Our two big outings today were trips to the Khao Yai National forest, and elephant rides through the deep forests and swollen river.
I was very disappointed with the Khao Yai visit because the interpretive center is under reconstruction and we saw basically no wildlife except for one large sick deer, a smaller nothing-to-write-home-about teenager deer, and a water dragon. But we still went on the wobbly bridge and enjoyed some great scenery in the woods and stopped by a little waterfall. But against my advice most of the team went into the damp woods and were accosted by leeches! Th
e evil side of me was happy that they did, because we had something to write home about at last! But that is not the end of the story: When we were almost out of the park there was this large family of monkeys all over the road and in the trees. We were rewarded! The highlight of the day, however, was the rides on the elephants. Last year was very good; but this year’s ride was even better. There were 16 of us and only 5 elephants; so instead of the normal 2 per elephant, we rode 3 per elephant and in one case, four. The fun part of the ride was the owner/trainer coming off, taking our cameras and letting us truly ride the beast. In this case one brave person sits on the head and the others sit in the seat-belt-co
mfort of the “carriage” on the elephant’s back. Well, it was vie, me, and Lorraine on our 19-year-old animal that had a mind of its own -- stopped to eat when it wished, and kinda went where it wished, at times. And Vie was the brave one. I don’t do heights and would never sit out there on an elephants head! No siree bob! And Lorraine spent more time praying (especially as we descended into the river). I don’t think we wanted her on the elephants head! But really, it was a lotta fun. On the way home we found a fruit stand with some lovely mangoes. Yes, yes, yes! It was a good day!
Our two big outings today were trips to the Khao Yai National forest, and elephant rides through the deep forests and swollen river. I was very disappointed with the Khao Yai visit because the interpretive center is under reconstruction and we saw basically no wildlife except for one large sick deer, a smaller nothing-to-write-home-about teenager deer, and a water dragon. But we still went on the wobbly bridge and enjoyed some great scenery in the woods and stopped by a little waterfall. But against my advice most of the team went into the damp woods and were accosted by leeches! Th
e evil side of me was happy that they did, because we had something to write home about at last! But that is not the end of the story: When we were almost out of the park there was this large family of monkeys all over the road and in the trees. We were rewarded! The highlight of the day, however, was the rides on the elephants. Last year was very good; but this year’s ride was even better. There were 16 of us and only 5 elephants; so instead of the normal 2 per elephant, we rode 3 per elephant and in one case, four. The fun part of the ride was the owner/trainer coming off, taking our cameras and letting us truly ride the beast. In this case one brave person sits on the head and the others sit in the seat-belt-co
mfort of the “carriage” on the elephant’s back. Well, it was vie, me, and Lorraine on our 19-year-old animal that had a mind of its own -- stopped to eat when it wished, and kinda went where it wished, at times. And Vie was the brave one. I don’t do heights and would never sit out there on an elephants head! No siree bob! And Lorraine spent more time praying (especially as we descended into the river). I don’t think we wanted her on the elephants head! But really, it was a lotta fun. On the way home we found a fruit stand with some lovely mangoes. Yes, yes, yes! It was a good day!
1 comments:
Great write-up. And a great day - leeches, gassy elephants, and all!
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