Our Day With The Elephants

Our second day in Koh Chang we went to one of the elephant camps. We got there around 9 am and we immediately went down to give the elephants their morning bath. The elephants walked right into the river and started splashing around. I was thinking about the millions of forms that we would still be filling out if we were back home, but not in Thailand. We just jumped in the river and started giving them a bath. It was so cool.

Rachel, Nikki and McCall got on the first elephant and they gave us a scrub brush and they started cleaning it.

Our Day With The Elephants

Jonny and I jumped in next and one of the elephants started shooting water on Jonny. It was hilarious. Elephants have bristly hair on top of their head. I realized how big elephants are when I was sitting on its neck and it rolled in the water like I wasn't there and I realized it could have crushed me so easily.

Our Day With The Elephants

When we were done the elephants got out and we were ready for a ride.

Our Day With The Elephants

These were the stands that we used to get on the elephants.

After we bathed the elephants they cut up some pineapples and then we got on the elephants for a trek.

Our Day With The Elephants

Rachel got to be a "trainer". The real trainer got off and let Rachel ride on the neck.

I felt like we were in a movie. Our group had to use all the elephants at the camp and we formed this big caravan of elephants walking through the jungle. The elephants could carry 3 people and the trainer.

Our Day With The Elephants

The trainers also let Jonny ride in front. Here is a picture of Jonny with his friends Derrick, Brad and Jacob.

Our Day With The Elephants

At the end of our trek Vika and I got off and then we got to feed the elephants.

Vika held out a banana and the elephants would just reach out with their trunk and scoop it into their mouth. At the end of the trek they gave us some coconut milk. Here are Brad, Derrick, Jonny and Jacob.

Tree Top Adventure

We went to a ropes course in the jungle. It was so fun. This was about 10 minutes from our hotel and it was a ropes course in the trees. First, they suit you up in harnesses and then you slide on cables thru the trees. After the first course they asked us if we wanted to eat some fruit and they asked Rachel if she wanted to cut it up, but after she cut it up they laughed at how she cut the pineapple. They thought it was so funny how she wasted so much of it. Thai people are so friendly.

Tree Top Adventure

We looked up in the trees and this was one of our observers. This monkey was watching us the whole time and jumping from tree to tree to get a better look at us.

The Town Near Our Hotel

Here are a few pictures of the town near our hotel. This is the street about 100 meters from our room. They drive on the opposite side of the road, so it took us a little time to get used to. Below is a restaurant called Morgan's. It is owned by an English guy named Richard. We went there twice during the 5 days we were there and we mostly had Thai food.

This was one of favorite things to do. Every night after dinner we would walk down town and get a pancake. The street vendors would make pancakes and put bananas, mangos or pineapples in them. They are more like crepes, but they were delicious. They cost about $.50 each.

Skin Diving In Thailand

The day after our tree top adventure we went skin diving. The boat took us to 4 different islands. Just to our left was Cambodia.

This was the fishing village we left from. The boys went to the top of the boat where it was pretty windy. I didn't think the skin diving was going to be very good because it was so choppy, but it turned out to be really good.