Elephants!!

Ok i have now been over a week in Thailand after orientation in Bangkok. I'll begin with the last two days of orientation which consisted of a trip to Kanchanburi and a visit to the river Kwai. We head on buses in the afternoon after our last working day of orientation and stop on the way at a restaraunt called 'Prawn Volcano' for dinner. This was a bit weird as they brought out a plate of giant prawns or something then put a plastic model of a volcano over it. The proceeded to pour what looked like white spirits over it and set it on fire.... Not sure what was going on but was fun to watch. Anyway after a hearty meal of seafood and rice we set off for our hotel. The whole bus journey was 3 hours and dinner was about halfway along. Its dark when we arrive and we are all a bit tired so we grab our bags and head for our rooms. On the way a few of us agree to look for the bar and get a nightcap before bed. So we go looking for the bar and find out its closed but a few waitresses show up and can offer us some overpriced beer. We agree and sit down for a bit with our beverages. After a while we hear splashing and laughing so some of us go to inspect. Now not all of us were at the 'bar' so we were kind of curious as to where everyone else was. We find them nightswimming at the pool! Well im feeling pretty sweaty and need a clean so i head back to my room grab my trunks and head back down for a dip. This proved refreshing and we stayed there till they kicked us out at midnight.

The next day we get up early to go elephant trekking and bamboo rafting! We hop back on our buses and a short trip later arrive at the main camp. We see our first elephants here and are treated to a little show.

Now we get split into two groups and i join the group going rafting first. We are given lifejackets and plastic bags in case our valuables get wet. Then we hop onto our rafts (four to a raft) and float calmly down the river for a while with our guide who steers it. Some of the girls even get a go at the paddle. This was really relaxing once i got over the fact that if i fell in i was going to float a long way down the river before i managed to swim to the shore.

After the rafting we got on some pickups and raced back to the elephant base. This was a bit scary as they sped along without a thought for their passengers so if you didnt hold on it was your own fault if you fell off! We got back and switched with the other group and we both assured each other the activity we had done was great. I got onto the seat on the back of the elephant with Andrew and we trundled off. The mahout looked bored but i suppose i would too if i was trekking the same route several times a day. The elephant's gait was rhythmically soothing and quite enjoyable. I was a little worried when we got to the water where the elephant wades for a bit and the mahout instructed me to take his place on the neck of the animal and he w

ould take pictures. Now i was trying to climb off the seat onto the neck while the elephant was standing in water so if i fell there would be a big splash. I survived though and we moved off again. It wasnt the most comfortable on his neck as i had to move with his shoulders or break my hip but i got some nice pics as the mahout got a bit triggy happy with my camera. After our adventures we got some lunch and headed back to the hotel for the afternoon.

We had the afternoon free and since it was a hot day we all wanted to hit the pool. There being a large group of americans they soon turned this into a mini 'Spring Break' with everyone drinking and playing games. It was a good laugh as the frisbees came out watching a few of the lads taking running jumps to catch a frisbee as it passed over the water. In the evening we went to see the Bridge over the River Kwai which is a railway bridge (still in use as we found out when we were on it) which has not been adapted for pedestrians in any way shape or form. if you slip you will land in the river and that may be the last of you. There were platforms where we could stop along the way over the bridge to take pictures and look at the view. After a while when we were walking back we were bathed in a light from behind us, then we heard a loud honk and quickly vacated the bridge as a train came rumbling by! After all this we went and had a meal and went back to the hotel again for our last night together as a group.

This obviously meant that we had to get ridiculously drunk together, i mean how else would we celebrate this event? So a drunken night of beer, drinking games, dancing at the (now open) bar and some more nightswimming was had by all. This was paid for the next day when we got on the bus back to Bangkok especially for those people who had to travel further long distances with their coordinators that evening. My next entry will focus on my quazy journey to Li via a road trip.......

P.S. Dont be afraid to leave comments, more info on this, less on that etc. I will also get around to a blog on thai culture and maybe a little language and go into how different it is from home. And believe me you cant take anything for granted over here!