Day two of our action packed tour continues! On the menu: an appetizer of elephant riding, a main course of elephant bathing, and for dessert? A slow return via bamboo raft to a waterside restaurant. Diners ready? Let's eat, Thai (adventure) style! ^_^
My brother wanted to try riding an elephant, as the symbolic animal of Thailand is naturally, the elephant. They have been used in battles, as workers (carting logs from jungles) and for transport (carrying Kings in days past). This tour included a 30 minute jungle trek via elephant. I'd ridden them before (in India and Thailand), so I knew the feeling, which is to say, I've been lurched about before. (laugh) But I was unprepared for beauty and stillness of the jungle...
On the path...
The view at the top of a hill (lovely, no?):
Our driver:
As I can speak Thai, I spoke with our elephant's driver. I was surprised to learn he was from Burma, working in the Kingdom. When I asked if he enjoyed his job, he said: "No, it's boring." (laugh) Well, I appreciated his honesty. He asked why I can speak Thai, where I am from, what I do in Thailand and we chatted about Burma too. All that chatting paid off, because near the end of our trek, the driver jumped down and asked for my camera. He then took many photos for my travel companion and I (all free!). Lucky!!
Our cute elephant and my travel partner, a nice lady from New Zealand:
Next, the lady from NZ and her two daughters paid for a "Bonus" -- bathing/ swimming with the elephants. I asked if I could follow them to the river to watch. The photos show the fun.
Into the water:
Elephant shower, activated!
Up, on the trunk....
...and tossed over the elephant! ^_^
The lady from NZ said it was so tiring as you had to hang on pretty tight while the animals dove under the water. What might have been tiring for the humans, seemed like great fun for the elephants. The big animals looked to be really enjoying themselves.
Finally, our tour would take a slow, leisurely pace, with a trip down the River Kwai in a bamboo raft. For those who are wondering, the raft really is made of bamboo!
Our raft:
We had two drivers, both from Burma (I also talked with these guys in Thai -- they were both very funny!):
Driver #1 (steering):
Driver #2 (paddling and lookout):
We drifted down the river, silently. Our whole group, which had been quite chatty before, became hushed to enjoy the stillness...
River view:
A passing long tail boat:
After about 20 minutes of travel, we caught up to a suspension bridge. Our raft stopped just before the bridge, so we could disembark and walk over the bridge! Wow!!
The bridge:
Bridge entrance...looks a little...um..unsafe?
My feet and the crazy bridge:
View from the bridge's mid point. My heart was just pounding in fear here...haha:
Kanchanaburi is located 3 hours by van/car outside of Bangkok. Several national parks, the famous bridge on the river Kwai, elephant trekking and a host of other activities can be found here. For more information, visit HERE.
In case you're wondering, this two day tour, which included accommodation, all transport, and all the activities listed on the blog, cost $120 per person. ^_^
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