Elephant Nature Park

We had an early morning rise as we were off to the Elephant Nature Park. After breakfast we waited to be picked up and boarded a van with about 8 other people. On the way to the park, they showed a video about proper etiquette in the park and then a short documentary filmed by some travelers and their experience in the sanctuary. We drove for about an hour and stopped for a bathroom and rest break before continuing on about 20 minutes to the park.

The first thing we did was feed the elephants some watermelons. That was a lot of fun! Then we took a short walk and saw a few other elephants on the grounds. We returned from the walk and had a vegetarian buffet lunch. There was some more down time and then they showed a video about some of the abuse other elephants in Thailand undergo becoming show animals or rides. (Watching the video was option and Oh Mee and I decided to skip it) Instead, we sat outside and watched the elephants wander around and wade through the river. Then it was on to bathing the elephants! This was a lot of fun, but it was a little awkward because there were 10 people trying to 'wash' one elephant, basically throwing buckets of water on it from both sides resulting in getting water thrown at you from the opposite side. We fed the elephants more (they eat so much!) and just had some time to take pictures with the elephants and be quite near them. Finally, we were served a snack and told there was one more feeding of the elephants before going home. Overall it was a good experience-I'm glad that we were able to do this and experience the elephants in a way that was non-obtrusive for them, but the day did kind of drag out and I think there was a lot of wasted and down time. I'm glad a place like this exists for the elephants; there were a few elephants that were victims from stepping on landmines and others that were used illegally for logging. Some were "street begging" elephants and it was quite sad to think of their difficult pasts.

Hey there!

So cool!

Oh Mee and me with some elephants

I passed out on the ride back and we arrived at our resort before I knew it. Oh Mee and I changed and then went to the city area to look for dinner. We stopped in a hotel to ask their concierge for a suggestion and were directed to Lemongrass Resto. There was a bit of a wait, but we figured that was a good sign. We finally were sat and studying the menu when I assume the manager came and asked us what we would like. We asked for a recommendation and he went through most of the menu pointing out different dishes. He gave us a little bit more time to think and we ended up picking a stir-fried dish and noodles. While we were waiting for our food we asked him if he knew somewhere to get Mango Sticky Rice. Oh Mee's mission was to find this dessert and when she said the name I didn't think it sounded that good-sweet rice? Nah, I won't like it. Anyway, the manager told us there was a place nearby and then said he could take us there right now. Oh Mee said, "yea let's go!" jokingly and he said, "Ok!" and he walked out the door. She followed after him (I stayed and watched our stuff) and he took her to a little food cart just down the street. Our food arrived and it was pretty good. Then we went to get the sticky rice. It was sooo good! I'm totally hooked now and missing the taste already. After eating our dessert we walked back and passed Lemongrass again. We asked the manager if there was a bakery around to get something for breakfast. He told us about a place and said it was so delicious, but it was closed for the day. Instead, he directed us to a grocery store on the other side of the river which was kind of him.

Dinner!

Lemongrass restaurant

We walked to the grocery store, which was also on the way back towards our place and got a few things to munch on in the morning. I moved into Oh Mee's room from my room since our flight to Phuket is AT 6am.