Kanch - Installment Five (Elephants)

It has been a long time since this trip, but I still have a few things that I haven't shared yet.

One of those things, and the best experience of that trip, was the elephants.

Firstly I would like to assure everyone that the handlers were fabulous, and I had a very good feeling about the treatment of the elephants there.  Nothing seemed "off" or sketchy, the commands they gave the elephants were mostly verbal with some light foot or hand tapping.  The area they were kept in was clean with a simple wooden fence and the handlers did not have the elephants chained up when they were not being used. In fact, they seemed to have a special bond with their elephants, and their kids were also playing with and riding on them.

The first thing we did when we got there was ride on the elephants through a trail on a farmer's
field.  The surroundings were beautiful, and it was interesting watching the farmers work as we rode by.  I forget my elephant's Thai name, but her English name was Honey.  Our handler was especially nice, and he let me ride on the elephants bare neck within the first few minutes of our trip!

It was actually quite difficult at times to stay balanced, especially when the elephant felt hungry.

The fields we rode through (click to enlarge)

The next and most exciting thing we got to do was play with the elephants in the water.  I truly feel like the elephants had a fun time with us as well.  They would wallow around in the water, and duck their heads under once in a while.  They also used their trunks to splash us, and would try to "buck", or shake, us off.

One of the elephants seemed like she was not in the mood for our frivolity, so she simply parked herself by the shore and wasn't made to come in the water with us any more than she wanted to.  Another good sign, I thought.

One thing I can't forget to mention: the wonderful smooches and hugs from the elephants!  The elephants seemed to love to (gently) wrap their trunks around you in a sort of embrace.  They would also give kisses. Two varieties in fact, a "blow" kiss on your cheek, and a "suck" kiss on your cheek.  The second picture below is taken right after a "blow" kiss.

Nothing beats an elephant hug.....

.....Except maybe an elephant kiss!

And that, finally, concludes the first day of our Kanchanaburi trip.  Will be updating the second day soon.

Love and miss you all,
Kelsey

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

Here is a picture of me wearing a weird (and painful) hat that my parents sent me a while ago.  I hope you all have a great Canada Day!

P.s. Sorry that I have been so silent - we started our second university course and had to create exams for our students.  I have a lot of posting to catch up with, including the rest of Kanch and teacher day!  

Happy Father's Day!

A very happy Father's Day to my Pop Pop, the best dad in the world.

Lots of love,

Kelsey

Kanch - Installment Four

Some more pictures from the Tiger Temple....

Little piggies...

Now my favourite: I managed to catch a short video of two adolescent tigers at the Tiger Temple playing.  Very cute!

Kanch - Installment Three (Tigers!)

My 12 year old self is over the moon.

In grade 7 we were made to create a poster showcasing our lifetime goals.  Some of the "goals" I had back then were to speak five languages, jog the entire Great Wall of China, and, probably, climb Mount Everest.  Well, I speak two languages, have been known to jog from time to time, and daily climb several sets of stairs.

One goal, however, that I can check off of that not-so-realistic list is my dream of petting a tiger.

While we were in Kanch we visted the Tiger Temple.  It has a wide assortment of different kinds of animals (incidentally, most of the animals are ones which seem like they would be good chow for a tiger: deer, water buffalo, pigs....but apparently the tigers are fed chicken)  The main attraction, however, are obviously the tigers.  

You can opt to go into this area that has a bunch of tigers in it. Once inside, you are led around by one worker while another worker takes your photos.  For safety reasons you are only allowed to pet the lower back and belly of the tigers - no shoulders, neck, or head.

It actually wasn't too scary either.  Sometimes while you were petting them the tigers would yawn, stretch, or roll over, which occasionally put me off ease, but overall I was just ecstatic of what I was  doing.

Some of them were really big, like the guy whose's belly I was petting, while others were smaller, adolescent tigers.  Some would roll over for you to give their bellies a nice scratch, while others seem to not even notice that you are petting them.  All of them were very, very dozy.  They only allow people to do this at a certain time of day when the tigers are most sleepy (nocturnal animals, you know).

So amazing....I feel so lucky.

Lots of love,

Kelsey  

Kanch - Installment Two

Warning: The following contains scenes disgusting in nature.  What is seen cannot be unseen.  Viewer discretion is advised.

Never will I ever complain about the bugs in Canada again.  Millipede!  We found this guy slinking around the floor of our hotel lobby the first day we got there.  You can tell by the video that we were all thoroughly fascinated disgusted by this huge bug.

Kanch - Installment One

This last weekend was a long weekend - Monday was the anniversary of Buddha's birth, Enlightenment, and death, so the students had school off.  A bunch of us from Lertlah decided to take a trip up to  Kanchanaburi for the weekend, and we had a great time!

The hotel we stayed at was called Ploy, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who happens to be traveling in the area.  For around $30 a night you get the beautiful room pictured below, complete with a personal walkout garden. The room had a relaxing, authentic, "Siam" (Thai) style to it, which everyone loved.

Martine and I shared a room, and we are pretty sure had a monster sharing it with us because we kept hearing very, very strange loud noises coming from the bathroom/garden area.

The hotel had also had a beautiful pool and bar, and the landscaping was breathtaking. 

Door to our room, and the stained wood staircase beside it.

One of the pathways to the pool, would not recommend after a few drinks as it requires some balance.

The infinity pool and a sitting area next to the bar.  (As with all the photos, click to enlarge.)

Money well spent!!