Have You Ever Been Sneezed on by and Elephant? It's OK... Because I Have.

Our next adventure was one that I have had on my bucket list for a long time. Riding elephants! I've always wanted to do this and this adventure was top on both mine and Laura's Thailand "to do" list. We took a Tuk Tuk up the hill to the elephant camp which looked mainly like a little village that earned it's money mostly from the elephant rides. When we got there we climbed up to the top of a treehouse like structure to be up high enough to get in the seat on the elephant's back. Our "driver" jumped on and basically sat right on the elephant's head and used his feet on the elephant's ears to steer. Going downhill was an adventure as the elephants are so slow and their weight shifts so much with each step that you kind of get tossed from one side of your seat to the next.

Our elephant was named Nanook and was 40 years old! Did you know that elephants have spots, lots of wrinkles and prickly hairs on them?

Laura and Tim followed on their own elephant and caught up to us quickly. Their "driver" was a big time smoker and had a cough that wouldn't stop... he just kind of hung out on his elephant's head with his feet dangling over the front of his elephant's trunk. Just chillin' sitting here on top of an elephant's head... as you do! At one point it looked like their elephant had gone over to the side of the path for a snack or something but then decided he was tired and took a 5 second nap with his trunk/head resting on the dirt path wall. It looked kind of funny.

Our driver hopped down at one point to grab a couple of photos of Andrew and I on Nanook. He then proceeded to snap away with my camera but forgot there was such a thing called focus... so we just deleted those later...

We had a great view from the lookout on the path which showed parts of Phuket spread out below us. Our "driver" hopped off to get a couple of photos of Andrew and I on Nanook too. It was pretty cool to walk through the village and see elephants "parked" at the village houses. We also saw a chicken under a basket in the middle of the elephant's walking path! What??? Look out chicken! If I were that chicken I'd be a bit scared that I would either get squished by a monster elephant foot or covered by a massive elephant dropping! Run to the other side of the road chicken! Quick! Take cover!

 

When we got back from our walk we were able to feed Nanook some bananas. At first this was pretty cool and funny to watch. However, about 20 seconds after Timmy took over at the camera to get me in a few shots, Nanook decided to sneeze and got elephant boogies all over us! Andrew somehow escaped clean as a whistle and laughing his head off... and Laura and I got covered in orange elephant snot! Gross! My dress got covered and Laura got a big boogie on her sandal. Yucko.

This is me realising I've just been covered in snot. I don't think Laura has realised it yet... she is still smiling. Nanook sure looks pleased with himself.

We made our way back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes before heading out to the culture show we had booked that night. Siam Niramit was a very cool experience. As you can see from the first photo, Andrew and I are considered giants in Thailand.

The show had no speaking parts and was all acted out with beautiful costumes and music and effects. We weren't allowed to take photos but it was a great time to learn some Thai traditions and history, or at least to attempt to piece together what we could. Before the show we had included a buffet dinner. Best buffet ever! This buffet was huge, massive and had more choices/dinner options than I think I've ever seen and all of it was delicious and so beautifully displayed. I was impressed. There was even a sign made completely of bread!

Timmy even found blue rice! What?!?! Only in Thailand.