Elephants have been an important part of Thai culture for many centuries. Apart from their use in logging, they were use as cavalry in battle. In the many wars with Burma both the Thai and Burmese kings rode on battle elephants. Thousands of battle elephants were employed by both sides during the 300 years of intermittent war. White elephants were traditionally an important symbol of royal power in Thailand, Burma, Laos and Cambodia. The number of white elephants held by a king was a symbol of his power and prowess. A white elephant was on the flag of Siam until 1916. In 1989 logging was banned in Thailand. Huge floods had been exasperated by soil erosion and deforestation caused by the logging industry. This lead to unemployment for the elephants and their mahouts (keepers), leaving them ... read more

I had a long journey leaving Dumaguete in the Philippines and a very sentimental one. I was sad to leave my friends. Bill and Ivy had taken me into their home like a sister and we made a really strong bond. I certainly will have them in a very special place in my heart if I don’t get to come back but I know that I will soon. Bill’s car finally took the shit and the transmission sounded like it cracked when they were going to take me to the bus station. The situation sucked but we had a mission, I had to cross the water into the next island to catch a 5hr bus to get to the airport. Ivy went in her motorbike to fish a trike for P30 to take me and my ... read more

Going to Siguijor from Dumaguete is really easy by ferry. There is a slow ferry that takes about 1hr and a half and the fast ferry about 45min. The fast is 140PHP per person and the slow 100PHP. We took the fast ferry on the way there and the slow on the way back. The last ferry to return to the island is at 5:30 but its never on time. Tourist would rent a bike and go around for the day. They island has hikes, waterfalls and white sandy beaches with crystal clear turquoise water. Bill and Ivy rented a bike for 500P to go see her dad for her birthday and they sent me in another bike to go explore Tabut Sanctuary of Coco Grove Resort which is a high end Dive Resort that cators ... read more

Dive 1 Ph- Dauin Sanctuary. I dove with Bills tech gear and a back plate im not used to. But it was ok because it was our gear test dive. The equipment eventhough is in great shape has never been used. We entered the water in front of Harold’s shack. There is a small shop with compressors and tanks for rent, a well-built concrete camera and gear buckets. A few good pressure showers and nice clean bathrooms. I saw a few small pick up trucks for transporting divers back and forward from the site to downtown. We could see Apo Island right across the water and that was our navigational mark straight south. The bottom of the area is volcanic sand dark not gray but brown and silty. We swam south passed the buoys where the ... read more

Monday night was my packing night. I divided my belongings in 2: half was going to stay in Thailand in storage and the other half was going to be with me in the next leg of my trip: the Philippines. Once I had 2/3 of my stuff sorted I had to take a break. I sent a quick message to my classmates to go celebrate my last night in Thailand. Last minute decision and I was thinking to repeat one of the rooftop bars I had already been to. Scott suggested to go to an Sky bar called Lebua…but he worn me, one of his friends told him it was expensive. I googled it really quick and found that it was the Sky Bar where the movie “Hangover 2” was filmed at. I was sold. “Let’s ... read more