Saturday

No, this picture hasn’t been Photoshopped. Caroline is “driving” the elephant while I’m enjoying the view. Consider this to be this year’s Christmas card. Let’s review how we got to this situation. First, after a western breakfast of eggs and toast for me and fruit and yogurt for Caroline, we arranged the elephant ride. The ride place was down at the bottom of yesterday’s hill, which is much less of a challenge in a pickup truck. The place had about 20 elephants and when we arrived, there were three other elephants worth of people ready to leave. So, we hopped on the top of an elephant and off we went. There was a guide, who took this picture for us. We rode for about 45 minutes through a streambed in a jungle. They stopped at a waterfall for a little break. There’s a great view of where you’re going from the top of an elephant, but the ride is a bit shaky. Going uphill and downhill is entertaining. It’s a good idea to hold on. On the way back, the guide stopped the elephant and asked Caroline if she wanted to ride in the front “seat” – so here she is, providing some guidance to the elephant.  When we returned, she rewarded the elephant with a snack.

After returning to our bungalow, we got really adventurous and had a pizza for lunch, during which we speculated about the details of running a small business in a developing country…

The afternoon’s adventure involved the nearby Khao Sok National Park. We chose a 4km hike to an 11-part waterfall – sounds enticing, doesn’t it. Well, the first kilometer was interesting – steep steps, leaf-covered trail, occasional interpretative signs that were somewhat legible and in English. At the 1km mark, we came to this bridge.  Notice the sign, which didn’t deter us too much.

We walked (carefully) across and back and then continued on the trail to the waterfall. Within a couple hundred meters, we set a time at which we’d turn around if we hadn’t arrived at the waterfall. Within minutes after that decision, we turned around. The trail had become quite slippery and then seemed to mostly vanish. Not that interested in trailblazing through slippery, very dense jungle, we struck our retreat. Then, Caroline noticed a little worm on her hand that was very difficult to remove. We soon realized that we were encountering an attack of the leeches. Caroline’s memorable comment was “I’m kind of over this.” My insight is a very poignant image and sensation when I hear the phrase, Blood-sucking Leeches, ever again. Oh, yeah, it started to rain about then too. It was quite memorable. The shower back in our bungalow was most welcome.

Caroline’s stats:

Time spent clinging to an elephant and/or pondering falling off: 35min
Times Dad slipped during the hike: 2 (once while a picture was being taken)
Times Caroline slipped: 0.5
Leeches attached and drawing blood from Dad’s skin: 10
Band-aids required to stop the bleeding: only 1
Hours of feeling squirmy after leech attack: 1.5
Hours of Bob Marley music today: 1.5 and counting
Massage count: 1 oil + 1 rub & scrub
Pad thais consumed thus far: 6

Other pictures: