Whats up Beaches? (part 2)

Next we headed down to the beaches of Ao Nang in the Krabi Province. Home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Southern Thailand receives hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. So while others went to sunbathe on the gorgeous white sand, a few of the more adventurous ones decided to head to Railay Beach to take on one of the most famous rock climbing sites in the world. The climbing was great fun and although the shoes they gave me were falling apart, you can't beat the price and the view from the top (or close to it anyways).

The next day was our last day together as a group. So we said goodbye to Katie as she wandered off to the infamous Full Moon Party and the rest of us gathered for a speedboat that was going to take us to Bamboo and Phi Phi Island. We arrived at Bamboo Island before most of the other boats came so after a little bit of a walk we found a secluded area of beach to just hang out and chill for a while. We then made our way over to Koh Phi Phi where there were hoards of tourists. The island became most well known for Maya Bay where the film 'The Beach' was shot. I still haven't seen the movie but I think I'll add it to my queue when I get back. There we had lunch and went snorkeling! The fish life is outrageous there. There were just tons and tons of tropical fish swarming around. Probably in large part to the bread that was being fed to them. With calm crystal clear water you could see everything from fish to coral (pronounced Carl by the Aussies and Brits) to the absent minded tourists who touch, damage, stand on the coral. Despite that it was really a fabulous way to end off our tour. But the day wasn't completely finished. We still had one last night to say our goodbyes...

The next day after saying goodbye to everyone I made a quick reservation at another hotel where I started researching liveaboards. There were two things on my list that I knew if I made it there I would splurge money on. One was a safari in Africa if I made it and the other was a liveaboard to the Similand Islands of Thailand. Being the idiot that I am, I never reserved anything so I had to do a huge search on places that weren't to expensive, still had availabilities, and departed/returned within my time frame so I could get out of Thailand before my visa expired. Luckily I came across a company called Sea Dragon that had a couple spots open and it turned out to be a good choice. So I packed my bags and hopped on the local bus towards Khao Lak.

Livin on the lake

We arrived at Khao Sok National Park and headed directly to the lake where we would stay for the next two nights. The lake is amongst some of the most picturesque limestone mountains in southern Thailand and is surrounded by the oldest rainforest on earth. Are accommodations were actually floating rafthouses anchored to nearby islands. We spent our time swimming, kayaking, hiking to caves and viewpoints, but most of all just relaxing. The tranquility and peacefulness of the place was a nice break from the frantic pace of Bangkok. Aside from our unwanted night visitors it was a very memorable experience.

On our third day we were supposed to be staying in treehouses. Yes, it would have been great being 10 again but things don't always work out the way its planned and for better or worse we were relocated to some lovely cottages nearby. We dropped off our junk and made our ways towards the river where we were going tubing! Well because we were so far into the dry season the tubing experience was a little disappointing. So for any of my fellow tubers who make it to the states, yall come down to the Green River and we'll show you some good ole' tubin North Carolina style. There were times when the guide had to get up and pull us through the water. Also I got bit by a fish, but it was still good fun.

After we had time to dry off a bit we made it to a cliff side where a large group of monkeys lived. We were given the chance to climb about and feed the monkeys. They were very timid but if you moved slow enough, you could get them to grab food out of your hands. When were were done monkeying around we headed back to our bungalows for a couple nightcaps. Tomorrow we head to the beach!

Hill Trekkin

After leaving the Nature Park we headed off to some local hilltribes near the Burmese border. Me thinks the reason that the hilltribes are still there is because its too damn hard to get down the mountain. All joking aside the first day’s hike was pretty tough but worth it. After the village’s monkey ate half my necklace we had a nice local meal followed by some songs by the fire. The second day’s trek was a lot easier and we ended up at a village alongside a river. This time they performed songs and dances around the fire in their traditional outfits. It was all very tourist oriented but I was ok with it because the money went directly to the villagers. So after Tegan and Katie’s plan to steal one of the local babies failed we headed off to bed to get ready for the next day. The third day’s trek was a lot easier because all we had to do was walk down to the river and jump on some bamboo rafts that I made. I actually didn’t make them but the picture makes you think I did. It was loads of fun especially when they let you help steer.

The pickup at the end of the river took us back to Chiang Mai where we celebrated our hot showers with some nice cold Sang Som. It was quite a fun night as our drunken tour leader showed us exactly how tough her job can be. But the next day I paid for it when I had to be up and checked out by 8:15 to go to my cooking class. That’s right, look out Iron Chef here I come. We learned how to make Pad Thai, spring rolls, Tom Yum, curry, sticky rice, and lots more but I couldn’t eat it all because my stomach was doing cartwheels. Luckily I had time to recover on the overnight train back to Bangkok. By the way, the song ‘One Night in Bangkok’ officially became mine and Bec’s theme song for the trip but I’m not sure how much the others liked it (did you know its about a chess championship?????). Back in Bangkok we had just about enough time for Tegan and I to get our awesome tattoos and for Jen to almost get arrested before we headed off to the gorgeous Khao Sok National Park.

Elephant Nature Park

These past few weeks have been pretty full on so I apologize for not being able to post any new entries. So lets rewind a little bit to my time at the Elephant Nature Park. Like I said before it’s a wonderful place and I hope to visit again soon. A typical day starts with breakfast at 7 (I think I only made one breakfast), followed by morning chores at 7:30. Then we’d either go on a hike with the elephants or do another chore before lunch. The day visitors and the fruit trucks arrived around 11-ish and those ellies (elephants) can put away some food. I was told the average elephant eats around 400 lbs of food a day. So after unloading the trucks we cut the fruit up and get to hand feed them (my favorite time). We then feed ourselves before taking the ellies down to the river where they lay down for their baths which we also provide. Immediately afterwards the younger ellies play in the mud and its very entertaining to watch. The mud acts as a natural sunscreen for them. I’ve got some great videos but they would take too long to put on the blog. We then have afternoon projects followed by dinner and more free time. For week long volunteers they take you on a hike through the jungle with a family of elephants where you camp overnight and the ellies are allowed to wander the mountainside before you get up the next day to track them down. Tegan, Bec, and I got to help Boonshu track Lilly who is a fun loving elephant clever enough to stuff mud into her bell so its harder to find her (shown below).

After living and working at the park for a week you start to get to know the different elephants. You can distinguish their movements, expressions, and subtle differences. But most of all you learn their stories and what they’ve been through and what their lives could have been. Everyone loves Jokia who was blinded in both eyes by humans but found a friend in Mae Perm, the park’s first elephant, who hardly ever leaves her side. You can always hear them trumpeting back and forth. There’s the towering Max, one of the tallest elephants in Thailand who was hit by a semi-truck and walks with a slow limp but can move when he wants to. I believe it was Lilly who was addicted to drugs that her owners gave her so she could work around the clock. Medow had her hip broken when her owners tied her up to a bull elephant in ‘must’ and he attacked her after she didn’t accept him (her pic was in my last entry). BK can be easily distinguished by his single tusk, the other was cut off by a chainsaw and he still has to get routine cleanings to prevent infection. And then there is Hope, the adolescent elephant that Lek saved as a child who will always have a life free from abuse and neglect.

But on the second or third day at the park I found this cheeky (its an British word) little baby elephant at the end of the platform named Aura. I started to feed her and really just fell in love with her. After that I kept coming back day after day to the same spot to feed Aura (see pic). By the second feeding I knew her likes and her dislikes, her commands, just everything. She didn’t eat the green bananas but still would take the mushed up yellow ones. She would often spit out the watermelon skin so I began to scoop out the good stuff with a spoon, then she would suck out any remaining juice with her trunk. I knew Aura rushed through her food so that she could quickly try to steal Medow’s. I knew how to get her to open her mouth so you could place food directly on her tongue (as shown). I could get her to give out kisses with her trunk. It actually seemed like I was her mahout during feeding time. Unfortunately not all stories here have a happy ending. Aura and her mother, Mae Boon, are on lease, which means the park doesn’t actually own them but they take care of them anyways because that’s how much Lek loves elephants. We were told shortly before the end of the week that they suspect Mae Boon and Aura’s owners are going to come within the next 3 months to take them back so that Aura can be put through her ‘training’. And there’s nothing that can be done because it’s not a matter of money but rather the owners are just not willing to sell. Despite all this we try to give her a happy life while we can and we hope that all the training Aura has had through positive reinforcement will allow her to have a less harsh training process. I would like to try and come back this spring after I get back from Laos and hopefully Mae Boon and Aura will still be there.

Plight of the Asian Elephant

The past week we went from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok to the open wilderness in the mountainous jungles north of Chiang Mai. There we stayed at the Elephant Nature Park and learned of the struggles that the Asian Elephants in Thailand and Burma (Myanmar) have been through. Roughly a century ago there was around 100,000 elephants in Thailand but due mostly to habitat loss as well as other factors the number has dwindled to an estimated 2500. For centuries the Asian Elephant have been living and working alongside the Thai people. Up until 1988 they were used primarily in the logging industry, ironically destroying their homes in the process. Although logging is still going on in Burma, once the industry was banned in Thailand the domesticated elephants were soon out of work This caused a shift in the role of the elephants to cater to the tourism industry in what you see today as trekking, painting, and other forms of entertainment. And through this 'domestication' process in which the elephants learn their tricks is what the Elephant Nature Park is about, providing a refuge to sick and abused elephants where they can spend the rest of their lives in a more natural setting.

The domestication of an elephant is a sad and abusive story which hardly anyone (western or Thai) know about. Much like how many westerners don't know how horses are broken. But it is the process that has been used for centuries in order for elephants to be submissive to people. At a very young age, usually within the first 5 years, the elephant is taken from its mother and forced into a tortuous 2 to 3 week process where it is forced into a wooden pen barely big enough to fit the elephant. There it is stabbed, poked, and hit with sticks, hooks, knives, etc until it learns how to perform various commands. The elephant is kept there with little food or sleep and constant abuse until its will and spirits are broken. I believe that less than half of the elephants make it through this training and there have been cases of elephant suicide where they stand on their own trunk until they die.

The elephant nature park is a radical new approach to domesticating and training elephants. The elephants do not paint, do not carry tourists, and the only tricks performed are not done through abuse but rather they are given treats when they do something good. This hopefully will show other elephant parks and trekking camps that the elephants can still be used without having to put them through hell. The park was started by an elephant lover named Lek (shown to the right) back in the mid 90's. There are so many stories both good and bad that Lek and the park have been through. You can read more about it at www.elephantnaturefoundation.org or you can just do a search on Lek and the Elephant Nature Park. But the park is run mostly by foreign donations and hoards of volunteers such as us. My next entry will tell you about my time at the park.