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| Hangover + ferry...not a good mix |
Our first taste of Thailand was on the lovely Koh Chang, which translates as “Elephant Island.” The first day was mainly travel, dinner and calling it an early night. The following day Lizzy, Jenn, Cody and I set off to ride some elephants. Blake and Gordon were planning to meet us there on their motos, but didn’t make it far enough down the street to see us to join.
I thought I was excited to do this, but as soon as I actually got into the little seat atop the elephant’s back, I began to doubt my previous excitement. To top it all off, we opted for the two-hour tour which included swimming with our elephants instead of just one hour. It took me almost half an hour to feel somewhat comfortable riding in the seat, mainly because Lizzy and I just got so engrossed in conversation that we forgot what we were actually doing….then came time to swim with them.
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| Extreme elephant riding |
We pulled up to a platform, the mahouts (elephant trainers who devote their lives to just one elephant) got us off, took off the seats, and ushered us back on. Now, riding an elephant bareback wasn’t really on the top of my to do list but we really didn’t have much of a choice at that point. Lizzy and I got back on and the mahout led our elephant into the crystal clear river nearby. I also wasn’t ready for how cold the water would be and how much the creatures would love to frolic around in the water. From here, “swimming with elephants” turned into an underwater bareback elephant rodeo. All I had to hold on to was a rope tied around her middle and was thrown from her back several times, which I think freaked Lizzy out more than I did. After my tenth or so ejection, we begged to be brought back to dry land, but were told the other elephant had to leave first and he really loved the water. Then our elephant dropped the biggest turd into the water. As it approached my foot, we FINALLY got to leave the river, dry off and finish the rest of our ride. Overall, it was a great experience but not something I am jumping to do again, let alone pay for.
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| White Sand Beach |
The rest of the weekend was spent walking along the beach, swimming in the pool and just plain enjoying the island atmosphere. Saturday night, our instructor, Indy, took us to a market built up on docks over the water. It was raining and the sun was setting but he continued to lead us to the very end of the dock. Thankfully, it was all worth it when we were lead to our table, a glass table low to the ground surrounded by cushions so you can sit around the table and let you legs dangle about 10ft above the water! It was a nice dinner but I think we had a little too much fun providing commentary to all the little fish fighting the current beneath us.
Sunday, we had one more excursion before getting back on the ferry and heading to Pattaya. We piled all our stuff back in the van and headed to a waterfall. After a short hike past several smaller waterfalls we reached the end. Here we had a chance to fight the currents and swim towards the base of the waterfall. It was definitely a work out! Our whole time here we had a stray dog following us who even took a nap on the warm rocks while we were swimming and escorted us back to the camp for lunch and our van. We filled up on grilled chicken and sticky rice and settled into the van to finish our journey to Pattaya. Once there, we ate at a hot pot restaurant and returned to our hotels to prep for our first day teaching the following morning.
I thought I was excited to do this, but as soon as I actually got into the little seat atop the elephant’s back, I began to doubt my previous excitement. To top it all off, we opted for the two-hour tour which included swimming with our elephants instead of just one hour. It took me almost half an hour to feel somewhat comfortable riding in the seat, mainly because Lizzy and I just got so engrossed in conversation that we forgot what we were actually doing….then came time to swim with them.
The rest of the weekend was spent walking along the beach, swimming in the pool and just plain enjoying the island atmosphere. Saturday night, our instructor, Indy, took us to a market built up on docks over the water. It was raining and the sun was setting but he continued to lead us to the very end of the dock. Thankfully, it was all worth it when we were lead to our table, a glass table low to the ground surrounded by cushions so you can sit around the table and let you legs dangle about 10ft above the water! It was a nice dinner but I think we had a little too much fun providing commentary to all the little fish fighting the current beneath us.
Sunday, we had one more excursion before getting back on the ferry and heading to Pattaya. We piled all our stuff back in the van and headed to a waterfall. After a short hike past several smaller waterfalls we reached the end. Here we had a chance to fight the currents and swim towards the base of the waterfall. It was definitely a work out! Our whole time here we had a stray dog following us who even took a nap on the warm rocks while we were swimming and escorted us back to the camp for lunch and our van. We filled up on grilled chicken and sticky rice and settled into the van to finish our journey to Pattaya. Once there, we ate at a hot pot restaurant and returned to our hotels to prep for our first day teaching the following morning.
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