On to Koh Chiang
Trip Start
Jun 30, 2005
1
3
13
Trip End
Jun 05, 2006
Koh Chiang,
Thailand
Thursday, February 23, 2006
headed out for some grub. At this point our hunger was made worse by the sudden realisation that we hadn't eaten all day. We picked the Ton Sai Treehouse to eat, which was exactly that - a big tree house with hammocks and floor seating arrangements - a pretty cool little place. After filling up we set out to find cheaper digs for 2mro, and had a banana pancake. The following day we were able to check into Tantwan Banglows, right on the beach, and slept with three in a bed! Obviously cosy but surprisingly not uncomfortable, until maybe 7am when the room started to warm up to boiling temperatures. We booked to do the Bank Wan elephant experience for later
that day.
The first thing to say about the elephants was that we started the experience with 3 Korean couples who had all dressed in team strips on set in blue one, in pink and so on. When we got to Bank Wan we had expected some intro into it, but as soon as we were finished our fresh coconut milk, we were sat straight onto the elephant - Jodie on one, me and Rachel on another. These elephants are ex-working elephants which would have been killed if not taken on by the sanctuary. The handlers on each elephant have
been working with the same elephant for over 7 years. The weirdest thing was how hairy they were. Riding on the back of an elephant is a lot scarier than you think, mainly due to the height, but also because you feel like you are being thrown off with every step. At one point Jodie's elephant got spooked by a car driving past and started to run off into the jungle and Jodie was having to duck from tree branches, then ours started to follow, but all was well. Jodie was lucky enough to get soaked by the elephant's trunk splashing water over its head and onto her. After our 45 min ride, we
got a chance to feed them which was amazing as they took bananas from us with such gentleness with their trunks.
Then we went down to the river with two elephants to help wash them. This whole experience happened maybe a bit too quickly, as we didn't realise what was going on, and did seem a bit rushed. After climbing on an elephants bare back and scrubbing its head, the guide jumped off and ordered the elephant up and to soak me. Then the elephant started to walk off, with me shouting 'am I safe to go off without a guide?!'. Behind me Jodie was being helped on to the elephants bare back, and her elephant stood up and started walking out of the river before she realised what was happening too. I managed to climb off the elephant and on to our jeep, while Jodie's elephant knelt down quickly so that Jodie could slide off without too much trouble. The whole experience with these elephants was fantastic. Once we got back we had drinks on the beach, watching an amazing sunset - the sun was a huge red blazing ball - very awe inspiring, before dinner and more drinks.
The next day we headed off to Nam Tok Khlong waterfall and had an swim in its pool, which was very cold but very refreshing. Climbing out of the water was a bit of a challenge as it was very slippery, but as you can imagine, we managed to climb out with style and grace! On our way out we were confronted by a woman selling plates with our photo printed on them! Unaware that we had had our photo taken she had caught Rachel looking none to impressed. Needless to say she didn't purchase it.
(Jodie) That evening Rach and I shared a red snapper that we had watched be BBQed - it was very scrummy! A couple evenings we had drinks at Oodies that had the same local live band playing - who were really good. But the main highlight was an older Asian hippie man who helped out in the band, but I suppose musically probably wasn't too helpful. But he had the greatest smile ever, hence our nickname for him - 'smilie'. He reminded me of Daniel's master/teacher in Karati (?) Kid, only very stoned. But he was very
funny.
