We Were Out Of The Front Door,

before 08.00 this morning,

 which is pretty good going considering we only have one shower and we all ate breakfast,

 not to mention we were all on holiday,

guess who has a selfie stick?

but this picture is hand held,

and this is where we are going,

this should give you a clue,

Nong Nooch tropical gardens, or Nature Camp as it is some times called,

after paying at the booth we made our way into the park, it is 250 baht for Thai nationals and holders of Thai drivers licenses, 500 baht for non-Thai drivers license holders and tourist,

we took a picture of the topiary at the rear of the car park,

the great thing about visiting here,

is that every year there is some thing new, like these zebras that Daisy May and Dioshane are sitting on,

also shades of the film Madagascar, 

this lemur looks remarkably like King Julien, if you do not know who I mean you have not seen the film,

also new for this visit, chameleons,

and penguins, could they also be from the movie?

going back to the chameleons,

they were a riot of colour,

but then you could paint them any colour wish, well they are chameleons!

and it almost looks like this flightless bird has been painted by a demented artist, a cassowary, it looks almost dinosaur like,

well we had to feed the elephants, 

we were almost the first to look around, so they must have been hungry, Daisy May is not to sure about them,

but Dioshane has seen it all before,

a second try for Daisy,

make sure you read the warning,

Daisy being given a helping hand from Auntie Diana,

we then made our way through the aquarium section,

past the clothes stall,

I may treat myself to one of these shirts later, I was already sweating like a sweaty thing and I did not bring a change of shirt with me,

a last feed of the elephants,

and we were on our way,

and this is the advantage of being early,

hardly a soul about,

you will have to wait an age later in the day not to get some one else in the picture,

the plant shop is here,

at the bottom of the butterfly hill,

called that because the flowers and pathways make up the shape of a butterfly's wing,

a part of the garden is decorated with these corn cobs, it always amazes me that the local population of birds does not descend en mass and eat the lot,

as I was making my way to catch the family up,

this little chap scuttled across the path,

and decided to pose in the early morning sun,

and sat there for quite a time,

meanwhile at the top of the hill it was time to strike the pose,

so I zoomed in,

I then noticed that the lizard had moved, but did not give up his territory until I was almost on top of him,

I took this picture looking over the main area,

turning to the left,

these palm trees,

were a riot of colour almost dripping with their seeds,

we walked along the raised walkways, with just a tad of imagination you could almost dream you were in a untamed tropical jungle walk way, but without the cuts, bruises, bites, blood, sweat, tears, broken bones, fever and leaches that are de rigueur for most jungle adventures, I have just read that back, take a couple of things away, add burns and it is starting to look not unlike one of my usual trips to our kitchen,

this is also, well for me anyway, the fun of coming back here every so often, what looks like a normal palm that I would walk by so often and not notice a thing different,

but look just a little closer,

and there it is, a seed pod, come back next in the next week or two or if we had have been here a week or two earlier and we would have missed it,

more new animals for this visit, deer or kwāng (กวาง),

the mammoth park has now been completed,

as we continue on the walkway a look down at the work in progress on the deer installation,

we continued over the road,

where we spotted this garage,

on two floors,

it was huge,

the cars on display superb,

I stood on the doorway looking at the No Entry sign,

when one of the staff came out of the office and said, 'do you want to take pictures?', 'yes', 'then come in' we did not need inviting twice,

the range of care was staggering,

at the front door this GT40 took pride of place,

but the were so many other super cars to look at,

in all shapes,

and colours,

the list,

and diversity of the cars,

and three wheelers,

like this Morgan,

were almost endless,

Caterham 7's abounded,

and I was astounded to see a Ariel Atom here, like him or loath him this is Jeremy (Charles Robert) Clarkson's take on the mighty Atom, quote, 'I have never, ever, driven anything that accelerates so fast', and believe me he has driven more than a few fast cars in his time!

moving along the line up, 

I came to another Morgan, this time a 4 wheeler,

a brace of Lotuses, is that a word?

and a very early immaculate outside seamed mini, with original Rostyle wheels,

and how about this for neat, a matching trailer!

not to be outdone,

here is the Smart version,

now here is a tip, unless you own a really, really fast car do not attempt to out drag this 3 wheeler at the traffic lights,

because if you do this is all you will see of it, with a 6 cylinder BMW engine or the faster 1,400 cc. Kawasaki engine, it will leave you scrabbling in the dust,

back to the park,

101 dalmatians,

one thing out here you really do need,

is shade,

or cover from the rain,

so even the sunshades or rain covers have bonsai growing on them,

we then came upon a work in progress,

like some aphids growing along a branch,

these were being painted as we watched,

and here were some that were finished earlier,

and this was how they started,

but before that a concrete dome placed on a piece of rebar,

the rebar placed,

like the roller coaster from hell,

not long now till it is all finished,

and here is some we did earlier,

we continued on our walk around the park, Dad and Diana looking on,

as we found these mountain pigs,

lots of them,

this one giving me evils,

we were now at one of the high vantage points,

and what a nice view,

as the family looked on,

we made our way past the lizard wall,

with the big lizard atop,

back through the jungle canopy,

and Butterfly Hill,

when I noticed,

there always has to be one that sticks out in the crowd,

strangely enough in both directions,

which ever way I look!

on to the show,

past all of the souvenir stalls,

and of course those that sell clothes,

and there are lots of them,

to the main event,

the cultural show,

that showcases music and dancing,

from all aspects,

of Thai culture,

some so fantastical,

like the butterfly lady,

to Thai boxing,

this show making the crowd roar with laughter,

as the fighters with miss placed hits floor the referee!

back to the show and spectacle,

as beautifully dressed,

dancers,

entertain the audience,

all of the time the choreographed show, 

does not miss a beat,

speaking of beats,

the drummers are next,

followed by a traditional Thai dance,

where a tap on the ankle can be really painful as the dancers have to keep in time with the beat of the bars,

then the highlight of the show,

as a fight that may have been seen centuries ago is reenacted,

mahouts on fighting elephants,

engage each other in combat, red verses,

blue,

the battle continues,

as spears are crossed,

eventually the show is over,

and we make our way to the outside arena,

Mum and Dad really enjoying themselves,

first in to the air,

Lyn,

who gave the elephant a good cuddle,

enough already!

next up was Daisy May,

who was happy here,

but was not to sure about the next bit,

but was alight here,

and sort of here,

but then it all went downhill,

but then out of the grasp of the elephants all was well,

next it was Dad's turn,

nothing was going to faze him,

even being patted on the head by one,

but then the big one,

up, up, up and away!

the show then started,

as the elephants entered the arena,

and the trainers took a bow,

first up a dart throwing contest,

each elephant taking a  turn,

to pop some balloons at the far end of the arena,

and who knew that elephants knew how to ride a bike?

or paint for that matter,

but they can.

just look at this 'T' shirt,

as colours are being added,

stroke,

or I should say dab by dab,

and after the show, it is yours to buy,

next football,

here is a tip, do not get in the way of these footballs, they really pack a punch,

basketball next,

not as dangerous as football,

but you still do not want to stop a shot, especially this close,

aerobics next,

well that is what I guess they are called,

using hula-hoops for exercise,

then the fun begins,

it is considered lucky,

if an elephant steps over you,

better still if it gives you a massage,

and here is a lucky guy,

a one on one,

elephant massage, by trunk,

and by foot,

twice! well I guess he was double lucky!

but here is some one that could have been very unlucky, the lady next to me kept putting her selfie stick so near to the elephants trunk it nearly grabbed it a few times which she found so amusing, I wonder what she would have thought if the elephant had actually grabbed it!

we next made a move to the photographic studio,

where Mum and Dad had a few pictures taken,

as well as Daisy May and Lynn, all of the above were taken by the professional studio that I scanned from their original 10 X 8s,

these are a few I took myself,

using my Panasonic Lumix,

after the professional was over, but if you want to use your own camera as well it is another 200 baht per shot,

the cost per picture to be made up in costume is 500 baht per person or 900 baht for two people,

the outside of the studio,

it is easy to find as you pass it one the way to and from the elephant show,

the cost of pictures,

we made our way through the stalls,

so many nice things to buy,

but we had to resist,

even past the sweet stall,

I missed these earlier on, VIP tours in your own car, both 2 seater,

and 4 seaters available with a driver for hire,

we then made a move back for home, 

past the aquariums,

but first,

a little bit of shopping, a toy for Daisy May,

the map of the park, to find it drive out of Pattaya going towards Sattahip, it is about 15 kilometres outside of Pattaya,

naturally before we went home we had to stop off,

at Sweensens,

for a ice cream each,

which we all enjoyed,

and banana shake for myself however,

a banana split for Mum,

and lots of chocolate for Sandio,

should I say 'Cheers!', for a shake?,

Daisy May and Mum do not care, eyes down and tuck in, after our evening meal Mick called round for a glass of wine or three and a chat as he had just arrived a few days ago, after we said our goodbyes we watched 2012, than a couple from TMN, and we were all off to bed, we all have an early start tomorrow.