Happenings since Thailand

I know it's taken me quite some time to get all of my pictures posted from my trip to Thailand and, in that time, I've been taking it easy here in Hawaii! I've made a couple of trips to the beach, done some snorkeling, had a wisdom tooth removed, eaten some great food (we visited the Garlic restaurant again), saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Diamond Head Theatre, etc. Work is going well and is keeping me very busy. It's good to be home with the girls, but I look forward to any adventures that the summer may bring!

Last minute details

My brother-in-law, Rich, told me to make sure to try the Mekhong Lipo (Thai whiskey and Red Bull). Funny thing, I had trouble finding it (or didn't know how to say it right and no one knew what I was talking about!). Fortunately, we found a cute little jazz bar in Phuket with a very friendly bartender from the Philippines.

Rich, this one's for you!

I'm not usually a fan of Red Bull (or whiskey for that matter), but after the initial thoughts of cough medicine, the flavor turned sweet and enjoyable.

On our last full day in Thailand, we toured Phuket in search of gifts. It was a really hot day and we found ourselves literally melting. We stopped in one shop where the owners took pity on us and actually turned on the air conditioning! I think they were afraid that we were going to sweat all over their stuff!

We found the farmers market and were very upset that we couldn't buy lots of fruits and veggies to take with us! I've been told that we should be able to find mangosteens in Hawaii though! YES!

Trying to find jasmine tea and curry paste, we wandered into the Supermaket (Annette discovered the misspelling on our way out). Again, so many things to buy and so little room in our backpacks!

It was fun to be in a city again, but all of the hassling by shop owners and taxi drivers was frustrating. We passed this street which made me think of South Beach near Miami- very uncharacteristic of Thailand!

Most architecture and landscaping looked like this.

At the end of our hard day of shopping (and sweating), we settled down for a chilly cold brewski, some good Thai food, and a flight back to Bangkok.

We spent the night in Bangkok at the Queen's Garden Hotel near the airport. We were totally exhausted and a little anxious to be home again. We had a really early morning (wake up call at 5 am?) which included the checking of bags, eating of breakfast (turkey sub plus a frozen latte), exchanging of money, and boarding of flight. The Bangkok airport was interesting though- looks like a space station from Star Trek.

We had two connections on our way home: one in Taiwan and one in Japan. We traveled for almost 24 hours, but managed to make it home to Honolulu before we even left Thailand (don't you just love traveling across the international dateline?)!

The flights home felt like they were going to last forever! Don't we look exhausted? And what's up with only one in-flight movie between Tokyo and Honolulu? But, we made it home safely! We had such a great time, learned a lot about Thailand and ourselves, and remained friends through the process!

Hiking Elephant Hills

On our last day at Elephant Hills, we were led on a hike through the rain forest of Khao Sok National Park.

Our day started out quite sunny and hot and the mosquitoes were patiently awaiting our arrival. First, we had to cross the river. It was the same river that we were taken on our canoeing adventure. Guess what we crossed it on? Yep, more bamboo!

One of our guides actually pulled us across by a rope strung across the river.

The forest was beautiful. It had been raining so there was a little bit of mud, but the trail was easy and we had a nice walk. There is a lot of local flowers and plants and we learned about a lot of fruit that was in season. We even got to try a few fruits, but I found most of them to be sour or bitter!

There are only a few of the big banyan trees left in the forest. Banyan trees are related to "strangler figs" which grow by seeds which germinate in the crevices of host trees or other structures. The roots grow down to the ground and may partially or totally envelope part of the host plant. Older banyan trees are characterized by their aerial prop roots which grow into thick woody trunks which may become indistinguishable from the main trunk. Old trees can spread out laterally using these prop roots to cover a wide area. One tree in Hawai'i covers two thirds of an acre. The first banyan tree in the U.S. was planted by Thomas Edison in Fort Myers, Florida. It was given to Edison by Harvey Firestone after a visit to India in 1925 and was planted in the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. The tree, originally only 4 feet (1.2 m) tall, now covers 400 feet (120 m).

Banyan trees are one of my favorite trees.

Although most of the course was simple walking, there were a few spots which required a little climbing and some assistance from some ropes.

Here are some of the banyan tree aerial roots which Tarzan used to swing from tree to tree. I tried it out, but didn't get very far.

We checked out a limestone cave with lots of stalactites (the ones which form from the ceiling by the deposition of calcium carbonate and other minerals precipitated from water).

The same water drops that fall from the tip of a stalactite deposit more minerals on the floor below, eventually resulting in a rounded or cone-shaped stalagmite.

There were also bats.....

We stopped for lunch at a little shelter where our lunch was cooked over a little fire. We had the most delicious grilled pork and coconut curry with rice and an assortment of fruits.

Here I am with steaming hot tea in a bamboo cup with Helen and Steve, our fellow Elephant-Hillers from Texas.

Our guide showed us how to pick out a ripe coconut and then properly open it using a machete....

.....and how to get out the juicy meat inside by sitting on a sharp blade and rubbing the shell against it. If it were up to me, we might still be waiting for me to get enough meat out of the shell. I can tell that takes a little practice.

As I mentioned, there were quite a few mosquitoes in the woods that day. Poor Annette was getting really bitten, so Steve lent her a bug spray wipes which she stuck in her sandals to help keep the little blood suckers away!

We passed through some bamboo stands. Bamboo is a member of the grass family is are some of the fastest growing plants in the world. Some species grow up to 24 inches in a single day.

We also got to learn about rubber farming. Natural rubber latex comes from rubber trees and is produced by the plant in response to wounding. Although rubber farming began in South America, today the three largest producing countries are Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand which account for about 75% of all natural rubber production. Rubber trees will produce rubber for about 32 years. Rubber is extracted from the tree by removing a thin layer of bark along a spiral on the tree trunk. A good rubber tapper can tap a tree every 20 seconds and will tap between 450 and 650 trees per day. The spiral allows the latex to run down to a collecting cup, usually made from a coconut shell. The work is done at night or in the early morning before the day's temperature rises which causes the latex to coagulate and seal the cut. The trees will drip latex for about four hours. It is important to not let any water contaminate the latex (which is difficult considering how often it rains in Thailand). Water contamination produces a lower grade product and makes the rubber smell bad (kind of like a sewage treatment facility!). As of 2005, the price per kg of natural latex rubber produced from Thailand was $1.50.

Now you know more than you will ever need to about banyan trees and rubber farming!

Twigs and Berries

After a hard day working at the elephant wash, what's better than learning how to make green curry paste.......

......eating tons of delicious Thai food.......watching some Thai dancing.......

.......and drinking the strange brown liquid in the jar by the bar with your new English friends......


So, I have to admit that the jar caught my interest on the very first day and Annette and I had been itching to try it (well, the copious number of mosquito bites had something to do with the itching too.....). Anyway, the jar was filled with a brown liquid and there were lots of leaves and other detritus floating around in it. The label said that it was an ancient Thai remedy for all sorts of ailments and drinking it would bring good physical and mental health. It also said that there was a limit of 4 per customer per day. Which I'm sure means that it's really strong, probably tastes horrible and too much of it may be a bad thing. We had to try it. The bartender said that it was made with local herbs and Thai rum, but hesitated when I asked her if it was any good. It tasted like mulch and made my tongue numb. Case closed.

Elephants!

There was nothing more amazing that being able to see, touch, and learn about these awesome animals while in Thailand. We were taken to Siam Safari Elephant Camp which has rescued animals from dismal working conditions in the logging industry. Logging was banned in Thailand in 1989 which, although it helped conserve the forests and the Asian elephant's natural habitat, but left many elephants and their handlers unemployed. With such a large number involved in the logging business, this was disastrous for the elephant population; they had to look elsewhere for work such as rubber plantations or illegally begging in city streets.

It is estimated that only 3000 elephants remain in Thailand and 2000 of these are in captivity. Sadly, many of the people who look after these animals are not properly trained and don’t have the skill or knowledge to provide the elephants with the right amount or kind of food, water and medicine. In some cases, the animals are neglected or abused and violent force may be used to control the animals. Often, they are also over worked and exploited. However, there are elephant camps who are dedicated to preserving the animals and promoting conservation. We visited the Siam Safari Elephant Camp who have been helping to take care of captive elephants for 13 years.

The mahouts who to take care of the 13 elephants living at the camp are mostly from Karen hill tribes and in many cases have been with the animal for most of their lives. Amazingly, mahouts begin their training to become elephant handlers around age 4 or 5. The mahouts are solely responsible for the care of their elephants and even live at the camp next to them. They go and tend the fields that grow their (both the elephant's and the human's) food. It's a mutually dependent relationship.

As we waited for the rest of the elephants to arrive, Annette and I were busy chopping up various fruits and vegetables.

They are given a little bit of everything- pineapple, bananas, pumpkin, sugar cane, watermelon, squash, etc. All of this has to be cut into elephant-sized chewable pieces with extremely large knives!


The elephants are also given grains, vitamins and medications in little packets wrapped in palm leaves.

After cutting and wrapping everything, we got to stand there and feed five elephants. It was so fascinating to figure out each one liked! The two bigger males were insatiable and ate so fast I couldn't get it out of the basket fast enough while a few of the females were a little older, ate a little slower and enjoyed the softer foods like the bananas and watermelon. Asian elephants typically eat between 150 and 300 lbs of food a day, drink 50 gallons of water a day and, when in the wild, spend between 16 to 20 hours a day foraging for food.

This picture was taken after we had finished the two large baskets of food and it seems as if they are checking to see if I had any spare watermelons in my pocket? I loved the way they would grip the food out of your hand, twist it around so that it was on the tip of their trunks and then put it in their mouths.

Asian elephants can live up to 70 years and as they age their skin lightens to a beautiful pink color on their heads and trunk.

We got to wash an elephant! Instead of sponges, they get scrubbed everyday with coconut husks and shampoo. This sweet girl let us scrub every inch of her! Never thought this was something that I would ever get to do! Her skin was rather rough and covered in really course hair. She was amazingly patient, but loved the attention!

Asian elephants stand between 7 and 12 feet tall and weigh between 6,500 and 11,000 lbs. Both males and females have tusks, but lose their teeth as they age.

There is a pond at the camp where the elephants often swim (elephants are very strong swimmers actually). Funny- they didn't let her swim before we spent an hour washing her!

Did you know that elephants can snorkel?

After rolling in the mud, we got to rinse her down again.

I couldn't get enough of them!

Unfortunately, our visit with the elephants had to end. This was another emotional part of the trip. It's so sad to think that there are people in the world who can abuse such majestic creatures. Even in a conservation program, the elephants are still confined to a small concrete pad and are chained to it when not working which is a reminder that their life is not a natural one. I hope that the money brought in from tourism help improve conditions for the elephants and allowing conservation projects to continue educating people. I really enjoyed being allowed the opportunity to experience these wonderful elephants!

Inflatable Canoeing

We woke up to a bright sunny day and got our first clear look at the mountains surrounding the camp.

Breakfast was served in the common area where we found out the plan for the day.

We were going canoeing. Luckily, we had guides so we weren't in danger of getting lost like the day before!

We walked down to the river and climbed aboard our inflatable canoes.

From the river, we had a great view of the rain forest.

There were only two canoes on the waterand it was so quiet and peaceful.

There were rock outcroppings which showed the powerful affect that water has on limestone........

.......and how rain forest takes over every available inch of turf.

It didn't matter how long I had been in Thailand, I was constantly astonished at how beautiful it is.

Our guides were intent on helping us see wildlife, so we got up close and personal to this mangrove python.

We stopped along the way for a rest (even though we weren't doing any of the work).......

....and a nice hot cup of tea. There really isn't anything better than a boiling hot beverage in the middle of a hot, humid, summer day.

Here are our guides preparing the fire. I still don't know how they were able to get it started with how moist everything was based on all of the rain. But they did it!

We got a chance to walk around, take pictures, slip in the mud......

.......smell pretty flowers........

.......and pick mushrooms.

Don't worry, she didn't really eat it!

There were rapids on this trip too, but I wasn't as nervous as I was when we went over them while seated on 16 pieces of bamboo.

After a nice trip, we were driven back to camp in the back of a Range Rover and relaxed a little in our tent before lunch.