Temples, Blue Pants and Elephants,oh my

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Well it has been 2 days since our ast entry and we are back in Kanchanaburi after spending the night at the Elephant and Friends elephant rehabilitation camp. We have just booked a night on a floating hotel room on the river Kwai for $250 baht. Thats about 8 bucks!
We visited the grand palace and emerald buddha 2 days ago which was ok but definetely touristy and crowded. They made me change my shorts into these loaner blue scrubs which looked pretty obnoxious (see pics).
After dodging scammers and tuk tuk drivers for the past 2 days, we are definitely getting acclimated to the sights and sounds of Thailand. After the palace we went back to the hotel via water bus and got massages at our hotel for about $30/hr which is pretty steep for around here. After that we loaded up and went to this mall on the skytrain to replace our lost iPod, since I need it to store photos. This mall, called Siam Square, had lamborghini and ferrari 'shops' and they were unvieling a new aston martin so there were a ton of photographers there. We grabbed a bite and then headed to the hotel and off to bed. We were first thing in the morning and grabbed a taxi all the way to Kanchanaburi, then took the city bus after grabbing some lunch from the dreaded street vendors. Glad to report no ill affects as of this moment. Then caught the local bus out to the Elephant camp, which unceremoniously dropped us on the side of some highway in
the middle of nowhere. Hiked about 1/2 mi. into the jungle towards the river and found the camp which is little more than 4 huts and 5 elephants. After settling into our thatched roof, mosquito net room, I volunteered to do some work helping the camp build a garden along the path. This meant shoveling elephant poo and burned poo ashes into a wheelbarrow and spreading it for planting. Looks like my inlaws were right about what I'd be doing there 😊 Either way, it was a great time and I feel good about the work I was doing to help them in their cause. After that came elephant ride/washing time and we headed down to the river Kwai to take a swim. The mahoot have trained the elephants to dunk their entire heads under water with you on their back. This means they take you under with them and its a
little like rodeo, since there is nothing to hang onto. After that was over, we headed back for the communal dinner which one of the handlers wives cooks for the camp residents. Other than Amy and myself, there was a lone girl from the UK spending 2 weeks at the camp and a family from Denmark with a 4 yr old girl who was waltzing right up to the elephants and was the first one to get on the back of a particularly large and onery one. When I asked her parents if she was scared, they said no because she had ridden them in India the year before. Spent last night at the camp in our hut and then caught the bus back to Kanchanburi. As I am writing this Amy has booked us travel to the Tiger camp where we get to hang with some 'domesticated' tigers. It is gonna be sweet.

More to come, hope all is well and we cant wait to hear from you guys. Dad, Jerry, Mike, Chris..I need your suit measurements (waist, inseam, coat) since I can get a complete suit made in Bangkok for ~$50.

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Comments

[Mike]

Xmas
Hey guys, thanks for the cake couple, we really plan on using it for everything! Couple things I'm curious about: 1. The food, how is it? 2. What is the temperature and humidity? 3. Are you guys able to barter prices down? 4. As I am sure there is a McDonalds and I don't expect for you guys to eat there, could you take a peek in and see if they sell a sandwhich with a Thai twist (England=McLamb)? Love to see the posts as things are pretty uneventful in Pullman, however, we are looking forward to a New Years fete themed the 70's and fondue. Cheers, Mike

[Damnthing]

at least I'm not the only person shoveling poop
Awesome! Sounds like you guys are having a blast!