Elephant riding

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This was another thing on the to-do list forThailand, and even though it turned out to be much quicker, simpler and cheaper than the diving course, it still was fun. In fact, everything is very simple – read the guidebook, look up the elephant place website, fill out the form, and they come and pick you up at the time you indicated in the form, and drive you to the riding place. There you climb on a 2m high platform and from it – into a small basket on an elephant’s back. Here we are, and off he goes. First half of the way the elephant was walking uphill, and the feeling was quite relaxing, rocking slowly up and down through the jungle. The “driver” guy walks behind the elephant, the guy’s hat indiscreetly stating “Tip 300-500 baht”. We leave the forest and get into a small viewing area, overlooking the sea. So beautiful. Way back downhill feels more weird but not too extreme, the guy hitchhikes Christian’s camera and takes lots of pics of us, and… we are back to the loading platform. Off the elephant, pick up some green bananas, and feed them to the happy trunks. A nice walk back to the beach to chew a nutella pancake and watch sunset. Bliss.

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