Elephants- October 17, 2013

Today we got to ride the elephants.... The children had never seen an elephant in person before, much less ridden one. It was quite the adventure. The day dawned overcast and cool so many of us had jackets, however we did not anticipate the rain that would soon start falling and continue on for most of the morning. Quite the site to see all of us in our multi-colored rain ponchos, holding umbrellas while riding elephants. I rode with the littlest member of our group, Ahmorntep and he loved it. He carried on a lively conversation with the mahout, helped him urge our elephant on when he was being stubborn, yelling at the top of his lungs, and collecting beautiful yellow flowers off the trees until a green stick bug made it's way onto his hand. Once that happened, every flower he and I were holding were immediately and forcefully thrown away. I tried to keep some only to get, "No Mom, No!" then he took them from me and threw them over the edge. We all got wet and I sustained a significant bruise on my left thigh from hitting the iron post of the seat over and over again but it was a fun experience for the kids. Enjoy some of the many photos from that day.

After we rode the elephants we headed for the raft trip on the Mae Kok. We stopped at a village before the raft and took the oh so fun walk across the ever sturdy and solid suspension bridge in the rain. What an exhilerating experience especially when a scooter passed. The walk took us to a village where we visited with the townspeople for a bit and then we walked across the bridge again to get onto the rafts below.

Palita and Shana braving the bridge first

Rafts far, far below

Once on the rafts, we headed down the river at a leisurely pace while eating the delicious meal prepared by Da and Manrutai. We had fried chicken, chicken and cashews and stir fry vegetables. Fresh fruit was served for dessert and many of us enjoyed the deliciousness of a Chang beer. The children ate and when they were done, they sat on the edge of the raft, dangling their feet in the water. This was another first for all of them. They had never experienced this before. To see their expression of happiness and wonderment was priceless. We stopped along the way at the hot springs so the boatmen could eat and that gave us an opportunity to soak our feet in the hot water for a while. That was delightful since most of us had very wet feet and it warmed us just a bit.

 When the raft trip was complete some of the group headed home to warm up and dry off while others shopped at the Karen village of Ruammit. We closed the evening with dinner at a local restaurant with our friends and the children. Gifts were shared with all. It was a wonderful day of family and new experiences.....

Until next time.....

God Bless,

Heather