Thailand 2013 (2) City Cats and Condensed Milk by Marcel Marceau

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I'm little, but I'm loud and I've only just started on you...

I’m little, but I’m loud and I’ve only just started on you…

Continuing from my previous email, where we had just got to bed in our hotel in Bangkok.

 Breakfast was a buffet that came with the price of our room. I chose a harmless little number that turned out to be really hot curry. Who would do that  to someone without at least planting a skull and crossbones flag beside it? Sadists!! Thankfully there were several sorts of pastries to compensate for the singeing of my tastebuds. Sadly, they didn’t have condensed milk to pour over them, like they did last year. And you try to explain ‘condensed milk’ to someone that doesn’t speak english – no amount of miming covers it, so I just gave up and scoffed them dry. At least they soaked up the curry. 

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Two Dentists in One Day and the Unusable Swimming Pool

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I'm cool and refreshing and you can't use me. Na na na na nah!

I’m cool and refreshing and you can’t use me. Na na na na nah!

I went to two different murder houses, erm, dentists today. Both lots had a go at me and then at my wallet. Still, my wallet actually survived (as did I, obviously), which it never would have done back in my mother country. Continue reading →

If you love Pina Coladas…

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Just trying my first ever Pina Colada, courtesy of my sweetheart, at ‘The Cathouse’cafe next to our guesthouse. Not sure if they realise how that translates in English… He even sang me the song. Cheers Peter for leading me astray. A most unusual occurrence…

Sleeeeeeeep…

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If I keep really still that mosquito might think I'm just a sticker on the roof. Yes, I think it is working... Dammit, I've got an itch!

If I keep really still that mosquito might think I’m just a sticker on the roof. Yes, I think it is working… Dammit, I’ve got an itch!

Yesterday, after two full on weeks at Elephant Nature Park, we arrived back in Chiang Mai and limped up the stairs of our guesthouse to our new temporary home. Today was spent inspecting the insides of our eyelids and supping on mango shakes. The tattered remains of our feet are very grateful and gradually returning to bearable state. I don’t expect that tearing off to the Sunday Walking Market last night helped them very much, nor the bar-hopping we did afterwards  with a couple of miscreants we’d met at the park. Tonight, after having dinner at the Night Bazaar, we are cruising on our balcony watching a family of geckos doing their thing on the ceiling above us. I’m hoping that in the next day or so I can remove the plasters from my blisters and walk normally again. Ah, the little things in life…

 

Thailand 2013 (1) – Volcanoes, Icicles and No Camels and Welcome to Your Asian Experience.

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The volcano we flew over.

The volcano we flew over.

Hi all. As you can see, we made it to Thailand safely and are still alive and kicking so far.

 We got to Auckland Airport with plenty of time to spare, and managed to get the Malayasian Airlines staff to accept our slightly overweight luggage at check in – we have our wonderful donors to thank for that: Whangamata Library who donated books for Cambodian kids, Whangamata Vet Hospital who donated syringes, gloves, IV lines, etc, for the Elephant Nature Park clinic, and Sunny’s, Whangamata who gave us coloured pencils and half a carton of kids t-shirts, also for kids that are less fortunate than us. Awesome people, bless their lovely hearts for that! Peter modified a large plastic toolbox to use as a suitcase, which gave the check-in staff cause to wonder if he was transporting tools, but it was more along the lines of a good hard shell, somewhere to sit while waiting in line after line, as you do when travelling, and also a rather marvellous vehicle for scooting around the large international airports. We can duly report that this worked very well, as well as amusing airport staff. We try to be adult, but it doesn’t always work out that way… 

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Thailand and Cambodia 2013. Or, Travel Anxiety – Am I Normal?!

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One more sleep then we’re off to Thailand. I’ve found I’ve been somewhat anxious over the last week or two. This is what I’ve been doing:

  • Packed my suitcase, repacked it 15 times minimum – and that was only in my sleep.
  • Checked my passport and ticket. Checked again in case they have disappeared since last time I looked.
  • Checked that Malaysian Airlines still exists and hasn’t gone bust and sold off all their airplanes while I wasn’t looking.
  • Checked that I have the day right for our flights and don’t turn up at the airport to hear ‘I’m sorry Madam, your plane left yesterday’.
  • Sent copies of my itinerary, travel insurance, passport and other documents to multiple members of my family in case of attacks by rampant snakes or being sat upon by a absent-minded pachyderm.

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A New Baby at Elephant Nature Park – The Aunties are in Fits!

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A new baby was born at the park yesterday. Have a look at this video and check out the excitement of the aunties. This is the third baby born here in the last few months – they’re absolutely beside themselves!!

Video of the new baby

Try having one of these very close to your own...

Try having one of these very close to your own…

Returning to the Banana-Hoovers. Traveling, Logistics, and Nightmares of Things Forgotten

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Luckily, elephants are vegetarians. One of the Park residents, Pom, giving an ele a treat.

Luckily, elephants are vegetarians. One of the Park residents, Pom, giving an ele a treat.

My partner and I are off to North Thailand in three weeks to work with elephants. Specifically the ones at Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, North Thailand. Large, grey proboscis-laden pachyderms banana-hoovers abound there, as well as many rescued dogs, cats, buffalo, cows, chickens and assorted other beasties. They’ve had 2 baby elephants since I was there last year – Navann and Dok Mai. Will I be able to resist hanging around them like a tween at a Bieber concert? Probably not. Will I be able to stop myself from trying to sneak one home in my luggage? Well, that would be a yes, because we only have a 30kg luggage allowance, and I’m pretty sure even a baby banana-hoover weights more than 30kg. Will I be able to avoid snakes, spiders and leech attacks? That remains to be seen. Last time I was in Thailand, it wasn’t out in the jungle I came close to having a snake-related cardiac arrest, it was in a town where I was innocently waiting to cross the road and one fell out of the power lines beside me! Very funny God! Read that story here. Read about the Giant Killer-Leech Attack here.

And so, the preparation begins: Continue reading →

The Elephant Whisperer – Documentary, 2012.

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Produced in 2012, this is a documentary that features Lek Chailert, founder of Elephant Nature Park, and covers a wide range of the situations and issues of the Asian elephant today.

The reality is that the Asian elephant is becoming extinct. If we don’t all come to the realization that in little or big ways we can help the ones that are left, our grandchildren or their children will have to visit museums to gasp at an animal that until recently walked this earth.

What will they think of us, their recent ancestors, the ones that allowed the unethical treatment of elephants to continue, and allowed the extinction of them to occur? I, for one, don’t want to find out the answer to that question…

View the documentary here

Chang Yim - young male elephant and all around ratbag. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Chang Yim – young male elephant and all around ratbag. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Elephants: Another Poignant Piece to Read. Warning! Grab Your Tissues!!

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Grant Hayter-Menzies is an author of several books and is about to write one about Elephant Nature Park and Lek, the founder of the park. I’m rapt about this because both the Park and Lek are well worth reading about! Here is a piece he wrote about a childhood experience that haunts him to this day. Be warned – you will probably cry. I did.

Unpeacable Kingdom

Little humans with buckets swarming at the Drive In Ele Wash. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, North Thailand.

Little humans with buckets swarming at the Drive In Ele Wash. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, North Thailand.