March 16th, 2009

When I woke up this morning at 6 with my roommate Meriel, we both showered and got our bags ready for the day.  We headed outside to go to breakfast and were both shocked at what we saw.  Because we had arrived when it was dark last night we didn’t really get to see the beauty of where our hotel was.  The hotel was surrounded by gorgeous green mountains.  I don’t think I have ever seen so much green in my life perhaps besides Mauritius; Thailand was more of a tropical jungle feel every where you looked. 

 

After breakfast we got on a bus and were told we would have a 2 and half our drive to our destination where we ride elephants, do a little hiking, and some canoeing.  Although the 2 and half hours turned into slightly over three and it was boiling hot inside the bus.   I think on my bus alone we had two girls get motion sickness.  The large group of us got split into two groups: group A and B.  Jeff, Linds K., Lauren (my new friend who goes to UCSB), and Bobby (another new friend I made on the bus ride) were all in group b so I didn’t really get to see them much.  But Erica and Shaena (she was on my India trip) were in group A with me so I had a few friends to hang out with. 

 

Once we arrived after the very long drive through what seemed like miles and miles of jungle we stepped off the bus into the middle of the jungle with a few huts surrounding us.  With in group A we were split up again into three groups, luckily Shaena and I were in the same group so we could ride the canoe’s and elephant together. 

 

My group first went on a 30 minute canoe ride, we had someone to paddle us so it was very relaxing to sit and take in all the surroundings.  The scenery was beautiful and we stopped every now and then to listen to sounds, while our tour guide showed us fig trees, bamboo, and frogs in the trees. 

 

After our canoe ride we then had a beautiful lunch in a hut, where we then put our scraps in a bucket for the cats in the area to eat.  Once everyone was done with lunch we were next going on our ELEPHANT RIDE!! Shaena and I were the first to go.  It wasn’t what I expected and I thought we would be sitting right on top of the elephant although there were seats almost like a saddle that had been strapped down to the elephant.  For about another 30 or so minutes we traveled through the jungle atop our elephant enjoying the lovely scenery.  I never realized what silly and slow creatures elephants were.  When we got back from our elephant ride we were able to buy a basket of fruit to feed the elephants.  Besides the fact that I was standing in the jungle in Thailand this was my FAVORITE part of my day.  I bought a basket of fruit for Shaena and I to share.  We started feeding the elephants and its trunk came right out to me like a vacuum I could here it trying to reach for the fruit in my hand until I reached out handing it to its trunk.  The elephant then grabbed it ate in a quick second and stuck his trunk right out again.  For the next ten minutes we took pictures and fed the elephants.  It was funny to see that each elephant had a personality.  One elephant didn’t like the pineapple and would spit it out immediately while another elephant hated bananas and refused them as well.  I was bummed when our basket was empty but was ready for the next part of our adventure in the jungle.

 

After the elephants we got in the bus for a quick 5 minutes that dropped us off at a trail head where we were going to go on a 30 minute hike through the jungle and to look at the rubber trees and see how the locals use them.  Before our hike could begin though we had to cross a river on a bamboo boat that we used a rope to pull ourselves across the river one.  Only about 8 of us could go on the bamboo boat at a time to keep it afloat.  While I waited my turn on the bamboo boat there was 10 butterflies surrounding some nearby flowers so I took a few quick photos, before getting on the bamboo boat.  Once across the river we started out treck.  At th is point it was getting very hot and were all drenched in sweat.  After a short walk we ended up at one of the rubber trees where our guide showed us how they collect the rubber to be used later for all kinds of goods.  On our walk back to the bus we had to cross the river one more time although this time there was no bamboo boat so we had to take our shoes off and cross the river on foot.  This was such a great and unique experience like everything else I had done today. 

 

It was perfect timing as we were getting on the bus to head back to Phuket and our hotel we were hit with a rainstorm.  I think only 30 seconds after I sat down on the bus it started to rain the hardest I have seen it rain this entire voyage.  It was actually a really nice ending to such a beautiful day to drive back through the jungle and see the rain hitting all the green trees, it truly made me feel like I was in the tropical jungle experiencing a surprise monsoon.  The bus ride back was also soothing with the rain and was much cooler than our ride there so thankfully nobody got motion sickness on the way back. 

 

When we got back to the hotel Erica, Carolyn, and I met up with Cally (my roommate from India) Linds K., Hollis, and Emily for dinner.  There was a large group of people going to get Mexican food which sounded amazing but we decided that a smaller group would be best for getting our dinner out fast.  So we made our way up the street from our hotel and again found a restaurant outside to sit and enjoy dinner.  I ate a meal out of a pineapple which was amazing I believe it was fried rice with chicken but my plate was a pineapple it may have been better than the pad thai I had last night. 

 

After a nice dinner with the girls we kept walking up to Patong street to meet up with all the kids who had gone to get Mexican food, Kelsey, Eric and Andy (a group of kids who go to Boulder and other SAS kids).  We finally made it onto Patong and again walked the street amazed at the many prostitutes, dancers, and people louring us to go to what they called a “ping pong show” or a sex show.  We first went to a few bars alongside the street, then a club to do some dancing, where Kelsey and I met two guys from Austria.  One of them even bought me a rose, they were really nice.  I also met a woman from Australia me and her instantly clicked and hung out laughing and talking for a while, we even exchanged email addresses to keep in touch and exchange the couple pictures we took on her camera together.  When we finally left the dance club it was pretty late and were heading back to the hotel.  Although the boys convinced a few of us girls to go into a Go Go dance club with them, what I assume looks like a strip club in the U.S.  The only reason us girls said okay was because it was Erics 21^st birthday.  After the Go Go show we went into one last place where we were told there would be a ping pong show.  I was really nervous but curious at the same time.  We went in and again it looked similar to what I would think a strip club in the U.S. would look like although they were setting up things for the show!  A waiter came up and showed us the drink menu it was 500 baht for a beer which is about 15 dollars and Kelsey. Courtney (goes to Boulder and I met her in India)   and I decided we would leave because we didn’t want to pay 15 dollars to watch a show we weren’t too excited to see to begin with.  I heard a few things from the boys when they came out of the show and was actually glad I didn’t stay. 

 

We finally made our way back to the hotel and to bed to wake up at 6:30 tomorrow morning for a  day of canoeing through caves.