Up Early And We Were On Our Way,

well 4 of us were,

Dad, Lyn, Daisy May and myself were all going here,

 to the jungle to go elephant trekking, we have been to a few of the treks here, but this was a new one to me,

 but I spotted this nice stand of bamboo, so a quick picture,

 then time to mount up,

 Daisy May and myself on one,

 Dad and Lyn on the other,

 it was smiles all the way,

 as we started for the jungle,

 naturally the pathways are easy to see and follow,

 after going through the clearing,

 the jungle started to close in,

 we then made an abrupt right turn,

 where there was no path at all,

 both elephants clearing the way using their trunks to pull away creepers and vines in front of them,

 but no sooner had we passed than the jungle seemed to close in again,

 I spotted this plant growing on the side of a tree,

 and so did the mahout as he stood on the head of the elephant to collect it,

 you would not think it was easy to loose an elephant, but just 30 paces or so away and it has almost disappeared,

 Lyn and Dad happy and smiling,

 as Daisy May and myself were, both following behind,

 we had by now picked up another trail,

 then the going got tough, low gear and 4 wheeled drive to get up this steep bank,

 another quick stop to pick a plant or two,

 we were then back in the jungle,

 until we came to a clearing,

 and time for a photo shoot, although I am not sure if Daisy May was happy about the elephant being driver-less, as it started to wander off on it's own accord,

 Dad and Lyn's elephant was much better behaved and stayed where it was left,

 we then continued the trek,

 again off the beaten path,

 but we soon rejoined it,

 it was at this point our elephant became a little skittish,

 way in the distance a back-hoe or JCB as we call them in the UK had started work,

 the mahout said that Solme the elephant we were on gets angry and upset when the back-hoe is working, 

 great, that's all we needed, a hysterical elephant,

 but as soon as we neared the camp the back-hoe that was clearing some ground stopped working, it appears that the driver knows that the noise upsets this one elephant so only works when it is out on a trek,

 we had bought some bananas for Daisy May to feed the elephants,

 but was understandably a little nervous of these great beasts,

 but she soon got the hang of it,

 no worries with Lyn though, with that we made our way back to Paddy's Palms with for myself a real appetite as I did not eat a breakfast, well it is Sunday, so I am looking forward to a Sunday roast,

 I may have mentioned that in some areas we blazed a new trail through the jungle, this meant that the mahout had to keep using his stick to move creepers and vines out of our way, as we also had to, this became apparent when I arrived back at Paddy's Palms and removed my hat and found a good portion of the jungle on top of it! so a change of clothes, I smelt a little like an elephant as Diana remarked and then downstairs past the pool,

and into the main dining area, but first outside,

all new decking had been installed since our last visit, 

 with new chairs and tables,

inside it had remained the same, 

 a homely mix of Irish pub memorabilia,

a few spring rolls for the kids to snack on,

a prawn cocktail for myself,

'Cheers!',

just Diana and myself were having lunch,

 roast beef for Diana, lamb for myself, neither of us could finish our meal, the servings were so large,

I went back to the room to make a start on today's post,

whilst everyone else went shopping,

and there was a lot of shops to chose from,

so many bargains,

but what to chose first?

oh the agony of choice!

shopping over the walk back,

past Tesco Lotus to buy a few beers for tomorrow,

 past a few of the many resorts,

nearly home and time to get ready for the evening,

 and then here we were,

 for a drink at Paddy's Palms,

 and a bite to eat,

 poppadoms and chips,

 and a Heineken and lime,

 but then for us it all went wrong, a football game started, the volume was so loud that Diana could not even understand what her sister was saying across the table, so we decided to drink outside but it was the same there, 

 so we moved to the White Elephant, next door where it was even louder! we were obliviously in the minority as both bars were packed with people watching a team called WIC or something but for us what a total waste of time,

 but sanity returned when we crossed the road,

 to the Finley's bar named after the owner, Kaz's son Finley, we were also welcomed by Steve,

 and this is the sign to look for, where you are not deafened by mindless commentary about football games or other such nonsense,

 the family called by and then went home whilst Diana and myself were the guests of Kaz and Steve, who as it happened both hailed from Portsmouth, after a beer or three both Diana and myself wobbled our way back to Paddy's Palms where we were then off to bed.