life.  We both have always loved Thai food.  I think we love it even more now.  I'm planning to find some cooking classes in Singapore to learn to cook some Thai and Indian dishes.  I think that will be a wonderful new skill to bring home with me.

Scott with his beer and me with my coconut.

Next up, the swimming hole!

 I don't know the woman that is in this picture, but those are the kids down in the water, hanging on to the rope.  They all used the rope swing to jump in the water (except for Wyatt).  The water was very cold but refreshing.  It was too deep for the grown ups to stand in.  

On our last full day in Thailand, we took it easy and stayed close to the hotel.  We swam at our pool and then we shopped a little at the shops on the street.  Scott had to pick up some clothes that he had made at the tailor.  That was a first for us!  On our first day, we stopped in to one of the tailor shops and picked out fabric and had measurements taken for Scott to have 4 shirts and 2 pants made.  The prices are much cheaper than anything we could find in Singapore.  It only took 2 days to have it all made!  Amazing.

After walking around in the morning.  We decided to have foot massages on the beach.  The kids all had their toes painted too!  An hour Thai massage costs about US$6.30.  Yes, that's right 6 US dollars and 30 cents.  An hour!  At that price, it was only a matter of finding the time to have massages.  It was awesome!

 After our massages and pedicures, we ate lunch and then just hung out on the beach.  We swam, collected shells and played in the waves.  We stayed until it was dark and then walked back to the hotel.  We had a large lunch, so we just ate Thai pancakes on the street for dinner (they were delicious!).

Good bye Thailand!  We had a great time.