Day 141 - Day two of Elephant Haven, Death Railway and Ping Pong Shows

Yay, we shovelled shit before breakfast! But it was actually good fun.

Day 141 - 11th November

Day two of the sanctuary began much the same as the first with feeding and walking with the elephants. Those trunks have some real power behind them and those six women can definitely put away a fair amount of fruit, vegetation and rice-banana balls.

So beautiful.

By lunch time, we observed a minute silence for those lost in the wars, a nice tribute I thought from me and my English contingents, 

Yep, we were allowed to walk along the railway track a few minutes after seeing it in use.

In the afternoon, we visited Death Railway used to transport prisoners of war. It was a beauty view and it was hard to picture so many prisoners coming via that route. Nonetheless, we walked a eight hundred metres down the track until we reached an opening and sat in quiet reflection for 10 minutes or so.

Lead and thou shall follow

On the way back we visited a cave and I went into a confined space and found it took my breath away - literally, not metaphorically.

She loves rolling in the mud.

In the afternoon, we watched the elephants bathe in the mud bath again before going to watch them swim again. For their size, they sure are mobile. It was great to see them wandering freely and enjoying their time walking the forest in search of food. It was a shame to leave them behind.

I'd definitely recommend this sanctuary - there is no riding or anything untowards going on. It's all about the animal's welfare.

After an hour in a mini van back to Kanchanaburi bus station, we teamed up with Winnie and Bow and took another mini van back to Bangkok. It was a bumpy, swerving and sharp braking experience but we made it back alive and well.

We then met up with Paul, a family friend of Dave's who kindly showed us around Central Bangkok and treated us to drinks in a beer and ale specialist bar. A special thanks to Paul for his generosity.

The Hangover hotel.

We made our way over to Lebau, the hotel where The Hangover 2 was found but I was somewhat disappointed. Sure the view was spectacular but that was soured by the pretentiousness and lack of manners from a senior bartender. I came away feeling underwhelmed, a feeling I think the other four guys felt too.

Good photo on top of the Lebau Hotel

So we headed back to Khaosan Road for cheap beer and fun. After umming and ahhring, we decided to go see a ping pong show. It was a very interesting experience. There were ping pong balls, bunting, and even coke coming out of orafices. It was surreal but we all had a great laugh at the experience so it was worth the trip.

More beers back at Khaosan and we were then ready to crash. So going from observing and interacting nature's finest to observing and interacting with Bangkok's finest was quite a movement up and down the scale. What a day, aye?

Day 140 - Elephant Haven

'Hello loves,' the catchphrase of the holiday!

Day 140 - 10th November

Arriving at the bus station just before seven forty five saw us searching in vain for our tour guide to the Elephant Sanctuary. After a wander around the station, I found Bow and Winnie, two women from Tunbridge Wells who would be joining us. There was also another couple from Warwickshire so it was looking like an all English affair.

Eventually, we met Kun, our 22 year old guide who was accompanying us on the hour journey to the sanctuary. The truck that took us there bounced down the road with us all sharing our travelling stories. When we rolled into the sanctuary, the excitement began building.

Fascinating animals. Look at her casual back legs!

The safety instructions were given and we made rice and banana balls as a treat fr the elephants. Then they gave us knives. It was looking to be a fight to the death until we were told we needed to cut up the fruit (pumpkin and watermelon) we'd washed earlier.

Seriously overwhelmed by this experience!

Then it all began. We met up with our six elephants and their mahouts before we fed them. The strength of those girls' trunks were incredible, as was the speed in which they devoured the food. 

She loved that water.

We walked them into the forest and watched them bathe and eat the vegetation for an hour or so. They are fascinating animals, with little quirks. I felt like I was looking after a child or elderly person. Their skin was very rough which I had envisaged and they walked silently around so that a few times i was surprised by them.

The guide ensured to us they were all rescued and were never ridden which was pleasing to hear but I still felt that they were contained in their 35 acre surroundings, however much the guide insisted they were happy.

Hiding in the bushes

The lunch was pretty tasty and we then went out for the afternoon to watch them bathing in the mud bath. They seemed happy to just be throwing mud around at each other. The best part is when we washed them off in the water with buckets. They rolled over in the water and splashed around as we did so and it was definitely the highlight of the day for me.

By the evening, we went to a fancy resort and stayed in a nice cabin. We checked out the pool area and had dinner with Kun, Winnie and Bow. After Kun left, our conversations extended to travelling and ghost stories. Safe to say, we were all a little uneasy walking back in the dark. I took the opportunity to run out of the dark at everyone which went down exactly how I planned.

What a fantastic day and everyone had fun without riding elephants! 

Day 139 - Temples and buses to Kanchanaburi

The reclining Buddha

Day 139 - 09th November

So waking up with Kel and Dave in my dorm room was kind of strange but after five minutes of Dave singing out loud, I felt like I was back to normality with a home comfort.

Temple in Wat Pho

Love this shot

We were sharing a room with Nikki, a girl from the U.S. and she joined us on our walking trip down to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, home of the giant reclining Buddha. As in true form with my travels, Buddha's feet were covered in scaffolding, ruining the devine feeling it was suppose to give you. Nevertheless, it was an impressive structure and temple site overall.

We took a casual pace down to the riverside to see the giant stupa on opposite side of the river and that was also covered in scaffolding. Laughing our way along, we stopped for a fancy kebab on the waterfront shopping promenade before heading through a few markets and trying fresh fruit and shakes. Seriously, the fruit options and flavours here are fantastic.

I took the guys down to the political monument and Queen's shrine before we headed back to Khaosan Road for a well earned beer. We covered some heavy issues - the Pol Pot Regime and the British use of the 'C' word - before Kel, Dave and I had to head off to get our bus to the bus station.

I had a little bit of banter with the hotel receptionist who had been great since I arrived in Bangkok and we boarded the 516 to Sai Tai bus station in the south west of the city, over the river. The bus was packed and we were squashed in like sardines. Thankfully it was only a twenty minute or so journey.

At the bus station, which Kel said resembled an airport terminal with its check in desks and shops, we made our way down to platform ten to buy our tickets. Two drunk men were arguing near the exit and one pushed the other down into a massage chair in frustration. It was one of the more awkward fights I've witness in my twenty seven years.

The bus rolled up at five and we jumped on, settling at the back. It had great leg room, welcomed air con and despite a drip from the roof onto me and Kel every so often, it was a pleasant journey.

Kanchanaburi was thriving at night when we arrived in the bus station and we grabbed some street soup before being whisked away to our hostel, The Sugar Cane in a Tuk Tuk. 

Despite what the photo shows, Kel did not like these noodles

Dave eats anything

The huts were nicely situated on the riverbank and after a quick beer, we walked fifteen minutes back down the strip to have a few beers. 

The connect four kids. Love that shirt!

In the second bar, we ended up playing pool and Connect Four with the bar staff - some women, some lady boys - and we selected our choices of Aviici on the music system, much to their delight.

The walk back was interrupted by the customary stop at a 7 Eleven before we retreated to our huts ready for the early start in the morning. We were heading to the Elephant Haven Sanctuary. To say I was excited would be putting it mildly.