OMG- we had to get up at like 5:45AM for our 6:20AM pick up to go to the airport.  We were all belly aching like it was the end of the world!  My kids can drive me crazy- like BAT SHIT crazy, but boy- they sure have been great this trip (and yes, I am knocking on wood), when Rob went to their bungalow to see if they were up- they were and all getting ready and finishing packing.  It’s so great to not have to micro manage them- I’ve trained them to do a “sweep” whenever we leave a rental so things RARELY get left behind.  And at airports we are constantly counting bags when we transition- out of cab, after luggage check-in, thru security.

It was an easy 20 minute ride to the airport.  The hotel had packed breakfast for us to eat on the van ride since we were going to early to eat the included breakfast buffet.  The island was just waking up, most store fronts still closed, dogs sleeping on stoops, water buffalo grazing in the tall grasses………..Rob and I first came to Samui in 1985- at that time there was not an airport so you had to either take an overnight train or bus from Bangkok to the mainland port of Suratani (8-9 hours) then a ferry across to the island (3-4 hours).  Samui was on the back packers circuit then but SOOOOO much different then todays Samui.  All of the hotel’s were located on the one beach- Chewang.  We could rent a hut, literally steps from the ocean for about $5USD a night.  Now granted this hut did not have electricity (well there was electricity from like 6PM-10PM by generator-then they would turn it off and give you an oil lantern for light in your room if you needed it), hot water or fans, but you didn’t need any of those things as you were RIGHT ON THE BEACH!

Today Samui sports accommodations from The Four Seasons to huts- but now the huts are inland, all the beaches are filled fully with hotels.  Shoulder to shoulder.  Granted it is still beautiful but – well, we feel a bit nostalgic for the old Samui.

We were on the 7:45AM flight to Bangkok-already the 3rd flight of the day.  There is a flight almost hourly.  An easy 1 hour up and down to Bangkok.  As we were transferring to an International flight we had to collect our luggage and head upstairs and down the hallway from the Domestic side of the airport to the International side- this all took like 10 minutes.

Check-in for our Bangkok-Taipei, Taiwan flight and headed thru security.  Not much different from US security- i.d. is checked against boarding pass, hand carried luggage is scanned and then either the X-ray whole body scanner or walk thru metal detector.  Oh yeah, computers out but you get to keep your shoes on.

Had some coffee and did some shopping at the duty- free – it was an easy 4 hour flight to Taiwan.  We are flying EVA Air for our trans Pacific flights- a Taiwanese carrier.  So far after 3 legs have been great, new planes, nice crew, tons of movies….

We figured out Zach is the age Rob was when he 1st came to Taiwan 2nd semester of his Freshman college year, 1984.  He saw a flyer to “teach English and learn Chinese in Taiwan”, went to the informational meeting and signed up.  He was placed in the Southern Taiwan city of Taichung.  I came that March for my Spring Break and we traveled a bit in Taiwan then went to China to 3 of the 4 cities that had just opened to independent travelers in January of 1984:  Guangzhou, Guilin and Haikou, Hainan Island (were we were 3 summers ago for 4 weeks while the kids were in Chinese class).

Zach is growing a “beard”.  And like his dad, it is coming in red.  We’ve renamed him Ginger.  And since profiling is alive and well in most of the world- and beards can be a sign of devote Muslims- we have been singled out on most of our international connections for extra screening.  I am thinking this is because of Zach and his beard- he thinks its funny, us not so much.

So many changes……..we are renting an apartment for the next 2 weeks near the language school Max and Mae will be studying at.  Had arranged from our landlady for a driver to pick us up at the airport- we either need a van or 2 taxi’s with the 5 of us moving around.

We were picked up in a VW van!  45 min later we were at our apartment- we are in the Shirlin neighborhood of Taipei- our apartment is on the 11th floor of a non-discript building.  Just below a big dental office (I went in and took some of the dental practices business cards for all of us to keep on us to give to a taxi driver in case we get lost or need to get back to the apartment.).  We were met by a friend of the landlady- it’s a 3 bedroom/2 bath apartment.  Very simple decorated- Mae has her own room and the boys share a room with 2 beds.  It’s perfect.  We dropped the bags, kids figured out the wi-fi and the tv while I unpacked a bit.

We have 2 major department with in 10 min walk.  We went left toward the Japanese department store.  I figured they would have food and most importantly a grocery store which most Japanese department stores have in their basements.  It was a HUGE department store with 4 floors of stores (even a Gap) and on the 12th floor about 6 restaurants to eat at. We choose one that looked good and ordered about a dozen dishes-

We got one of the big tables with a lazy Susan, the food came out as it was ready.  It was very yummy!  We then went to the basement to do our grocery shopping.  Like to have food for snacks and at least breakfast- found everything we needed.

Headed back to the apartment- it was about 10:00PM.  We were tired!

 This is a panoramic view just outside of our hotel- our breakfast view.  After breakfast we got into our suits and headed into town to rent some snorkels and go snorkeling.  Our dive shop told us where we should go- we all hopped into a taxi:

Not your normal taxi- benches in the back of a pick up.  We bumped around up and down the mountain to Mae Hat beach.  It was beautiful-

A half moon bay with reefs on both sides.  The beach hosted 2 small restaurants and chairs to sit on with umbrellas.  We spent the first 2 hours swimming around the left side.  Lots of healthy coral, beautiful fish.  Kept hearing motor boats- every time I looked up there was another big boat of divers and snorkelers being dropped off.  There was plenty of room.  Snorkeling and diving are so solitary- it’s almost meditative, no it is meditative.

We caught lunch at one of the restaurants, it was yummy Thai food- back into the sea after lunch to explore the right side of the bay.  More healthy coral and tons of fish.  We’d pre paid the taxi driver to come get us 4 hours later- and he came back! The Thai people are so beautiful- quick to smile and offer help.

We finished packing and took our bags downstairs to take the hotel tuc tuc to the pier.  All of a sudden the tiny grandma who gave Rob his nighty massage came over and wanted a picure- of course we wanted one too.  She also gave us a bag of banana leaf wrapped home made treats.

Tried them on the ferry and well…….they tasted like soap.

It was miserable down at the pier- felt like 1000 degrees and NO wind.  We sat and sweated on the dock for about 30 min.  Finally got on- blessed A/C for the 2 hour ride to Koh Samui.  Had booked our hotel  yesterday and it ended up being literally next door to the pier- we dropped our bags, got back into our suits and went down to the pool.  Zach and I fried our backs today snorkeling.  Not very smart- mine will turn brown in a day and Zach being a Ginger and all will peel.

Kids wanted to eat at the hotel so Rob and I walked down a way to a great little restaurant – yummy Thai food.

When you enter a building, be it a temple or small shop, you take your shoes off and leave them outside.  Sometimes there is a whole pile of shoes.  But everyone takes their own.  I once slipped on someone else back flip flops, but immediately could tell they were not mine.

Saw this little business on our walk home from dinner-

Same same this morning………..slept like 9 hours (it’s crazy how much we are sleeping here!).  Rob and I walked down a bit to a coffee shop for some coffee- it was just ok.  This whole island seems to have one industry- tourism.  The population is 2,700 but there are about 5,000 tourists on island any given day.  The next island over is know for their parties and Koh Tao is mellower because there are so many dive companies.  Hard to party after a day of diving!

 We were on a smaller boat today- which was ok, as our dive sites were not to far away.  Maybe a 20 minute ride.  We have done all our dives with Jason from Planet Dive- they were a fantastic dive company, very professional and good equipment.

Zach and I were buddies and Max and Rob were buddies today.  Incident free dives.  Mae is really not feeling well- seems to be a bad cold.  She snorkeled with a young couple from Germany on a gap year after graduation from high school last year.  Mae always had someone from the dive shop snorkeling with her- it is their policy and made us feel better about her being by her self.  She loved it-

Our dives were about 45 min each, after we’d unloaded and washed all our gear went to a little cafe for a late lunch.  It’s actually hard to find Thai food on the island as so many of the shops cater to backpackers who want their comfort food- burgers, fries, pancakes………

Hung our by the pool for a couple hours.  The hotel seems to be filling up- when we arrived maybe 4 other guests (looks like the hotel has about 40 rooms).  Lots of people in the pool today.  Rob and I both fell asleep by the pool.

Kids wanted to stay in their room and vedge- so Rob and I walked into town for dinner.  It was soooooooo hot!  A ferry arrived and about 300 people swarmed the area- the ferry area fills up with waiting trucks/taxi’s for the 3X a day ferry arrivals.  Hundreds of backpackers arrive daily- not to many travelers our age.  But some-

Went to 7-11 and these gruesome cigarette packages were behind the counter.  The whole front shows real pictures of mouth and throat cancer.  Wish we had these in US – might be a deterrent for some people!

Another beautiful day on the island- we are all lazy and sleep in. We had to be to the dive shop by 9:30 to get our gear ready.  We each only have masks with us so have to rent the rest of the equipment.  All the gear (mask, fins, snorkel, BCD and wet suit) go into milk crates that we have to load onto the boat.

Again it was a jump from boat to boat entry onto ours.  Everyone works together so really not that bad- the dive shop is right on the harbor so super easy to walk to pier.

It was about a 30 min ride to the dive spot- Max did great today although Mae is fighting a cold, she will be snorkeling again.  We switched up dive buddies- me with Max and Rob with Zach.  Trying to tie the bunny boys down.  It actually did work great- well, except for the fact that Max did not check that my air was on before the 2nd dive.  The dive master re-checks us and one of the boat crew also check that air is on before we jump into the sea.  I would have figured it out immediately and since we descend so slowly no chance of drowning.

Beautiful dive- around a rock/coral formation.  We were down about 40 minutes- much more coral than yesterday and the sea ws calmer.  We had on our boat a dive master from the shop who was down taking pictures/video’s. Literally the second we all got onto the boat she called out that there was a whale shark in the water- we all grabbed snorkel/fins and mask and dove right back into the sea.  Visibility was not the best- it was hard to see the sea bottom.  The light was bouncing off the bottom of the sea in what looked like a reverse Northern Light show- it was beautiful.  We puttered around for about 30 minutes.  He never came back but we got to see footage from her camera.  Every divers dream…………..not ours today.

2nd dive was about a 20 min ride from 1st site- very nice dive.  Lots of fish and healthy coral.

Back to the hotel- boys like to go to the restaurant for a late light lunch then vedge by the pool- Rob, Mae and I stayed down by the pier and grabbed something to eat.  Back to the hotel- Rob and Mae took naps and I joined the boys by the pool to read.  The hotel is mostly empty- there is a big family group (maybe 15 people) of what looks like Mainland Chinese.

We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner- boys went off to shop before dinner arrived- they had yummy pizza and gnocchi for Max.  Owned and run by an Italian guy-

We had our usual nightly massage after dinner- such a great way to end the day!

We all slept like rocks- the A/C is glorious!  Our hotel offers free breakfast at the restaurant down by the Sea.  It is like everything here, open aired.  Lots of variety and a great way to start the day.  For me the important thing is that there is coffee- there has been so Mama is happy.

We were to be to the dive shop by 9:00AM to get fitted for equipment- we all have masks but needed fins, BCD’s, wet suits and snorkels.  It took some time- our dive master is from England and his girl friend from Denmark.  This island is a destination for divers from around the world- it is on most peoples bucket list.

It was just the 5 of us in our group as we made our way with our gear across the street to the wharf.  Our boat was 3 in so we had to jump from boat to boat – a bit tricky with flip flops on and carrying gear- but thankfully we are all versed in getting on and off boats.

Our boat was long and skinny (not a proper long boat for those of you familiar with Thai boats) with a big nice open center where gear was organized, an area to sit and a roof area for sun bathers.

Had a couple other groups on our boat after everyones gear was stowed we took off.  It was about a 30 min ride to Mango Bay.  One of the girls from the other group got sick and poor Max was a shade of white i’d never seen on him.  We kept telling him to throw up because he’d feel better- he never could but eventually he felt better.

Mae had her own instructor as she was going snorkeling-a nice dive master from Japan.  They totally hit it off.  We got all loaded in after a little meeting about our buddies (Rob and I-Zach and Max) or formation in the water and fish we might possible see.  We were going along a sandy bottom to a coral reef.

We all jumped in after we were geared up.  My ear has been bad for about a month- but had no problem equalizing.  We took it nice and slow going down.   You could see the excitement in the boys eyes as we saw more and more fish.  Zach spotted the sea horse- there were 2 but the Mom’s gone off to have the babies.  We were hoping to see him, Zach found him on the sea bed he was about 4″ long and he was anchored to and around a rock.

We were down for about an hour- Jason (our dive master) had us checking in with him on our gages and if we were ok about every 5 minutes.  Max was literally like a kid in a candy shop.  He and Zach were supposed to be in from of us, behind the instructor.  Not Max, he was up and down the reef looking in nooks and crannies- tomorrow Rob and I will split up and be buddies with one of the boys.

Getting out of the water with all the gear on is a bit hard it’s so heavy!  The boys were ecstatic, it was a great 1st real dive for them (the lake counted for certification but very boring) and Rob and I enjoyed it as well.   The coral is healthy- last time we dove here there was lots of bleaching.  Global warming is, well global.  The island is experiencing a major draught- there was little rain here last rainy season. Hard to believe as everything is so green- some businesses and homes have wells some others have to ship water over from the main land.  Crazy!

We then drove to the next dive site, just around the way.  This area is dotted with little islands.  So very beautiful.  Our 2nd dive was great as well- viability is not eh greatest (maybe 20′, but it was very choppy on top).  We got back to the pier about 3:00.  Unloaded all the gear, washed everything out and headed back to our hotel. Tired and a bit hungry.  Mae had a great time snorkeling.  She is fighting either a cold or allergies.

We hung out by the pool for the next couple hours.  The boys went off snorkeling, Mae to her room to take a shower.  It was nice.  This is the slowest season for the island.  It will pick up again at the end of the month.

Boys wanted to stay at the hotel and eat- they are binging on satellite tv.  Mae, Rob and I walked into town (5 min) for dinner.  Of course we stopped for a massage on the way home- we were exhausted and ready for bed by 9:00PM.

It was a glorious sleep with the A/C blaring! The breakfast buffet opened at 3:00AM but we waited until 7:00AM to go down. It was a yummy selection of all sorts of breakfast treats from around the globe- but maybe we are missing ENP, the noodles and the rice just were not as good.

Next stop is Koh Tao, a small island off the East coast of Thailand. We had a 10:10AM flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui an island that is located 2 islands South of Koh Tao. Koh Tao does not have an airport, so you either head south by train, car or bus to a port across from Koh Samui or fly to Samui. Our time is limited so we took the 1 hour flight from Bangkok to Samui. Very easy flight- I sat next to a Spanish professional basketball player who plays for a team in the Canary Islands.

The plane was packed as tonight is the famous Full Moon Party on the island between us and Samui- Koh Phangan. We have been to Koh Phangan a couple of times but never for the Full Moon Party- even 30 years ago it was epic and it has only gotten bigger, and like the basketball player said “maybe even a little bit dangerous”.

Our ferry left Koh Samui loaded and an hour later about 90% of the people got off for the party the rest of us stayed on the boat for the 45 min trip to Koh Tao. The seas were mostly calm and it was an easy crossing. The main port was BUSY- there are only a handful of passenger ferries that arrive each day. I’d already reserved our hotel so after some searching found the guy from our hotel and we loaded up into the hotel’s tuc tuc and made the 3 min ride to the hotel.

The hotel was as expected- close to the beach, clean and has A/C. We unpacked a bit then headed down to the pool to cool off a bit. We then went to find a dive shop. Looked up some recommendations on Trip Advisor- settled with one and got all signed up. Found a place to have dinner. Had bought snorkeling kits for the boys so while we waited for dinner the boys went snorkeling just in front of the restaurant. They saw a puffer fish and a sunk ship.

It is blazing hot here- like crazy hot. There are about 5 beach communities here on the island- we are in Mae Hat which is nearest the ferry. I’m sure we will do some exploring as the days go on. This island is known for diving- tons of dive shops that cater to divers.

One of the dive masters told us the peak Whale Shark sighting season ended last week but still some chance to see one. Fingers crossed!!!  We have never seen one-and seem to always just miss them.  Not a true shark- but the biggest fish in the ocean.  They are beautiful.

We will do 2 dives tomorrow, there are about a dozen great dives within site of the island.  You hear tons of languages spoken here and most everyone sports a dive computer on their wrists- they are used to automatically calculate how much time you need between dives as it is taking in data while you are diving (time and depth).  The old fashioned way is to hand calculate on these boards-

The length  of the town can be walked in about 10 minutes.  Our hotel in on the N end of the town, on our way home from dinner we stopped at a Thai massage place just down the road from us.  It was freezing inside and will become our go to center when we are on the island.  Mae got a pedicure-the boys had gone exploring and about 1/2 thru our massages they came in for their own.

You lie on either the ground (like we did at ENP) or on a mattress about the size of a twin bed.  You are fully clothed- although Robs grandma masseuse had him take his top off.  They usually are very small Thai women- who look like they could not squish a fly.  But they are laser sharp in finding all the nooks of pain in your body.  They use their hands, feet, elbows and knees to knead you.  They also are twisting you this way and that.  It’s truthfully not my favorite type of massage but it sure feels good after a day of work,  or like today in our case, sitting on a plane/ferry all day.

Don’t know if you can see but look under Rob, there is  a little grandma under him lifting him up by her knees.  I about peed my pants laughing so hard, he was grunting and groaning like he was birthing a 27lb baby.  She was smiling and laughing like it was no big deal.

Our last day at ENP- the week went CRAZY fast.  Rob and I were usually up by 5:30AM, but since we were sleeping by 8:30PM it was enough sleep.  Morning are quiet at ENP, usually one of the porch dogs would follow us down to the platform area, doing their business along the way, greeting the other dogs who came to say good morning.  Step Kitty was always gone in the morning-most likely still hunting in the early morning mists, the sun not quite up yet.

Same same breakfast- nice and filling.  We all have gotten used to having rice with every meal- slowly the park wakes up.  People start drifting in about 6:00.  Breakfast was not until 7, so time to drink some coffee and just sit.  The elephants would not be let out of their enclosures  until about 7- never tired watching their first steps out into the morning- their mahouts leading them towards a distant field or maybe down to the river to spend some time.

The mahouts were mostly hill people, impossible small men.  A true mutt and Jeff compared with their charges.  Each elephant had 3 mahouts assigned to them- so they all would get some time off.  We watched yesterday as one of the babies (the one with the boot on its foot- it has a club foot) knocked it’s mahout over- immediately another near by mahout came over and pushed the baby away- all 3 of the babies are spoiled by their moms and aunties as well as the mahouts.  But seriously, what is cuter then a baby elephant?

Our only job today was to unload another pick up truck of baby watermelons- the truck we had unloaded 3 days previously was all gone.  We formed 3 lines, as all 3 groups were working together, and quickly got the truck unloaded.  Next we had to wash watermelon and cucumbers for the days meal in this HUGE vat of water.  It was easy work and we all were enjoying each others company.

The 6 people staying for week 2 were out with their charge ZahZah and the week 2 people from our week were teaching them the ropes.  ZahZah was the 75+ year old elephant whose owner had chained her in the jungle and was underweight.   She gets fed 5X a day, so the week 2 people chase her around all day feeding her and preparing her food.  They also are in charge of the monkeys- feeding them daily.

We went back to our rooms to finish packing- after a week our things were kind of all over the room.  The kid’s rooms looked like clothing bombs had gone off- they are good at doing final sweeps of the rooms so we rarely leave things behind.  We brought our bags to the meeting area and went to the platform to wait for lunch and to watch the elephants for a bit.

Soon it was 1:00 and time to load into the vans and start heading to Chiang Mai.  It was a roller coaster of a ride- our personal injury lawyer friend Amy was about loosing her mind as the driver wove in and out of traffic.  Apparently he was racing some unseen demon-because he drove like a bat out of hell.  We made it to the airport in record time.

Our flight did not leave for 5+ hours so we jumped on an earlier flight with Amy and Caroline.  We had only minutes to spare and the agent closed the line after we checked our bags in.  Upstairs to gates.  Chiang Mai airport is small, but busy!  We were on a 777 that was almost full- the flight to Bangkok was an hour long- so barely up then time to come down.

Bangkok airport is HUGE.  By the time we wove our way to baggage claim we only had to wait about 5 minutes before the bags started rolling off the belt.   We said good bye to Caroline and Amy and headed to our hotel.  I’d booked a hotel that is literally in the airport- we all almost cried when we saw the nice big clean beds and felt the cool A/C on our skin.  But no rest for the wicked, when our bags were delivered headed out to a night market.

Literally a minute after we’d left the taxi Max realized he’d left his backpack/murse in the taxi.  Shocking since he is our least dingy child.  With no phones that worked we saw a Starbucks in the distance and walked to it.  Actually, I went across the street to the pharmacy to have them look at my jungle rash (same same as medic/snack bar hostess gave me: antihistamine and steroid cream- all over the counter at the lovely Boots pharmacy).   The boys had one of the baristas help them- she used her phone to call the hotel concierge whose card we’d grabbed and given to all the kids in case they got lost.  He said he would try and contact the taxi driver.  I prayed to St. Anthony.

The market was huge- kids were in heaven.  We all were in heaven when we had pizza for dinner.  The boys were both approached by men trying to get them to go to the sex shows that are the dark underbelly of Thailand’s sex industry.  They are well, live sex shows.  The bars that are frequented by foreigners are also full of prostitutes who you can buy by the hour, day or week.  It is not unusual to see older men walking around with a young girl, sometimes VERY young girl who clearly is not a wife or girlfriend.  It actually is very gross and I have been happy to see many signs about human trafficking and child trafficking.  There is a number victims can call and hopefully a rope on the other end of the phone that can pull these girls out of the dark place they have found themselves.

One of the reasons we did not want to spend a lot of time in Bangkok- it is tragic on so many levels.  These young girls often come from the hill tribes where work options and employment are limited and they are sold/tricked into coming to the big cites by pimps for a chance at a better life only to get trapped in the web of prostitution.

St Anthony, my buddy, came thru again.  Max’s murse was waiting for us at the hotel!

A bright morning with singing cicada’s greeted us when we woke. Speaking of cicada, I kid you not about 4:00PM they start their song and it is almost deafening. Crazy loud. It continues in waves all night long.

Today was Sue’s birthday- we had told the volunteer coordinators a couple days earlier and before our afternoon job they had gotten both she and another guest Simon cakes. They were beautifully done- Sue’s had an elephant on it and the cake was yummy too. Kind of like a mild sponge cake- not to sweet, really good.

Originally our schedule had said “elephant food” but by the time we met at 8 it had been changed to “elephant poo”. It actually wasn’t bad at all- we had 2 groups on the task which made the work go really fast. We had to pick up a huge pile of corn stalks at the end. They had been laying there for some time by the look of them.

I saw perfect home for snakes and rats. And, I was right. Of course Max was the 1st to find the snake. Actually it was Amy who spotted the snake 1st and she is DEATHLY afraid of snakes. Really practical since she lives in LA and all. Kind of like my thing with rats- super practical considering I live in a citrus grove which is home to MILLIONS of rats in AZ. Max found the baby rat just after the snake- he thought he was oh so funny when he mimed throwing it at me underhand at one point. Such a cute boy.

Think i’ve figured out the source of my rash- the corn. The lotion and pills have stopped it at my knee, but after the cleaning even while trying to not let the corn stalks touch my leg they were very red, angry and itchy after.

When we met at 1:00 for our group picture in the meeting area that is where Simon and Sue got their cakes. It was very sweet- well kind of mean. They pulled Rory and myself out of the group to a room behind where the cakes were hidden. In the mean time the V.C.’s had told Sue and Simon that they had done something really wrong when they had done the dogs the day before and that they, the V.C.’s, were in trouble. Then Rory and I got to come out carrying the cakes with the candles singing!

We then gathered in front of one of the elephants and took our group photo. We have all grown so much this week. Learned about the plight of these majestic beings and also about the strengths we all posses, physically after slinging all that poo.

The afternoon we had off. It was spent between the viewing platform watching the elephants and in bed napping and reading. It gets crazy hot here in the afternoons. No air movement at all- the rain never appeared to cool things off today. We did hear thunder in the distance but it never made it to our little valley. When the sun set we got some relief.

Dinner was held upstairs in the massage/blessing area. We all grabbed our plates and went upstairs where little low laying tables and pillows had been placed on the floor. While we ate the children from the school we visited had a little traditional dance performance. There were maybe 6 songs and girls from 5 to teens.

Rob and I got our usual evening massages. Such a great way to end a day. Neither of us have been sore at all, which we should have been given the level of physical activity we’ve had here.

Sometimes in dark you will hear the trumpet of an elephant- their presence is always felt. This valley we are in also houses about 6 other elephant camps. The others are the more traditional ride on elephant camps. We see them on the other side of the river almost daily. Foreigners swaying on the backs of these elephants.

Apparently one of the camps has a new baby they are breaking. The babies are taken from their mothers at a very young age in order to be trained to follow humans. In the wild a baby elephant will nurse for 4-5 years. In order to train the young elephant they must be taken away when they are 1 or younger.

A “crush” is built. It is a pen that just fits the body of the baby elephant. The baby remains in the crush for up to 3 days, or until it is “broken”. This was happening across the river from us- although we could not hear the baby’s cries the elephants at ENP could. One of the nursing moms and an auntie (other females in the families who help to raise the babies) tried repeated to cross the river to reach the distressed baby. The mahouts had a hard time keeping them on our side. All night long the mom and auntie were calling out to the baby. Not one of theirs by birth, but instinctually they wanted to help.

At a Renaissance Festival in Phoenix about 8-10 years ago, I remember being there with the kids and riding on a lone elephant that was there giving rides in a small corral. Absolutely no thought went into the act- except maybe “cool, an elephant”. I’ve also sat in the stands of a handful of circus shows with elephants performing. Now I know…………now you know.

I will be forever indebted to our #1 son, I missed it, but yesterday we were supposed to clean the elephant cages in the morning and supposedly when they all met Zach asked if he could go work with the dogs- one of the volunteer coordinators asked if anyone else from A group wanted to and everyone said yes!

There are over 400 dogs here at ENP- a HUGE number. The dog shelter is just as you enter the park, a bit away from the elephants yet close enough to hear them howl during feeding times. Sue and Mae had visited to help walk the dogs a couple times- they ask for help 3X a day walking the dogs.

When we arrived to the dog shelter Ryan from Australia was our guide- he is a bathroom and kitchen remodeler back home but spends upwards of 6 months a year volunteering in the dog shelter. Over 200 of the current occupents came from the Bangkok floods from a couple years ago. Some are just dropped off and others wander onto the property from neighboring villages- all dogs are immediately looked at by the vets and neutered or spayed and vaccinated if that has not happened yet.

About 40 dogs roam the park- they all have names and if a stray happens to come onto the property every dog goes crazy, someone from the dog shelter will scoop up the new dog- and immediately bring it to the shelter. We have seen this happen almost daily- most of the ENP dogs have areas they stick to. There are about 6 dogs on the viewing platform where we eat and the elephants are hand fed, up stairs above us there are another 4 that hang out up there (this is the room where the blessing took place and where we get our nightly massages-big and open aired). On the landing outside of our room – there are a total of 6 rooms in our building- we have 2 dogs, we’ve named them Landing Dogs and the Siamese cat that hangs out on the steps up to our rooms had been named “Step Cat”. She must hunt all night long because she is dead to the world all day – we have to step over or around her stretched out body all day long when we go up or down the stairs.

After a brief intro – basically being told 6 different ways NEVER LEAVE A GATE OPEN. The volunteers (about 10 in total) would go get a dog for us from a run, bring them to us and we would walk them down the road- maybe 1/4 of a mile. Not far, but the dogs loved it! Next we went into one of the dog runs- 5 people into one and 6 into the other. We each leashed a dog and took them for a walk. We had to keep the 2 packs separated- otherwise there would be fights. The dogs did great- and a wagging tail is universal for thanks!

Ryan then took us across the street to a part of the park most of us did not know existed- more dog runs. Except these were HUGE with about 15 dogs per run, pools for them to sleep on, sleeping platforms to eat and sleep on. They were maybe the size of a tennis court and there were at least 4 of these. We sat and loved on these dogs for about 30 minutes.

Next we got to break into groups of 2 or 3 and pick ticks off dogs. Ticks and fleas are a huge problem in this hot sticky climate. So we dutifully took our tin can of water and alcohol to drown them in and our tweezers and set off to pick ticks. It really is not as gross as it seems- well, maybe a little.

Lunch was the next order of business. More delicious Thai food- no one is complaining not even the boys. We have about 15 dishes each meal- there is always rice and a noodle dish if you are not feeling adventurous. As always our noon meal is packed with day visitors. We must look like freaks most days literally covered in either poo or in todays case, dog hair.

Our group was very proud of surviving the “day of the corn” and honestly thought that it could not get worse then that. We were wrong……………way wrong. On the job list for the afternoon we had “cow poo” as our task. Silly me envisioned us walking around the park picking up the cow pies (there are about 100 water buffalo that roam the park) for the afternoon. Leisurely walking among the elephants, enjoying the beautiful day. WRONG- we were loaded, nay herded into another high sided pick up. Driven up around and across the river – passed the school from the other day and ended up in the property that is part of the park, directly across from ENP. We’d seen elephants and cows over there but did not realize how big it was over there.

We drove down a long driveway that abruptly ended – in front of us and to the right was a pen that must be used to put the cows in at night, strait ahead and down a little hill was the river and about 150 feed type bags filled with cow poo. These were are task. In some unknown to us wisdom, someone had dumped a load of 15′ long, 4″-5″ diameter poles across the road to the poo bags. Our job was to drag the poo bags up and out of a ditch, drag them to the pole pile, lift/drag them over the pole pile and then up a hill to the waiting truck.

Let me just say we had another incident of fecal material that cannot be described – many of the bags were over stuffed past the “50 kg” line. About 1/2 had opened up and whose contents had spilled over the surrounding bags. There was poo everywhere. We lined up and broke the task into smaller jobs- each only had to drag the bag about 5′-6′. Sue and I got to haul them over the log pile, I’d drag them up the hill to the truck and Zach, Max and Lek would heft them into the waiting truck bed. I will post a picture of the “after” later- not pretty. It actually did not take that much time- it was just super gross. We finished and then got to pile on top of the poo bags for our ride home- none of us complained. It truly is amazing- you just put your head down and do it. No need to complain, whine or quit. It’s work that needs to be done and we just do it.

Next was yet ANOTHER shower for the day- we take many as you can imagine. Most everyone comes back to the main lodge/feeding area in the late afternoons, we read, visit, check emails. Watching the elephants never gets old. As I sit here, it is 6:00AM Saturday morning and the mahouts are just getting the elephants out of their enclosures. They are slowly making their way across the field- slowly and freely. So beautiful-

The poor “children of the corn” group today were out from 8AM-4PM, we were out until 2:30 cannot imagine working another 90 minutes. They all had glazed eyes when they returned-

Mae and I have developed some sort of allergic reaction. I’m assuming from the corn- she has an itchy rash on here trunk and mine started around my ankles and has made its way to my knees. We went to the infirmary (whose charge is also the snack bar clerk) and got a steroid ointment and pills to take- i’m assuming they are some sort of an antihistamine. Robs twisted ankle is healing amazingly well, it literally is bruised the whole way around his ankle- but he says hardly any pain. He would have it wrapped by the infirmary/snack bar girl every morning and the massage ladies would gently massage it and put Tiger Balm on it in the evenings.