A semi-serious adventure

avril - octobre 2015
  • Kim and Alex
Une aventure de 186 jours par Kim and En savoir plus
  • Kim and Alex

Liste des pays

  • Hong Kong Hong Kong
  • Vietnam Vietnam
  • Cambodge Cambodge
  • Laos Laos
  • Thaïlande Thaïlande
  • Australie Australie
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  • Afficher tout (10)
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Aucun
  • 37,3kmiles parcourus
Moyens de transport
  • Vol25,7kkilomètres
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  • 180empreintes
  • 186jours
  • 856photos
  • 333j’aime
  • Bangkok

    27 août 2015, Thaïlande ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    A blanket of humidity clung to our skin as the dawn light crept through the net screens of our bedroom. Like a tuning orchestra, noise rose and fell as the city began to wake. New and strange calls sung out from trees whilst the more familiar sound of dogs and poultry echoed in the streets. Finally the chatter of people and the call to Buddhist prayer signalling the start of a new day.

    We showered sweat and DEET from our bodies, only to sweat again before drying. After a breakfast of eggs and fruit accompanied with an aromatic ginger and lime tea, we set out on foot through the hot streets.

    Wandering into the neat gardens of Pom Pra Sumen we met a school teacher who advised us on travel around the city. On his advice we rode a 'tuk tuk' (moped with seating carriage) to Wat Indrawiharn, a Buddhist temple complex known for its 100 foot tall golden Buddha.

    The intricate and ornate designs of the temple were beautiful, rainbow colours and an ever present gold catching the light. Locals prayed at the feet of the Buddha, where incense drifted on the thick still air and smaller statues were covered in offerings of gold flakes.

    Unfortunately our 'tuk tuk' driver then took us to a local tailor who sought to pressure us into buying clothes. In hindsight this is a common scam that started with the 'school teacher' and involved him, the driver and the tailor, working as a collective to get tourists to part with their money. After a firm 'no' we were taken back to our guesthouse and no harm was done. Yet ironically for the 'tuk tuk' driver we would have travelled further (and spent more money) with him if he hadn't tried to pull this stunt.

    Afterwards we went back to travelling on foot, wandering through the streets, including the famous but hugely overrated Khao San Road. Complete with McDonalds, Boots and an Irish themed bar, sunburnt and tattooed tourists wandered past persistent salesmen and scam artists. We saw it, left it and definitely did not buy the t-shirt before moving onto more interesting and pleasant surroundings. Down a quiet lane lined with small food stalls, Kim brought fresh coconut, the seller chopping into it with a large knife to open a hole for a straw to drink the juice. As rain fell with the onset of evening Alex brought skewers of hot marinated chicken, the streets filling with the light and smoke of the food stall cookers.
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  • Bangkok

    28 août 2015, Thaïlande ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We set off through the humid streets, the smells of exhaust, rice and urine mixing on the air. People sat eating fragrant seafood soups for breakfast whilst dogs and cats crept or slept under foot. Lacklustre calls from tuk tuk drivers rang out as we headed for the peace of Wat Pho, a temple complex of ornate structures and gardens renowned for its 46 metre long reclining Buddha.

    We moved as if in slow motion through the decorated halls, the golden Buddhas reflecting the light as the air around us refused to budge. We found cool tranquillity in the shaded calm of one of the temples, sitting down to reflect under the gaze of the Buddha as locals came and went to pray. The intricate detail of the designs in pottery and glass throughout the complex continuing to impress us.

    After a lunch of Pad Thai, freshly cooked in front of us at a street stall, we crossed through the city to another site of religious and cultural significance, The Golden Mount. The deep ring of giant bronze bells sounding out as we past monks in saffron robes to climb the 300 steps around the mount’s coiling staircase. At the summit, the city lay out before us, a contrast of old and modern, new and decaying, 14 million lives moving around us.

    We sampled more street food through the day, Kim dining out on fresh coconut ice-cream and a banana and Nutella pancake. In the evening we met our Stray tour leader, Keo (pronounced Gow), and small group with whom we will leave Bangkok with tomorrow. Like with Kiwi Experience in New Zealand this is a ‘hop-on, hop-off’ bus so the faces will change along the way. So far there is Jacob and Poppy, a couple from New Zealand and England respectively. However Poppy has lived in New Zealand for years and has even appeared on the country’s reality television show, ‘The Bachelor’ (http://www.womansday.co.nz/celebrity/celebrity-…). There is also Thomas from Holland who is travelling for 6 months after finishing school.

    Content with dinner and Chang beers we wandered back through the busy streets full of the lights and smells of cooking street stalls to prepare for us departure from Bangkok in the morning.
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  • Stray - Bangkok to Chiang Mai Part I

    29 août 2015, Thaïlande ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We drove by mini-bus, with Keo and our group, north out of Bangkok to the ancient capital of Ayutthaya. Once a trading and cultural hub, it was sacked in the 17th century by Burmese soldiers, resulting in the capital moving to Bangkok. Sited upon an island surrounded by a river's tributary, the ruinous remains are now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

    Once arrived we boarded a shallow wooden motorboat to course our way through the grey soup, thick with water lilies. Locals fished with rods off the banks as our small boat's engine thumped past, knocking their lines in its wake. The breeze generated by our motion temporarily cooling us.

    At a functioning temple site images of the Buddha were laden with offerings from pilgrims, who thronged around the golden glow of the giant statues under a haze of incense. Squeezing past we could not help but feel our interest in such scenes wane due to our increasing exposure to them. Yet further down river we marvelled at the ruins of an ancient temple. Wandering the scarred terraces of terracotta and crumbling bleached bone, our imaginations were held firmer than by the golden regalia of the functioning temple. Despite the desecration by the Burmese soldiers and centuries of erosion, the design remains impressive. We wondered how different it and the city may have looked now, had it not been destroyed nearly 400 years ago.

    After stepping off the boat and piling into a tuk-tuk, we ventured to the city's market, where hundreds of small stalls sold fresh snacks, fruits, meats and fish. Some were recognisable but largely it was an alien and fascinating display. We ate rambutan, the red alien skin peeling back to reveal a white grape with the texture of a pear. Alex also tried Sum Tam Salad, a very spicy sauce made from the shavings of baby papaya, which kicks at the back of the throat on the way down.

    After a dinner of Yellow Curry and 'Morning Glory' (a stir fry of green vegetables in chilli, garlic and oyster sauce) we took another tuk-tuk out to the train station, where we waited patiently in the still quiet of the platform for our overnight train to Chiang Mai. A distant thunderstorm lit the horizon and a pack of stray dogs broke the silence with a barking chorus.

    When the great diesel train thundered into the station it was far too long for the platform, meaning that we stumbled along the dark track to find our distant carriage by torchlight. Hauling ourselves and rucksacks up into the high steps of the 2nd class carriage, we found our berths within its brightly lit and air conditioned confines. Each with an upper level bunk, ours opposite each other, this was our bed and home until the morning. After our experiences of overnight coaches in Australia it appeared complete luxury.

    The train squealed out of the station and built up a steady 'click-clack' on the tracks. Our bodies bounced lightly on the crisp white linen as sleep found us.
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  • Stray - Bangkok to Chiang Mai Part II

    30 août 2015, Thaïlande ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We were woken by the strangled chorus of an attendant selling orange juice through the carriage from 5:30am onwards. Yet we swiftly arrived in Chiang Mai, jumping down from our berths, hauling our bags out of stowage and descending the carriage steps.

    Even by 8:00am the sun's heat was ferocious against our bodies. After 24 hours of travel in such conditions we chose to spend the day in close proximity to a swimming pool. It seems incredible to say as sun-loving English but we were relieved for the sparse shelter offered by clouds from the pounding heat.

    In the afternoon Kim went for a traditional all-body Thai massage, which in Chiang Mai is 60 minutes for the price of 30 minutes in Bangkok. Taken into a room separated into 3 areas by white curtains, each with bed on the floor, and changing into the cotton top and trousers provided, Kim lay down and had the wear and tear of backpacking nursed out of her muscles and joints. Although it tickled in areas on her legs and back, she felt (and looked to Alex) very relaxed afterwards.

    Every Sunday Chiang Mai holds a night market, which includes an array of food stalls and we ventured through these for our dinner. Eager to sample as much a variety as possible on our budget, we ate spicy sausage filled with meat and rice, potato and vegetable deep fried cake covered with a curry sauce, partridge eggs and coconut pancakes served in banana leaf boats, deep fried shrimp and naturally, chicken Pad Thai. For dessert we had freshly-made fruit yogurt shakes.

    Squeezing back through the market crowds we moved along the streets, where men our fathers' age drank beer and played pool with young women (and possibly ladyboys), to the Chiang Mai 'Ladyboy Cabaret'.

    With a ear-drum perforating soundtrack, the performers took to the stage in sequins, feathers and dress. The audience, who was almost entirely White Caucasian, sat back drinking Chang beer with varying degrees of fascination and bemusement. The performers clearly aware of the (male) insecurities and playing upon them but all in good spirit.

    The transformations were varied, with some displaying the femininity of a hairy arsed plumber in drag and others with naturally striking feminine faces, cleverly enhanced with make-up and clothing. This was most noticeable during a solo performance, where under spotlight she removed her make-up and wig, changed from a sequinned dress to a man's suit, whilst miming to Frank Sinatra's 'My Way'.

    There were also those who had used cosmetic surgery to give them breasts, larger bottoms and more feminine facial features but unfortunately this made them appear unnatural and even freakish in appearance. Nevertheless it was fun to experience what, for better or worse, has become synonymous with the country's culture.
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  • Chiang Mai

    31 août 2015, Thaïlande ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    We breakfasted on a small loaf of banana bread, brought at last night's market, as we wanted to save our appetite for the Thai cooking course we had booked onto. The course involved us making and eating 5 dishes so we wanted to make sure we had room to eat it all!

    We met our charismatic teacher, Mam, at one of the city's food markets. Walking along the stalls of fresh produce, Mam explained and helped us purchase some of the ingredients we would need to cook with. At Mam's home we cooked our chosen meals outdoors before eating inside, sat around a low teak dining table on triangular Thai seating cushions.

    We cooked Som Tam Salad, Pad Thai and Tom Yum Soup before Kim cooked Green Curry and Alex, Massamam Curry, both using pastes we ground fresh in pestles and mortars. For dessert Kim had mango and sticky rice whilst Alex had banana in coconut milk. It was a brilliant experience and the food tasted great. With the recipe book provided by Mam we hope to cook some of the meals we've learnt once home.

    In the evening we walked back to where the previous night's market had been. On the corner, by the crumbling walls of the old city gate, we passed down a narrow alleyway to enter the city's Muay Thai boxing stadium. The perimeter lined with bars lit with neon lights and decorated in international flags and sports memorabilia. Similarly to the ladyboy cabaret, we were there to experience an event that is synonymous with Thai culture.

    Sat on seats slotted between the ring side and a bar, we watched with locals and tourists, a succession of fights between adolescents, women and finally men. The smells of tiger balm and alcoholic spirits filled the air whilst the referee barked out orders above the dull slap of glove and foot on skin. The speed and agility were furious under the halo of the ring lights, several fighters being knocked down and helped out of the ring before the final round. Both fighters applauded for their efforts.

    Yet it was with the final fight between two men, a Thai and Canadian, where the atmosphere became truly gladiatorial. The crowd was in rapture as the fighters stepped out, the locals clearly backing their own. The ferocity quickly intensified inside the ring, with water and sweat spraying down onto ring-side spectators as the fighters crashed against the ropes, locked in battle. The Canadian sustained a cut to his forehead, his pale skin cast ghoulish against the stark ring lights as blood mixed with sweat. As if sensing an end, the Thai charged forward and the crowd's roar with him but it was the Canadian who rebounded, grinning manically through his gum shield as he pressed his opponent. In the 4th round the Canadian's glove found an unprotected edge and knocked the Thai down to win the contest. The stadium emptied almost as quickly as the ring, with us and others taking 'tuk tuks' back to our beds.
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  • Stray - Chiang Mai to Huay Xai, Laos

    1 septembre 2015, Laos ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Our small group spilt as we continued on to cross the border into Laos whilst Jacob, Poppy and Thomas decided to stay longer in Thailand. We were not alone however as Anna, from Switzerland, joined us in Chiang Mai to travel onto Luang Prabang in Laos.

    Clambering into a mini-van we took winding roads northward out of the city and toward the border. After several hours we got out at a roadside rest stop, where hot springs gushed up through the concrete of the car park. We brought a small woven basket of eggs that we dunked into the boiling waters with a fishing rod, eating these later on in the day.

    Later we stopped at Wat Kung Rhon or 'The White Palace', a contemporary art exhibit owned, designed and constructed by a Thai artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat. First opening in 1997, construction continues and completion is not expected until 2070. Mr Kositpipat has spent millions of Thai Baht to date and it is reported that he considers the exhibit to be an offering to Buddha and the Thai people.

    Despite the dull soak of rain clouds, the scale of detail and design of the exhibit was still phenomenal to view. White and gold stood bold with silver and bronzed edges and the traditional Asian and Buddhist design mixed with contemporary and pop culture (the heads of Marvel comic book characters hung from the trees).
    Around the main temple were artificial trees made with thousands of individual decorations that visitors had written their names upon and would be part of the final completed exhibit. Even the toilets, described as 'the most beautiful in the world', were housed in a grand golden palace of a building.

    Leaving the fantastical palace behind we moved closer to the border. Passing stretches of rice paddy fields, the hills and mountains of Laos drew up before us. There is now a Friendship Bridge' connecting Thailand and Laos but until recently it was necessary to cross this point by ferry over the Mekong river. After paying the price in patience and U.S. Dollars we completed the necessary bureaucracy and entered Laos.

    Getting Lao currency (Kip) from the ATM we found we had become millionaires as it is approximately 12,500 Kip to £1. Unfortunately this will only last us a few days, even on a backpacker budget, so we won't be living the high life just yet.
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  • Stray - Huay Xai to Ban Pak Nquey

    2 septembre 2015, Laos ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    To get to our next major stop, Luang Prabang, we took a privately chartered long wooden 'slow boat' along the Mekong River. The journey was split over 2 days with us staying in a riverside village, Ban Pak Nquey, overnight. You can go overland by bus but it is a gruelling 14 hours along winding, poorly maintained, road. By river you can take a public 'slow boat' in similar time to our journey but you are crammed in with many people and livestock. There are speed boats that make the distance in 6-7 hours but these can be dangerous. We watched a number rip past, the drivers and some passengers wearing crash helmets, clinging on against the wind and spray.

    The night's rain had blissfully cooled the morning air and the wide brown waters of the Mekong ran strong and high before us as we carried our bags down the dock to the bowing gangplank onto the boat. The engine steadily rattled and thumped as we moved away and set a course up the river. Mist rolled off the mountain tops and a green carpet of farms and rainforest rolled down to the muddy banks. We past villages of coloured corrugated iron, streaked in rust from the heavy rains and humid air. Fishermen sat in boats so low they appeared to be in line with the water's edge.

    By mid-afternoon we arrived at Ban Pak Nquey, climbing up the bank and through the wooden and concrete buildings to be greeted by the village chief. Chickens and dogs roamed about and faces appeared in windows to see the arrival of the 'Farlang' (meaning French or White Person from the time of the country's French colonisation).

    We visited the village school as in Huay Xai we had brought school books and pencils as a gift. The children were ecstatic at our arrival, the older ones shouting 'Farlang! Farlang!', shrill with excitement whilst the younger ones shyly held back, uncertain of the tall white creatures.

    Assembling outside the school building, they sang the national anthem, nodding and smiling gratefully when receiving their book each. It was a humbling experience and Kim was almost brought to tears as the children sang their song. The children's behaviour a contrast to that of many children back home in respect to material gifts. They used their imaginations to create games with little or nothing. Kim and Anna playing with the girls, who had created a large skipping rope by connecting elastic bands, whilst Alex and Keo played football with the boys using a tired ball.

    After saying goodbye to the children we went to the home where we would spend the night. This consisted of a a single concrete room, used as a living room and bedroom, and a wooden annex where a kitchen and squat toilet were located.

    Sitting on plastic chairs around a small table lit by daylight cast through the open door we tried cooked buffalo skin and home-made rice whiskey before a dinner of green vegetable soup, pork with ginger, chicken with bamboo shoots and sticky rice.

    As darkness and silence descended in the village, its elders began to arrive at the home. Collectively we sat on the straw mat floor of the concrete room, around a small silver and gold shrine placed at its centre.

    Lit by a single electric light, we received blessings for our stay and future travels, everyone touching the shrine and those who could not reach, holding the backs or t-shirts of those who could. Rice whiskey was shared around the room until the small bottle was emptied. The elders moved between us, tying bands around our wrists as they quietly hummed prayers on barely open lips. Their soft dark eyes set in tanned aged skin.

    After the ceremony, as conversation and tiredness traded places, the elders melted away into the black void of the open door, leaving us to reflect before bed.
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  • Stray - Ban Pak Nquey to Luang Prabang

    3 septembre 2015, Laos ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Overnight the heavens opened their doors and a flood of rain water spilt out over the village. We lay on the floor, listening in the dark to the countless drops thrash against the tin roof in a roaring echo.

    Leaving in the early morning light, we slid our way back down the muddy river bank to our boat that had lain moored overnight. Saying goodbye to the villagers, we reflected on how our stay had been an emotive experience for us both, with it bringing back memories for Alex of his time volunteering in similar communities.

    We chugged along the Mekong, past flotsam carried by its strong current, made only stronger by the rains. Thick rainforest towered steeply down onto us, through mist obscuring the mountain peaks. Our boat just a small speck in the wide brown river.

    Further along the bank we saw an elephant standing chained with its owner, just as you might pass a dog walker back home. Laos has an elephant population of 1600 with many kept as working animals by the local population.

    We stopped at the Pak Ou Caves that contain 4000 images of the Buddha and a host of bats within its caverns. It is a site of religious significance to the local Buddhist population, the belief that it contains a number spirits that can protect fishermen on the Mekong waters. Climbing the steep steps we entered the cathedral halls filled with statues of varying sizes and colours. The drop of water on rock and the echo of our voices the only sound upon the stale musty air. In the upper cave we put on our headlamps and could see the sleeping bats high above us.

    After arriving in Luang Prabang we wandered through the small streets with their memories of French colonialism. Wooden shutters on the windows of European style buildings built at the start of the 20th century and shops selling pastries and jewellery. All mixing with the traditional and ornate design of Buddhist temples, together framed in the green of palm trees and kept gardens. It appears to be a beautiful and popular city with UNESCO World Heritage protection from big development.

    As the night market was being set up for the evening, the rains quickly arrived to drive heavily into the ground and scatter everyone to cover. We sat under the cover of a food stall, drinking ginger tea and banana smoothies as we watched the water from overflowing storm drains gush down the road.
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  • Luang Prabang

    4 septembre 2015, Laos ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    In the morning we went to a small gym that we found when walking back to our hostel yesterday. No wider than the open shop front accommodating it, the equipment was set upon rose tiling with desk fans to slowly push the humid air around. Posters of 'Farlang' bodybuilders decorated the walls and birds chirped in small cages hanging below the awning outside.

    The absence of other clients highlighted how the concept of exercising in gyms is foreign in the developing world. Although when passing by later on we noticed some men (possibly government or NGO desk warmers) using the gym, for the vast majority the day-to-day task of labouring to eat is costly exercise enough.

    We ate lunch at the same food stall where we had sheltered from the rain yesterday, the young women smiling at our attempts to order in fragments of Lao. The prevailing French colonial influence in Luang Prabang means that baguettes and even pate are readily available. This meant for the first time in weeks we ate bread rather than rice; warm baguettes filled with chicken and avocado, garnished with salad and mayonnaise, washed down with ginger tea as town life passed us by. It was delicious.

    In the afternoon we took a mini-van with Anna and another Stray guide, Chris (who we haven't mentioned before but who has also accompanied us with Keo as he is training - you will notice him in the pictures from Ban Pak Nguey) to the Kuang Si waterfalls. Passing a vista of bright green rice paddy fields that contrasted with the darker green of rainforest, we could see a thunderstorm threatening off a distant mountainside.

    Under the entrance gate and before the falls, we walked through a sanctuary for bears, rescued from smugglers or illegal ownership and unable to return to the wild because of their exposure to human contact. We read how upon arrival the bears are often in poor physical and emotional condition and pioneering neurosurgery was successfully completed on one to restore her to a healthy and happy state. Good bear story.

    The roar of the waterfall steadily increased until we could see the torrent of brown water for ourselves. The heavy rains washing the mud off mountainside down through the falls to give it this colour. We had hoped to swim in the waters at the basin but even there it was too high and strong to be safe. Further up the water crashed through seating areas and platforms, where at drier times of the year tourists would be. There are positives and negatives to travelling in the low/wet season and this was one of the down sides. Nevertheless it was still an impressive force of nature to witness and we stayed to watch until the rains arrived to drive us back to the shelter of the mini-van.

    Every night in Luang Prabang a night market opens along the main street, which becomes closed to traffic. Sheltered by tarpaulin and lit by electric lamp, hundreds of stalls sell clothes, bags and souvenirs whilst down side streets other vendors sell food. Smoking barbecued meats, sizzling crepes, bubbling soups and freshly cut papaya, pineapple and melon salads. We moved through the narrow walkways and the sensory treasure trove they contained to sample a selection for our dinner.
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  • Luang Prabang

    5 septembre 2015, Laos ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Historically the Laos was called 'the land of a million elephants' and still has the elephant as its national animal today. However war, poaching and land encroachment by humans has led to the population reducing to 1600, 500-600 of which are made to work in the logging industry, their great power used to fell trees and carry lumber.

    We hoped being in South East Asia would give us an opportunity to see these beautiful creatures up close and perhaps even ride one. There are many places in Laos and Thailand you can do this but with varying degrees of how the elephants are treated by their owners. We are very keen to not engage in any tourism that does not properly care for animals so after talking to Keo, he recommended 'Elephant Village', just outside of Luang Prabang.

    The village rescues elephants from mistreatment and provides employment for locals previously poaching or working in the logging industry. The village has 14 females and 2 babies (they do not keep a bull in the camp as it would be too aggressive to safely manage). Each elephant has a 'mahout' who has worked with her for years; riding, training and caring for her.

    Rescuing an elephant can cost as much $20,000, as even old elephants have value (their meat) and their care is high maintenance, each requiring at least 250kg of food and 80 gallons of water a day. It may not be the wild, where ultimately elephants should be, but the village appears to give them as much freedom as realistically possible (they still have to be chained by a foot when taken out of the village to feed as otherwise they wander off and eat a local farmer's livelihood).

    We began by learning how to climb up and sit upon an elephant and give basic commands in Lao to manoeuvre it. Accomplishing this, we headed out on a 3km trek with a mahout, Hueng, to help guide us with our elephant, 43 year old Hamkoon. Hueng first took Hamkoon up through a steep narrow trail into the rainforest, Hamkoon's huge feet squelching into the reddish brown mud to leave deep prints. We swayed above on her back, titling backwards and forwards at 45 degrees or more to face the forest floor or canopy. Upon clearing the ridge line of trees, we gazed out across the Nam Khan River to the lush green mountains of Laos. Once through this difficult terrain Hueng allowed us to take turns riding Hamkoon for ourselves. Our hands on top of her broad grey head, feeling her powerful muscles move under our legs as we plodded onwards.

    Back at the village we fed Hamkoon bananas by way of thanks and then took all the elephants (Kim -Hamkoon, Alex - 40 year old Sinook) down to the river to bathe them. The elephants dipped their heads under the water to leave us nearly waist deep and spray water back at us with their trunks. We used pails and scrubbing brushes to clean their wrinkled course skin, dotted with thick black hairs.

    We visited the 2 baby elephants, kept in a separate enclosure on the other side of the river, who appeared playful and interested in us, if only at the prospect of being fed more bananas. We travelled further along the river to the Tad Sae waterfalls, which unlike the Kuang Si falls yesterday were much clearer and safer to swim in. The water a never-ending cascade of white water over multiple tiers of sandy rock. We wandered waist deep between the top and middle levels of the falls, the shade and the water cooling us after a day under the hot sun with the elephants.

    It was a brilliant day, one of the best in fact and one we will never forget...
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