Never Simle at a Crocodile

While the the crocodile will never rise to the status of the elephants and monkeys they still get top ratings in my books. The crocks mostly just lay around pretending to be logs but we discovered if you want them to move around all you have to do is start climbing the fence... they don't move much ... just enough to make sure they can see what your up to.... and every beady yellow eye in the place suddenly brightens up a bit while they also look like their smiles might just be a little bigger...hoping you might be bringing lunch...and while I thought i might have seen a few crocodile tears when I did not go too far over the fence... I had no inclination to be Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwin... but Crikey the people that work with these crocodiles are just as tough and twice as crazy... besides even as a kid being raised in the Yukon I was prepared for the moment I come across a large man eating reptile.... run away chanting 'see you later, alligator... or after a while crocodile"

See pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26080359@N08/sets/72157623532226734/

chicken

These guys at the crocodile park are anything but chicken... and these crocks are anything but tame so it is actually quite impressive to watch these young guys risk life and limb playing with these ancient creatures. These boys put their heads in the crock's mouths and do other crazy amazing things with these frightening creatures. When the show is finished the audience are encouraged to throw money. And, as if they are worried someone watching the show might leap down and steal their money, they put the money inside the crocodiles mouth for safe keeping...!

The main diet of these crocks is actually chicken, which I thought was ironic because when I tried a bowl of the crocodile soup, being sold at the concession, I realized that crocodile does taste like chicken....so I think if these regal reptiles ever figure out that their pals taste like chicken there would be a few less crocks around to entertain us tourists.

Pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26080359@N08/sets/72157623532226734/

Where are the Elephants

The main thing my daughter Layli wanted to do in Thailand was ride an elephant... and from the moment we arrived we were teased with symbols and signs of them everywhere. Elephants are the main animal associated with Thailand. Elephants are an important part of Thai culture and the Thai way of life. Prior to the 18th century they were the main machine of Southeast Asia. In fact one Thai king of the late 17th century had 20,000 war elephants trained for battle and at one time the number of white elephants held by a king largely determined his power. The elephant was also the featured emblem of the national flag of Siam until the name of the country was changed to Thailand. So while we are enjoying all the signs of elephants we can't wait to actually get a chance to see a real one.


picts at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26080359@N08/sets/72157623531736128/

The pacaderms

We finally got to see the pacaderms up close and personal, watched them in action logging, playing football, and saw how they were used in war. It is not hard to love these amazingly smart, majestic, powerful and entertaining animals. What Layli laughed about the most was watching the elephants dance which the elephants seems to have a certain knack for. They're intelligent, nimble and they do have a natural sway to their walk. Apparently they love music and it seems to show as they sway and prance to the rhythm, with their trunks swinging and feet keeping time with the beat, and heads swaying to and fro. After the show we got to feed them sugar cane and bananas.... and although we were still laughing about and remembering the non stop thrills of feeding the monkeys, I could not help but think that I am glad there were not 100 elephants wandering around freely trying to out smart us for our bags of bananas. I can see why this animal is so highly respected and loved and is a worthy symbol of Thailand for, like the people of this country, it has great strength and great gentleness.

memories

Layli finally got to ride an elephant....and now elephants became her fun animal of choice... replacing the monkey... she has always loved monkeys because her favorite stuffy from when she was a child was a monkey... I think it will be a ride she will not forget... nor apparently will the elephant if what they say about elephants memory is correct. You pretty well have to have an elephant driver as the elephants connect and bond to humans in a very deep way... but that is ok with me, for although I could see that the trunk was in the front, I could not see where they put the steering wheel. Ok that was an old joke, however, the hardest part was trying to get down from the elephant... because apparently you don't get down from an elephant, you get down from a duck. ok that was an old joke too... as the ride went on and we weaved our way to the to the top of a small hill and I was just about to worry about how we were going to get down from the hill when I remembered that we didn't have to worry because as I already said, we get down from a duck. ... not a hill...

pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26080359@N08/sets/72157623531736128/

hike

The Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park is located on the east coast of the southern peninsula of Thailand. Khao Sam Roi Yot is translated "Mountains of Three Hundred Peaks," an area of limestone hills and caves. The most beautiful cave in the region is named after Phraya Nakhon who discovered the cave by accident when he was traveling by ship and was forced ashore by a violent storm. Today you can still hire a boat from the village of Bang Pu 3/4 of the way or you can save the $7.00 round trip price and hike the steep winding 4 km trail up and down steep hills in 30 degree temperature to the cave entrance. I can see why it took a shipwrecked person to find this cave as no one would have accidentally found it hiking. My older brother Thomas was keen on the hike, and to our surprise set a hard to keep up to pace on our journey. After hiking one way to the cave we discovered that on the way back you can catch the boat for the half way trip back for $7.00, the same price as the round trip. I guess they figure after the hard hike to the cave you might cave and be willing to pay for the boat ride instead of hiking back. We hiked.

Aja's comment: I was just like Indiana Jones from the hat to swinging on vines.

Phraya Nakhon

After the steep and winding hike from the beach into the surrounding hills we came to the Phraya Nakhon cave. After you enter the dark cave you are soon delighted as you enter into a large cavern, illuminated with an enchanting magical light coming down from holes where part of the the cave roof has collapsed. The feeling in this cave is like walking out of time into some ancient place.... one of those places where the Buddhist concept of existing only in the now seems to make total sense as we slowly explored this fascinating place which feels so lost in time.

Aja's comment: I was as good as the sherpa Tenzing as you can see I had to carry Layli just like he did sir Edmond Hillary.

View picts of cave and hike at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26080359@N08/sets/72157623387832023/