It Was A Special Day Today,

it was Sandio's birthday,

after wishing him a happy birthday and telling him that a present awaited his return to Pattaya we started breakfast, just then a group of children came into the restaurant with a lady speaking English but with a Filipino accent, Diana looked round and was surprised to see a friend of ours from The Mercy Centre in Pattaya, none other than Lhen-Lhen, who has been helping there for so many years,

then even more children arrived, they were all here on holiday, unknown to many big hearted Eddie, the owner of Paddy's Palms, is also like ourselves a supporter of the centre, well every year he arranges for all of the kids and helpers at the centre to have a free holiday here a a gift, what a really generous guy,

then we were on our way,

along still deserted streets,

if you have never been here it is almost impossible to convey,

how steep and twisty some of the roads are,

we took a turning off of the main road and arrived,

today we were going elephant trekking,

did I look like a tourist? never!

and here are some of the transports,

we made our way to one of the local pools that had been left when the dry season stopped the rivers from flowing, but on the way noticed these growing high in the trees, durians,

I had always thought that they grew near the ground on the trunk of the tree like jackfruit does, but no durians grow high up in the leaf canopy, I would hate to have one of these land on my head when walking under a tree!

note to self, if I ever get involved in a food fight, an unpeeled durian will be my food of choice,

a few years ago I remembered reading about a expensively produced coffee bean that had been ingested then expelled by a type of civet cat, I then read about elephant dung coffee, where again the bean had been eaten than expelled by the animal, 

so here is an idea for a enterprising entrepreneur, naturally occurring elephant dung mushrooms, I spotted these at the side of the road, don't laugh, with the right marketing I bet someone will by them!

we made our way down to the dry riverbed, one elephant at the front,

and one at the rear,

I am not sure that the family were looking forward to this,

but at least they could have a laugh at me,

so I guess it was all up to me,

no takers there then,

and this was the elephant that needed it's early morning scrub,

so shoes and top off,

and in I went,

I know it was not, but he water felt freezing cold when I first got in,

say hello first,

climb aboard,

receive scrubbing brush,

and start work,

hi-ho, hi-ho and off to work we go, or similar,

dismount as elegantly as possible,

which was not very elegant as I basically feel off,

and made my way back to shore,

the elephant did not even say thanks,

great fun,

I am not sure if this video will work, (try not to look at the elephant poo!),

we made our way back to camp,

with some of the workers children following us,

Dioshane and Sandio definitely thought it was all a bit mad,

we made our way back to camp accompanied by the elephants,

the sign to look out for if you want to take the trip, 

this is the camps card, the lady in reception very kindly arranged it all the cost of the 2 hour tour was 1,200 baht, but the tour had only just begun,

whilst waiting for our elephants to be readied I noticed one of the camp workers had been making some material,

using a basic wooden weaver,

then we were off,

the girls first,

then Sandio and myself, Mum did not fancy a ride on a elephant,

we made our way into the forest,

the girls all giggles and screams,

whilst Sandio and myself hung on with grim determination,

we then arrived at a down hill section,

where four wheel drive came into play,

we made our way along the river bed,

then up the other side,

as we were leaving one part of the forest we came upon this chap armed with a slingshot,

he must have been pretty good at it as he was knocking these berries down from the forest canopy,

it is difficult to convey the size of these tees but they are enormous,

every so often there would be a gap in the canopy where a tree had fallen, allowing sunlight through to give a nice dappled effect on the elephants flank,

a quick stop for a picture,

I noticed this small lizard on a rock, but even as slow as an elephant walks I could not get a better shot,

many of the trees have vines and creepers growing over them,

it is difficult to put in to words, but I really enjoyed being here, 

I know the tour is contrived and thousands of people have been here before, but well I just liked it,

then it was our turn at elephant handling,

easy-peasy!

but the girls decided not to give it a try,

but they still had a good time,

meanwhile we were making good progress,

we were coming near to the end of the tour,

I am pretty sure that we all enjoyed the ride, 

we made our way back across the dried river bed,

and to the road that leads back towards the camp,

we pasted through a few rubber tree plantations,

each tree with its own sap collecting cup attached to it, 

then back into the jungle,

for another 10 minuets or so,

then shoes back on,

and time to feed the elephants,

Diana was not too sure about this,

but all you have to do is hold out the banana, the elephant does the rest!

the camps information and ticket hut,

it appears that while we were on the ride the weaving had been completed,

I am not sure if there is any significance to the pattern,

all of the elephants have names,

with a word about their disposition,

which are all pretty easy to understand,

but for me there was one that was a bit of a worry,

I mean what does it do when it is naughty?

today's food droop had just been made,

the freshly cut crowns of pineapple plants was the main diet for the elephants,

after the food cart went by,

this lizard popped out to have a forage around,

and pretty he looked too,

our tour over we waited for the baht bus to take us back to the hotel,