Content from Mike
Saturday - 17 November
The weekend brought on the first part of our trip’s official “R & R” section, but Rest & Relaxation took a back seat to Ridin’ & Roamin’.
The vans took us about an hour south to the foothills where more than a few action/adventure events were in a concentrated area.
First up was elephant riding.
We paired off on the backs of the elephants
in little two-person saddles, led by a mahout (elephant-wrangler) who either
rode on the neck or walked along.
The
elephants ran on a banana-meter: at several way-stations along the route we
bought sacks of overripe bananas with a bit of sugar cane, and as we rode, the
elephants would stretch back their trunks over their heads to reach our saddle
and that was the signal for “I walk for snacks”.
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| Feed Me! |
|
We were OK on the flats but going uphill was a treat, and
when we descended into the stream, that’s when the fun started.
It was a traffic jam of side-by-side elephants
– some spraying us with water (& snot) from their trunks and some sneaking snouts
in sideways to pilfer our reserve banana supply.
A great way to start the day.
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| Attack From the Rear! |
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| The Passing Lane |
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| Don't Leave Without Me Mom! |
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| Hang On - We're Headed for the River! |
After leaving the elephant area, we took a short drive to
the river where we boarded bamboo rafts (“You might get a little wet”).
Imagine ten bamboo poles, each about six
inches wide & twelve feet long, lashed together and ready to transport us
down the meandering river, in one case poled by a twelve-year-old lad, Huck
Finn-like, who has this as a summer job instead of picking corn.
All went well until the first minor rapids
which taught us that bamboo rafts are floaty but not too flexible.
But really, it was a lazy, peaceful ride and
we enjoyed slipping under rickety foot bridges suspended over the water and
admiring the butterflies, dragonflies, bird songs, and smiles of the locals
along the banks as we tootled by.
At the
end, Raft Four was expertly brought home to port by guest Cap’n Monica who
earned the respect of the boatmaster and poled like she was born to it.
Monica got here Boat-Poling Badge for sure!
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| So Peaceful and 'Just a Little Wet' |
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| Master Mariner |
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| Mai and Sarah |
We vanned up the road aways to a roadside café that was all
set up for our gang to lunch upon stirfrys, some tasty sweet and sour
vegetables, and some spicy boiled potatoes, along with cold drinks and fresh
fruit. Fueled up, we headed to the
afternoon’s event.
Stopping amidst a small village engaged in rice harvesting,
our guide gave us a short explanation of village life, highlighting how we
could tell married from single women by their dress color, and how we could
tell the number of eligible lasses in a family by the number of pigs kept for
dowry. We watched an elderly woman
weaving a scarf on a hand loom.
From the village we were led on a ramble through the rice
fields and got an idea of how the mature rice is cut, then left to dry, then bundled
and stacked awaiting hand-threshing for collection off to market.
Fifteen minutes later, and skirting the monk’s cave retreat
(“Shhhh.”), a flight of stairs led down to a waterfall, which supplied the
rafting river.
We frolicked – some were
content to sit on the rocks and enjoy the scenery, but there was a gaggle who
couldn’t pass up the opportunity to splash around in a Thai waterfall, jumping
in, letting the current take you downstream a bit and then coasting to the side
to make your way back up to the fall.
An
afternoon surrounded by the sounds of rushing water, hurrahs for the bathers,
the sun glinting through the trees and yet another way to enjoy Thailand.
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| Gregg Taking the Plunge |
After a bit we minded out tour guide’s gentle persuasion to
‘get out of the pool’ and trekked back to the vans waiting for us with cool
drinks & Oreos. It was a contented (and
contentedly exhausted) crew that napped for the late afternoon ride home.
Acting on a good tip from Erin and Rob’s pal who knew town
from a previous stay, we sought out the Whole Earth Restaurant for supper and
sat out on an open air deck and feasted upon both Thai and Indian cuisine –
pass me more garlic naan! Everyone
seemed to get just what they wanted and there was food enough for plenty of
sharing.
After supper, why of course there was a little shopping -
Christmas is coming, you know!
A full day, a lot of fun, and everyone still rarin’ to go at
about the halfway point of the build.
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