Advertisement
Published: February 8th 2014
We got to go to a local school today. They had all these stations set up, bracelet making, Thai massage, traditional dance and a little refreshment hut. I spoke to a teacher for a while and he told me there are five different tribes of children who attend. Some live in the mountains and the bus them in
from Monday to Friday to go to school and stay in dorms. They teach them life skills so they can have a job when they are done with school. Having us there helps them practice dealing with foreigners. This afternoon after watching the elephants bathe in the river (I could never grow tired of that) I held a yoga class on the skywalk overlooking the beautiful property. We did a gentle relaxing class and the breeze was gently blowing and the temperature was perfect and these Thai birds were singing in the background and the river was running next to us... It was pretty magical, we all knew it was special, and had lots of gratitude throughout the class. After dinner there are Thai ladies who give massages that come to the park every night. For 200baht (about 7.00 bucks) you can get an hour Thai
massage. So I decided to go get one. We are all laying on the ground and my lady starts my deal. Then there are shrieks and screams from the ladies gecko! Gecko! (All in in a really heavy Thai accent) there in fact was a gecko on the floor and they were terrified. I got up and scooped the poor little thing up and put him outside. They laughed and laughed... It's interesting, when Lek (the woman who started this place) moved here the villagers were not happy and wanted her out. They did not think it was right because she was a woman and Apparently some powerful guy had buried teak logs that were very valuable and apparently illegal logging on the land that she bought. He bought the villagers loyalty but not for long. Lek started hiring the villagers and doing things to help the village thrive. The elephant nature park employs many of them now and they love her. Oh and I have a revision to make, it wasn't Bob barker who donated the money to buy the property, it was Bert Von moer (I think that is his last name) On my way to bed I
Elephant sleeping
She was snoring :)stopped to watch the elephants in there shelter, some sleep right outside my room. I could barely see, but made out one of the elephants laying down sleeping. She was so deep in sleep she was snoring through her trunk! It was soo cool! This morning, there she was still in sleep. Sleeping cuteness must be photographed (I've been known to sneak up on my grandson sleeping as well) haha she was still snoozing this morning! This morning we got to go on an elephant walk through the park to see the different families of elephants. The males are kept separate as they are less predictable, and in nature they don't usually hang out with the families once they are a certain age. It is usually a mom, a couple of aunties and a baby or two. It was really cool to walk the property and hear more stories about the elephants. At lunch I ran into the woman who gave our elephant talk and she said she's take me to observe the elephants, just the two of us. What a treat! She is also a tattoo artist and needed to stop by her house (a shack on in the park) to show someone some elephant designs for a tattoo. I had a fleeting moment of "how cool to get an elephant tattoo while I'm here" it has past. Then Jodi and I went for our walk. She told me all the stories of the elephants relationships which sounds like a soap opera, this one got jealous when that one had a baby and so and so was soo excited to be an auntie! She knew who was who in the zoo, that's for sureI was able to get some great pictures and really get to watch and observe them without a crowd, it was great! One of the guys and his girlfriend that were volunteering this week also taught an impromptu Korean martial arts class. It was really fun, it has been nice to have everyone chipping in there own interesting skill sets. We learned some self defense moves that I can't wait to try out on Dave! HahaWent back for a foot and shoulder massage
tonight. At the end she asked me something, ( not sure what) then proceeded to braid my hair as well! A pleasant surprise. The elephants all have a Bon fire built for them at night to keep them warm and keep the bugs away. As you walk by at night you can see there siluettes standing in front of the fire keeping themselves warm in the chilly Thai nights.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.16s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 5; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0834s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Mom
non-member comment
Elephants
Jen I dont think I have ever seen anyone sleep so soundly! How are you going to leave that place? What wonderful memories y ou will have.. Went out tor Thai food last nite and sent you a pic of me and pad thai. Miss you lots but know you are following y our heart and that makes me happy! Hope you know Tim got a job!!!!!!!!! Starts Mon Love you Mom