First days in Thailand

We arrived in Thailand after 18 hours of travel- most of it a layover in Shanghai, and woke up to this beautiful view from our balcony.  The pool and the ocean... and humidity... love it!

We could not wait to hit the pool.

R-Man's first time in the Indian Ocean...

actually, ALL of our first time in the Indian Ocean!  The water is really rough right now, but we were happy to just splash in the waves (and get some SUN-it has been a long cold winter!)

After the tsunami of 2004 all business within 4 km of the ocean have evacuation routes marked and speakers for an emergency warning. 

We decided to walk into the town of Khao Lak to get some snacks and were passed by the Cowboy Taxi.  Taxis here are a little different than we are used to, basically if you have a way, any way, to get people from one place to another you have a taxi.  So a scooter with some benches and a big hat?  Yup, it's a taxi!

In the past 90 % of Thailand was jungle, today only 30% remain.  It is still beautiful!

We got our supplies!

The hotel we are staying at offers lots of activities... here we are at the welcome cocktail hour...

The kids painted ceramic statues...

... next day was make your own pizzas (R-Man made pineapple)...

Pooks went with tomato basil...

Yum!  Behind them is the chef...

I forgot how pretty palm trees at dusk were.

Great day.

The next day was fruit carving lessons.

Not bad for beginners!

After that we went into Phang Nga for some shopping and dinner.  This is the town.

Waiting for some food!

Ketchup is everywhere!

Shopping- DONE!

Our taxi home- the back of a pickup with benches.

This morning we went on a tour to ride the elephants.  Here we have our first encounter.  Both kids were a little nervous.

Gary and Pooks taking off.

Our view from the top.

R-Man is hanging on!

Let me just stop here and say that while riding an elephant is an amazing expereince,  it is TOUGH!  The elephant rocks back and forth and side to side ALOT!  Luckily the beautiful forest was amazing to see. 

Through the trees.

Unless you are the lead dog, the view never changes :)

It is the rainy season right now, so out of the blue- downpour.  Luckily it lasts just long enough to get you completely soaked.

It is amazing to think that in the middle of all of this wild, there is electricity.

If you look closely at these trees you can see little cups attached about 3 feet from the bottom.  The cups collect the sap from the trees.

Here is a full cup of sap.

If you look at the leaf joint you can see the sap oozing out.

Well, that sap is from a rubber tree, and they still make rubber here from tree sap.  The machines here flatten it out on a metal pan.

Then it hangs to dry.  The dry rubber sap is exported to make tires for cars. 

OK, back to the elephants.  They are just HUGE!

R-Man leaves the comfort of the bench to ride on the elephant's neck.

I can not even explain how dense the forest is.

Pook's guide made her this cricket out of a palm frond; in like 2 minutes!

After you finish riding the elephants it is fun to feed them bananas.

So cool.

They also eat pineapple.  Notice the complete lack of any safety mechanisms.  Just 2 kids and an elephant.

I think that Thai writing is so beautiful   No idea what is says, but it sure is pretty.

Next stop, jungle waterfall for swimming.

The water was cold and refreshing. 

We needed this pounding to wash off the bug spray.

This plant is called a touch-me-not (Mimosa pudica).  If you touch the leaves they curl up into themselves...

This is the same exact picture after Gary brushed his hand through the leaves.

We finished up the day with cheeseburgers at the pool bar.  Did I mention that we love Thailand?

xoxoxo