Holiday: Elephant Hills Day 4 and on to Khao Lak

So, another good night's sleep, breakfast gong at 7.30n to wake us up (lovely way to wake up!) and our last breakfast and so our last taste of the amazing bread they have at breakfast time!

We met up with Nong at 9.15 (extra 15mins today to get our stuff packed).  Today we had a jungle walk through the forest.  We were each given a bamboo walking stick and we walked down to the river which we crossed by canoe and into the thick forest.

It was only a 0.67 mile walk, but it took us 1.5hrs, it was mega hot, raining, and steep.  Also there were some young children who basically had to get carried everywhere.  We learned about butters roots - wide to keep trees upright (but can easily fall over in the wind), banana plants - every bit of a banana plant is useful: you can eat the fruit and flower, you can use the leaves in cookery or as roofing.  I'm sure Nong told us about some other plants as well.

We heard plenty of wildlife but didn't see any, although we were pretty sure we were being watched!

We ended at a hut, where we were given a cooking demonstration - coconut curry soup and Thai scrambled eggs. I went to the top of the class as I knew all the cooking ingredients: Kaffir lime leaves, turmeric, galangal,  chilli, garlic and onion (everyone did know garlic and onion).  They made the soup the proper way by hacking open a coconut, grating it and squeezing it with water etc.  They then heated up the coconut milk and then added the spices and chicken - they didn't fry the spices or chicken first which I thought strange.

At this point - I was seeing stars,  I had overheated and couldn't cool down, even though I was sweating profusely.  I kept having to kneel down to try to stop the flashing lights.  It worked but then every time I stood up again the flashing lights came back.  Not a great situation!  Luckily I spotted some water in the corner, and refilled my water bottle and remembering a trick from Israel, poured some cold water on my hat and put it on my head - it was instant relief!  I stopped sweating and, calmed down, the flashing lights disappeared and I could join in.  Phew!  Guess I wouldn't be a great jungle explorer!

So we all had some roast monkey (pork), soup and eggs with rice and it was very lovely.

We then walked back a much shorter way to the canoes and the camp (I don't think we ever got that far from the camp - the forest is so thick that you can't see more than a meter or two!  We jumped in the shower, packed up and left our suitcases for the porters to pick up (very posh) and went up to the dinning room to say thank you to Nong - she was a perfect guide, full of fun, knowledge and a very good and calm manner.

We then were shown our vehicle (air conditioned - yay) for our transfer to Khao Lak and away we went.

The transfer took 1hr 15mins, along lots of back roads - so a pleasant ride.  We checked into the hotel - which was massive.  Our room is super massive - Tom has his own big room off ours and is delighted.  There are lots of pools, and it looks out on the beach.  The rooms are wonderfully air conditioned too and our bed is massive.  Think we will be ok here. 

We went straight out to buy some cold drinks, bit of a hiccup - we had both seen a mini mart from the taxi on the way in, but on looking again, we couldn't find it.  Of course it was about 3pm so steaming hot in the direct sunlight.  We gave up, walked back, bought our goodies from another shop and then when we were almost back at the hotel, we found the mini mart - argggggggggh.

We had drinks and then explored all the pools.  Some of them are long and thin and the basement rooms have their own  patio on them, they link together around bars, under bridges etc etc. There are some jacuzzi areas too.  We found a second set of pools - the water in them was hotter - a bit like a spa - not sure `I would like that in this weather - you need refreshing water not hot water!

We ended up in the main pool just by the beach.  There was a bar in this pool and next door a huge restaurant where breakfast is served.  The beach is a lovely orange sandy colour, but the waves quite big.  Not for swimming in, but for paddling only I think.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. 

Before heading for tea, we decided we would find a bar for a drink - we found one called Moose Bar with a huge Mousse's head outside - perfect!  Tom and I were on mocktails whilst Matt had a beer and we played cribbage and found out about a new sport: Florentine Football, basically a huge boxing match with a football!

We then found a restaurant for tea - where Tom had a carbonara pizza - interesting and a little too rich, I had tamarind pork and Matt a big bowl of curry.  All good.  We couldn't wait for bed!

Holiday: Elephant Hills Day 3

So, another good night’s sleep - jungle noises and no air con seem to be good for sleep!

After another wonderful breakfast (with the best bread I have ever tasted!) we congregated at 9am to meet Nong for another trip out.  This time we turned left out of the camp, went up a hill (turned cool) then back down again, past some more elephant sanctuaries to Takua Pa where we stopped to visit the market.  We all dived into the 7-11 first: air conditioning - lovely and some cold pop.  We then had a look around the market.  Thailand may have modernised significantly since we were last here but there are still no refrigerators and lots of flies on the meat and fish.  We ignored them, however I bought myself a small bag of mangosteens - for old time’s sake.  

Tasted as good as I remember!  We then found a sell everything shop.  Matt got himself T-shirt nu 5 of the holiday.  It had a homewares section and had some moulds but of flowers I didn’t recognise unfortunately.  It even sold scout badges - one had a paw print on it - wonder what that was for?!

We then got on the bus to a pier Sapan Phra Pier to get on a speed boat along the Lat Tha Chi River. It was fast, nippy and (of course) very loud.  Today we were exploring mangrove swamps.  The speed boat took us to a floating pontoon, where we set up our base.  We went swimming as soon as we arrived - the water was salty, we were just around the corner from the sea.  Anyway it was very refreshing.

We had lunch: deep fried ebi, chicken katsu, the most delicious green curry, rice, veg and pineapple.  We tried not to over stuff ourselves! 

Next activity was kayaking in the mangroves.  Tom and I partnered up and we’re ok at it.  Unfortunately we didn’t see much - although I did see a white egret.

Back to the pontoon for another swim and then back on the speed boats to another part of the river which is known locally as mini Amazon for its flora.  On the way a Lesser Fish Eagle swooped over us.   Very rich in vegetation, saw another Egret, a Kingfisher and a Woodpecker and a couple of snakes. 

Then truck bus back to the camp.  A bit of a rest before a game of cribbage (I won - about time too!) and tea.  Pad Thai and satay chicken skewers were on today so Matt was very happy. 

Spent the evening losing at Uno with Tom whilst Matt did his photos.   

   

Holiday: Elephant Hills Day 2

We had an ok sleep considering we are in a tent in a tropical forest with lots of noises, especially the crickets which were so loud, they sounded like drills!

Breakfast was good - pretty much everything you could want (as long as you didn't want a full English) including really, really good bread.  

We got ready for 9am start for a day out on the nearby  Cheow Lan Lake. It was an hour's drive in the truck.  The lake was made by the Rajjaprabha Dam.  Usual story that it flooded a number of villages - but the scenery was stunning - lots of sheer limestone cliffs covered in trees and jutting out of turquoise water. You do wander how the trees manage to grown on such an extreme landscape.  We got to a viewpoint first so we could take in the scene - it was magnificent and the viewpoint was planted with lots of gorgeous scented tropical flowers.  We walked up a tiny hill to see a buddha and within seconds were sweating big time - it was hot, hot, hot!

We then went down to the banks of the river and got on a long tail boat for a lake cruise.  I had forgotten just how loud they are - conversation is impossible. However, it didn't matter, the scenery was magnificent, and every now and again we got splashed with water from the lake which was just marvellous.   Tom likened the scenery to being in a James Bond film - it really did feel that way - I wonder if there are any secret installations amongst the mountains - we did see some solar panels above a cave...

Towards the end of the cruise a second boat broke down - so we had to rescue them - managed to get all the families with young children aboard.  We then sailed on to Elephant Hill's Lakeside camp - floating tents.  Once again an amazing place to wake up - although you wouldn't want to be a sleep walker.  

   We arrived, got ready for a swim, then had lunch - oodles of curry and some amazing tamarind pork ribs with brown rice and some interesting Thai desserts - one called 'Tom Mudd'.  Once lunch was over we jumped off the pontoon into the lake - such a relief to be in the cool water - we were made to wear life jackets as the lake was 20 meters deep.  This meant that really you didn't need to swim at all but just float - was lovely.

There was also the chance to kayak around the lake shore, so we all got ourselves in one for an explore.  However, it was very hot and very sunny, and we could feel ourselves beginning to burn, so we decided to go back and swim.  It was the right decision, one lad didn't put on any suncream and didn't appear the following day because of sun burn!

We did some top bombing - I of course was thinking I was 20 something again, joined in and 'bang' one of my ears went!  Being old is no fun!  I used the ladder to get in and out for the rest of the day.

We got the Long tail boat back - much shorter distance this time, then an hour back on the truck - both Tom and I fell asleep!  We had some pop corn on arrival and then had an hour to shower etc before the next documentary (about elephants) more Thai dancing and tea - more excellent Thai food: creamy coconut curry, tamarind. Passa fish being the best. 

We played our evening game of cribbage - Tom won, then Uno - Tom won! 

We went to bed very tired!

    

  

Holiday: Elephant Hills - Day 1

We were up at 6.45 after a lovely sleep at Khanom.  We walked to the restaurant where we were expected.  We all went for Thai breakfast this morning: stir fried rice with either chicken or pork all round.

At 7.50 as expected the transfer to Elephant Hills appeared.  We said a fond farewell to our exclusive hotel and got onboard.  We were the only ones, so we spread out and enjoyed the 2.5 hour trip across the Thai peninsula to the camp.  It was a very scenic ride - the country is so lush and green.  We arrived and all the paperwork with our names was ready on the table for us to fill in - so efficient. We also received a pink drink each - no idea what it was?

After a little wait, we were escorted to our tent - it is massive - and very well provisioned.  A king sized bed for us and a single bed for Tom, a desk, wardrobe, dressing table and out the back a huge bathroom with shower and toilet.  The main part of the tent was canvas, the bathroom cement.  The whole tent was covered with a roof made of banana plant leaves and there were some hammocks and chairs out on the veranda.  We had electric lights and fans.  It was spotless and very comfortable.  We may not have air conditioning, but it was as luxurious as it could be without it.

We were told to wait for the gong and then turn up for lunch.  So, we heard the gong and set off to the dining room - we were in the nearest tent to it so were up first. Lunch was Thai - more fried rice with some toppings: chicken / pork / veggies.  All very lovey and not too spicy.

After lunch we met our guide Nong, we got in a truck (reminded me a bit of an Encounter truck) and headed 10 minutes down the road to the elephant sanctuary.  There were 11 elephants in total, all of which were female, their ages ranged from 17 to 79 (The 79 year old was called 'Not Young'!.  All were rescued - mainly from logging operations.  Each elephant has a buddy and a mahout.  (I kept thinking Nong was saying there were baddies and was thinking that they don't really get on - but it was buddies!) 

  

Some facts we learnt:

+ The trunk has 100,000 muscles

+ Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants and have smaller ears

+ Asian elephants have 1 finger on their trunks - African ones have 2

+ Asian elephants have 5 toe nails at the front and 4 behind  (African have 4:3)

+ They weigh up to 4 tons

+ There are only 3.000 in the wild in Thailand (also 3,000 in captivity).   There were 100,000 in 1900.

+ Their trunks can hold 25 litres of water.

  

We could stroke them, their trunks look smooth but are spiky because of hairs growing out of them. They were very placid.

 

We made them some snacks: each person was given 2 pineapples and some sugar cane which we had to cut up with a machete - yes, kids included!  We also had a big bunch of bananas to break up and then we made them a parcel with a bulb of tamarind, salt and rice husks, rolled up with a banana leaf.  We then got to feed the elephants.  It was fun.  Some of them were choosy, only wanting bananas or pineapples, whilst others ate what ever you gave them.  We all ended up covered in elephant saliva.  A lovely experience. 

Afterwards, the elephants went in groups down to a pool for a splash.  One pooed big time in it which was funny, but mainly they were having fun and we loved watching them.  Could have stayed there all day.

However, we had other activities to do.  First though Nong found us all some rambutans to eat - these were the mystery fruit from breakfast in Bangkok.  They weren't lychees - but look and taste very similar to them. 

We then headed down to the river, where we got in inflatable canoes and were paddled down the river, by a guide who was looking for wildlife.  We saw 2 x Mangrove Cat Snakes hanging in trees, 4 otters, some frogs, a snake in the water, some long tailed macaques, butterflies and the most amazing karst scenery: sheer vertical cliffs rising out of the rainforest.  It was a beautiful, if sweaty experience.

We then headed back to the camp, where we had a shower each, watched a film about the jungle, watched some Thai children do some traditional Thai dancing and had dinner - more rice with fried stuff and curry - all very lovely.  We ate well.

Then a game of cribbage and to bed - we were all shattered!