A Babbling Brook

Tyler and I have made our way back to the United States of America (feeling very formal as of late) and are hanging out in our hotel in Tempe, Arizona tonight.

We woke this morning (after about 15 times for me to a series of seemingly never ending work dreams as they seem to do at ends of vacations) and did dishes and cleaned and packed up before our shuttle arrived.

Hopefully Tyler will find the inspiration to post some of the photos and stories of our last days in Rocky Point since those photos are on his phone. Much cuter and happier times 🙂

We took the Headout to Rocky Point shuttle north, but unlike our trip south we had a couple of additional passengers with us. Retired and story-filled Al and Grace from Jackson Hole, Wyoming – thank you for not only being the chattiest couple with our driver we’ve ever met but for certainly passing the time on our way to Ajo, Arizona!

We somewhat raced our way to back to the airport/Tempe area where our driver could drop us off at the local and cheap La Quinta. Luckily for us, since we were basically starving when we arrived (even though Lynelle, our driver, was nothing short of snacks and crackers and water) we took the hotel shuttle to a Thai restaurant (I was weirdly craving Thai) called Thai Elephant near the Arizona State University campus.

But.

Of course.

In line with our other fail whales of the week.

Thai Elephant was closed when we arrived.

So we talked our hotel shuttle driver instead driving us to another restaurant further into Tempe that we had been recommended by our dear friend Julie who went to ASU – Four Peaks Brewery.

Talk about someone who knows a recommendation to match a couple. Tyler and I LOVE trying new beers and breweries so this was perfect.

As we were eating dinner there I realized how much I loved our somewhat habit of taking an extra day to get back to Indianapolis from our vacation city/town. It adds so much value to the time off. Last summer on our way home from vacation in Georgia, we stayed an extra night in Nashville on our way home and hit up Chuy’s, Tootsies and The Stage that we definitely wouldn’t have this year otherwise. That extra day really can make all the difference.

Let’s hope my ultra-exaggerated-and-unreal work-related nightmares that i had last night don’t haunt my dreams tonight and ruin these nice thoughts about more slowly crawling into real life again, but here goes.

But after watching that glorious Justin Timberlake performance on the Grammy Awards, how could any dream be bad?

And now I feel as babbling a brook as the fake scene Tyler has put on the La Quinta TV screen (ocean and fireplace are the others).

Until next time,
Lori

A Tale of Two Rocky Pointes

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

As with most travels, there are hiccups and the ability to adapt is key to your sanity. This trip is no exception.

We knew when we planned our trip that we’d be arriving during the low season, but how low would surprise even us.

Once we arrived at our condo building we quickly noticed the lack of cars in the parking lot. Of the 275 units, 11 (yes, I said 11) are currently occupied. Of the 11, 10 are occupied by persons 65 and older who are here snow birding, so we cut the median age in half!

We made our way down to the beach to enjoy the sunny 75 degree weather and quickly realized that we had it to ourselves (besides the locals trying to sell me earrings, large wooden turtles, and ponchos). All we needed was a Wilson volleyball and we could’ve made a sequel to Castaway!

View of condo complex

Beach view to the West

Beach view to the East

We had planned on trying some of the water adventure activities that we saw online including parasailing, kayaking, ATVing etc. only to realize that they were all closed during the low season. Waaaaaaaaaaa wahhhhhhhh

Since we had the beach to ourselves, we decided to walk the two miles down the beach to check out a restaurant that Tripadvisor.com and our shuttle driver both recommended called Wrecked at the Reef. We waited for low tide and made our move only to get all the way there to realize that in the low season, it (along with most other restaurants close to us) are only open Thursday-Sunday. FAIL WHALE!

Lucky for us, there’s a nice sit-down Italian restaurant called Mare Blu that was next door and was just opening for the night.

We made our way inside in our beach gear (including a my nice Pork “the other white meat” cut off t-shirt) and had our pick of where to sit since there wasn’t a single other person in there and would stay that way for our whole meal!

So for our first two meals in Mexico we had cheeseburgers (at a place that our cab driver hadn’t heard of and drove around random streets until he found it) and Italian food. Eat like the locals do, right?

We eventually figured out how we’d need to alter our plans to make the most out of trips into town and haven’t failed since our first two days in Rocky Point.

Life is all about the adventure and this trip has had its fair share!

Remember to help control the pet population and spay and neuter your pets.
Love,
Tyler (Tido)

Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy

Most of you that know me know that I am a total land lubber when it comes to food. I love me some chicken, beef and pork. Seriously I love those foods and almost always turn my nose up at any seafood. But when on vacation, I do what I can to tolerate new foods and experiences. (For those of you new to my blogging abroad, this is called, “Lori Snow In Action”.) This trip was not unlike the rest.

But even this time I took it to a new level.

Folks, I COOKED shrimp.

Tyler and I were given the recommendation to buy fresh, deveined shrimp from 3 Boys, a local small market in town. Very glad we did because it was tasty and seemingly inexpensive (two pounds for $10 USD).

We sauteed part of it in butter, lemon and white wine, and the other part raw in a hot sauce/butter dipping sauce:

So proud of my meal al fresco:

We have more shrimp to cook this weekend. We both thought the butter/lemon cooked shrimp was the way to go, but we will probably add a little hot sauce for an added kick.

So that was a couple of nights ago. Tonight, we got a little more gussied up than usual and paid the $20 cab ride to a beautiful location for dinner and a sunset view. At one of the restaurants there, The Lighthouse, we tried the Mexican version of shrimp cocktail:

Mexican shrimp cocktail includes shrimp, onion, tomato, cilantro, and clamato sauce (maybe other things?), and it was very tasty:

More to come on our fantastic week in Rocky Point later.

Until next time,
Lori

Tidal Title

Hello world, please allow me to reintroduce myself my name is H.O.V.A. (just kidding it’s TYLER) and I’ll be your navigator for day three of our south of the border adventure.

After our $20 cab ride to get into town two nights ago, we decided to put our feet to pavement (actually sand) yesterday and see what was within walking distance to the Princesa de Penasco.

Before I divulge into that I must put on my best Bill Nye the Science Guy hat and tell you about a couple of phenomena that occur in Rocky Point.

On our cab ride down from Phoenix both of our knowledgable drivers explained to us that Rocky Point experiences one of the highest tidal ranges (at around a 20 foot difference from high to low tide) in the world with a place in Nova Scotia having the highest (Bay of Fundy at 38 ft for those playing at home).

This is high tide:

This is low tide. Today the difference was 15 feet lower:

For the second phenomon, Sally (the gal we all know and love who sells seashells down by the seashore) you may want to stop reading this post now.

Due to the extreme changes in the tides, there are MILLIONS of seashells up and down the beach (and I mean length and height wise). I’m talking so many that at first Lori and I tried to not step on any before we realized it’s impossible. So Sally, save yourself the trouble and stay out of Rocky Point, because your seashell business will last as long as Crystal Clear Pepsi!

Thats the 411 in Rocky Point today, tune into tomorrow to catch an all new episode of Tyler and Lori’s Excellent Mexican Adventure!

LYLAS,
Tyler (Tido)

Day one recap aka most boring title ever

Good morning from Rocky Point!

Yes, I am sitting on the balcony of our condo enjoying the morning as I had hoped. Although I am wrapped in a blanket as it’s only about 57 degrees (I know, I know. Still better than Indiana!)

So yesterday from the Phoenix airport we took a shuttle to Rocky Point via Headout to Rocky Point. Tyler and I were the only passengers so it was basically like taking our own 15-passenger van taxi on a four hour trip. Here’s a glimpse of our view for those four hours:

Certainly a drive through the middle of nowhere, but our drivers Lynelle and David were great and kept us entertained with Arizona history, tales and tips from Rocky Point, etc. I also was pretty impressed by all of the saguaro cacti and the mountains. I thought the terrain would be pretty boring, so touche, southern Arizona and northern Mexico.

Halfway on the trip we stopped at an IGA in Ajo, Arizona to get groceries for the condo.

Friends from home will appreciate that those groceries included two cases of Busch Light. We figured we’d have plenty if Mexican beer options outside the condo and beach, so why not show some love to the old standby when we can?

Our next stop was at the border crossing. Our driver had to stop st the duty free shop for some things that are more expensive to buy in Mexico, so while he was in there I snapped this pic.

We were given the OK to pass when they had determined that we were American citizens (USA USA USA! ‘MURICA!!!!), did not have more than $10,000 in cash on us (just shy) and were not carrying any firearms (besides my Michelle Obama-wannabe arms).

We got to Rocky Point pretty easily after that, checked into our condo, unpacked and quickly made a to-do list of all of the things we wanted to to this week based on recommendations from our drivers and the Rocky Point Times newspaper.

Last night we decided to keep it low key and just go out to dinner and come back to soak in the jacuzzi. Our dinner choice was Duke’s, per David’s reco of the $1.50 cheeseburger special on Monday’s (side note: everyone accepts $USD here as well as pesos).

Duke’s was not within walking distance of our condo and we really had no idea where it was, so we asked the front desk how we could get a cab. He said he could call us one but that cabs from our condo into town are $20. Uhhhhhhh. After picking our jaws up from the floor, we realized we didn’t have much of a choice then but to pay it and figure out a better way to get into town tomorrow.

So here we are at Duke’s, enjoying our cheeseburgers, Tecates and Dos Equises while watching Fox Soccer and NFL Network:

Besides the two elementary school-aged kids on a computer looking up YouTube videos of cheats for their video games, we were by far the youngest people at the bar by about 40 years. This may be the Florida of the western U.S.

Off to explore the beach and what is within non-$20-cab-ride walking distance of our condo today!

Adios,
Lori

And what’s the deal with airplane food?!

As we are on the plane to Phoenix, I am starting to think about all of the little things I’m looking forward to about our beach condo. One of my favorite things about going on vacation to a place where the mornings are not too hot, not too cold, goldilocks-style, is having breakfast and coffee out on a deck or patio and soaking in the quiet, or at least the ambient noise. While I don’t know for sure that this vacation will provide this experience, this is where my kind has wandered in the middle seat of this airplane.

In other news, I am confident that the passenger sitting next to me showered this morning which is a good start. (I’m not talking about Tyler, but I do think he showered today too.) Anyway, the thing that is sort of weirding me out about the guy next to me is that he hhas not eaten any of his plane snacks that Southwest has so graciously served us. So far we’ve had a little 100-calorie pack of Graham crackers and two honey roasted peanut baggies. I don’t think I devoured them immediately but to not eat them at all? Just odd to me. Is that normal or am I just a sucker for a free snack or two?

The snacks in question:

I’ll leave you with this photo of my travel mate who DOES eat snacks:

Until next time,
Lori

Reinvented

At the beginning of this month, I realized that Tyler and I would most likely be traveling at least once a month outside of the central Indiana area, so I thought it would be possible to write and post pictures about each of the different places we go each month. Unfortunately I slacked on getting a Chicago post done (and we took exactly zero photos), so I will sum up the trip in just two phrases and move on – “Mom and Dad eat moonshine cherries” and “I’m definitely down for some sushi.”

So here we go into February. Tyler and I leave on Monday for a week in Puerto Penasco/Rocky Point, Mexico. Hopefully we can post updates and photos from there, but if not, we’ll certainly write a wrap-up post or two when we return.

Cheers!
Lori

Tigers, Tuk-Tuks and Big Tyler, Little Thailand

Hello World,

As our trip to Southeast Asia comes to a close, I wanted to write one last post about our adventures, funny memories and thank you for following us on our journey.

Tigers & Tigers & Tigers… OH MY

While we were in Chiang Mai, Thailand, we got the opportunity to go to a place right outside the city named the Tiger Kingdom.  “What’s the Tiger Kingdom” you might ask, and its EXACTLY what you think… TIGERS !!!! According to the brochure, we would be able to “Tounch”(lots of interesting english spellings) the tigers, but I’m pretty sure the Geneva convention outlawed that, so we had to just stick to touching.

When we arrived at the Kingdom we were given a menu of options on which tigers we wanted to see, Small (2-5 months), Medium (6-9 months) or Big (2 years).  We talked it over and agreed that we traveled over 6,000 miles to get there and had to go big or go home!

We made our way to the big tiger enclosure and waited for our instructions before getting in with the Tigers.  These instructions never came and the trainers opened up the cage and told us to get in! No more than 10 feet in front of us laid two big tigers named Summerflower and Jackie Chan.

We just stood there for a minute until one of the trainers said “Hey lady (or Hey Big Man in my case), lay your head on the tigers stomach.  We made our way closer to the animals and it wasn’t until then they told us “don’t approach the tigers from the front, touch their heads, or mess with their front paws” Check, check and check.

The tigers were so AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEE and soft.  They acted a lot like a big (and I mean big) house cat.  Rolling over to have you scratch its belly, purring and playing with flowers.  Before we knew it, our time with the big cats was over, but we left the cage with tons of  great photos and memories that will last a lifetime!

 

Transportation

Looking back on our time in Asia, I think the only two modes of transportation we didn’t take advantage of were motorbikes (glad we didn’t even try since we met quite a few people who got injured on them) and by burro.

Let’s recount what all we used…  Airplane (12 flights, 53 hrs of flying), car, bus, mini-bus, train, Tuk-Tuk, Elephant (they have to be registered with the department of transportation), songthaew (which is basically my truck with benches in the back), ferry and a long-boat (felt a lot like a Viking about to storm a beach when riding in it).

If driving laws in Thailand and Cambodia exist, I don’t think they’re enforced in the least!  Passing a car on the left, who’s passing a tractor, who’s passing a bike (so passing three vehicles at once) on a two lane road seemed like it was business as usual to our driver, but it had us on the edge of the seat for most our rides.

Lanes were clearly marked on the road, but drivers seemed to drive right in the middle of the two lanes so it was easier to keep their speed up through the corners (cab rides from airports hit 80 mph pretty consistently).  I was lucky enough to ride in the front seat a few times and it was a whole experience to itself.  Seeing how close we got to hitting motorbikes, dogs, cars and people about made me have a heart attack.  It was always a great feeling when we made it to our destination safely (and in record time)

Also, the drivers love to use their horns as much as humanly possible. On our trip from the Cambodian border to Siem Reap, I’m about 99% sure the driver honked his horn more times in the short two-hour trip than my 23 year old truck has in its lifetime! I bet they have to get their horns replaced about as often as their oil!

I want to thank everyone for following the blog over the last 17 days and check in over the next week or so to see all the photo’s we’ll upload for the post now that we’re back in the good ol’ US of A

Thanks and God Bless America

Tyler

Beaches, Bumrungrad and Bartering

Good evening from San Francisco! Tyler, Neil and I made it back here yesterday morning to the smiling faces of our friends Anna and Mike picking us up from our long flights. A lot has happened since I last posted about the elephant trip. Tyler typed up a blog post a few days ago in Bangkok about our tiger experience in Chiang Mai but it did not load before the Internet access timed out, so he’s going to retype that sometime – do not worry, loyal readers. 🙂

As you can see from the title of this post, our last five days in Asia can be summed up in three words: (1) beaches, (2) Bumrungrad and (2) bartering.

Beaches

We spent two days each on Phuket (pronounced “Poo-KET”) Island (specifically Hat Karon aka Karon Beach) and Ko Phi Phi (pronounced “Pee Pee”, and “Ko” means “Island”). Karon was a sleepy little beach town and had a nice but somewhat crowded beach. It was a great people watching beach, which can be one of my favorite activities at a beach (sounds kind of creepy, but we all do it, just admit it). However, we saw a few too many topless old lady boobies to say the least.

The sun was intense and we all got a little burnt here and there but overall we did a pretty good job of keeping the sunscreen lathered on so we could log as many beach hours as possible since we knew our days on the beach would be only a few.

We took a ferry in the middle of the afternoon from Phuket Island to Ko Phi Phi. The ferry was very crowded and we had to sit on the top of ship with nothing to protect this from the sun. This is when I appreciated the giant sun hat (think Kentucky Derby-style) that I bought in Siem Reap for a mere $5 the most. After an hour and a half on the ship, we arrived on Ko Phi Phi where we took a longtail boat for about 15 minutes to our resort – Viking Nature Resort. We were pleased with the Viking even though there was no air conditioning and we had our first experience with the infamous “mosquito nets.” Our treehouse-style accomodations were rustic but almost felt somewhat glamorous at the same time. It’s hard to explain I guess. 🙂

We spent some time in the town on Ko Phi Phi on both nights we were there. It was definitely the busiest, craziest, partypartypartyiest area we were in during the trip. It reminded me a lot of spring break in Panama City Beach in college, except save for a few margaritas, we were certainly more observers of the craziness than participants.

Tyler also checked something off his Southeast Asia To Do list in Ko Phi Phi – he saw a Muy Thai fight (aka Thai boxing). There was a bar that had boxing for amateurs (aka drunken idiots – you get a free bucket of booze if you fight) as well as professionals. I wasn’t so into it, so Neil and I did some walking around while Tyler, Jen and Ryan watched them duke it out.

We also did a six-hour snorkeling tour of the Phi Phi Islands, which was by far one of the coolest things we did during our trip as I had never been snorkeling before (besides the Carmel High School pool – cool, I know). Our hotel – and most if not all hotels in the Phi Phi Islands – was on Phi Phi Don, but there’s also Bamboo Island and Phi Phi Ley that make up some of the beautiful islands in the vicinity. We stopped at four of five places to snorkel and check our different beaches, including Monkey Beach, which featured – you guessed it – lots of monkeys running around. One of the monkeys snatched a banana out of the hand of a beachgoer and hissed at her after (I guess that meant, “Thank you very much for this banana, ma’am!”). He then proceeded to peel and eat it. Could you be a little more steretypical, Mr. Monkey?

We also saw Maya Bay, which is where Leonardo Di Caprio filmed “The Beach.” Tyler and I haven’t seen the movie yet, but we definitely want to now after seeing the beach. (In reference to a previous post, I also haven’t seen Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, so seeing that part of Angkor Wat was also probably not as cool as it could have been had I already seen the movie – guess I should probably put that on my list as well).

One of the few mishaps we had during the entire trip happened to Jen while we were on Ko Phi Phi. While Tyler, Ryan and Jen were swimming in front of our resort’s private beach, Jen stepped on a sea urchin – OUCH. Dr. Ryan went to work with my first aid kit trying to get all of the spines out of her foot but there’s probably still some hanging out between her toes (again, OUCH). She was up and walking within 30 minutes with us though – again, my giant Derby-style sun hat goes off to my friend for being such a trooper throughout our adventures on the trip!

I wasn’t feeling super keen on eating Thai food on our last night in Ko Phi Phi, so I decided to order from the Italian portion of the menu as well as a side of french fries (side note: almost all Thai restaurants also had a few Italian dishes on their menus – kind of odd). I think the french fries were a good choice, but you’ll find out in a little while why I think ordering the Spaghetti Carbonara was the worst decision I made on the whole trip.

We said goodbye to Jen and Ryan on Thursday morning as we needed to head back to Bangkok for a night before catching our flight back to the United States. Jen and Ryan are staying in the islands for a few more days until the end of their Chinese New Year holiday break. (Sorry to Ryan about having to watch the Steelers lose today!)

Bumrungrad

We took another ferry back to Phuket Island where we caught a plane to Bangkok to spend one last night and one last full day before coming back to the States. I wasn’t feeling so hot on the ferry but thought I just felt a little motion sickness. I continued to feel progressively rough throughout the day, and by the time we got to our hostel in Bangkok several hours later, I knew I needed to somehow get a thermometer to see if I was actually sick or just feeling beat from all of the traveling. I sent Tyler and Neil on a hunt to a few pharmacies to purchase a cheap thermometer for me (Tyler said they were trying to sell him $20 electronic thermometers and a Spongebob Squarepants one too, but they found a normal one for $2 – much better). As it turns out, I was running a 101.5 degree fever. We had lots of potential diagnoses – stomach flu, malaria, something worse… probably good that we did not have WebMD access, ha – but as we weren’t sure what the best way to get some health advice at 10 p.m. in Bangkok, we decided it would be best to just get a quick dinner (I went with the chicken and rice soup – wasn’t exactly Campbell’s but it was pretty similar), take a shower and see how I was feeling in the morning.

Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep overnight as I think I took 8 trips to the tiny little restroom we had attached to our room before our alarm went off at 7:30 a.m. I was relieved to hear the alarm as I knew it would then be time for us to get up, get dressed and somehow get me some medical care as I felt pretty terrible by this time.

We ended up going to Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok, per the recommendation from the Lonely Planet Southeast Asia book that we had brought on the trip. We all agreed that this hospital was certainly one of the nicest hospitals we had ever been in. For those of you in the Indianapolis area, I would equate it to Clarian North – if not nicer! The staff was incredibly helpful and kind, and I was in talking to a doctor within 30 minutes. After talking through everything for a few minutes and a quick exam, the doctor informed me that I was fighting through a case of severe food poisoning and that everything was going to be OK. What a relief to know it wasn’t anything contagious or anything more serious. It crossed my mind several times that if it was something serious or contagious, I may not have been able to fly to the United States that night, which would have been terrible for everyone involved!

After paying a mere $85 for the doctor visit, an antibiotic, electrolyte powder packets, extra strength Tylenol and Imodium, I was sent on my way, less than an hour after we walked into the hospital. No one will ever read this, but THANK YOU to everyone at the Bumrungrad Hospital. You ROCK!

Bartering

I tried keeping up with Neil and Tyler walking to a big mall in Bangkok, but I quickly realized that the combination of lack of sleep and the evil that was inside my intestinal tract was not going to make for a happy Lori walking around Bangkok all day. I ended up going back to the hostel to sleep for the afternoon while Tyler and Neil checked out Wat Pho, which houses the famous giant reclining Buddha. I felt a little better after the nap (OK, let’s be honest, Neil and Tyler ended up taking a nap later too so we all felt better) so we got ready for dinner and some serious last-minute shopping on Kao Sahn Road, a bustling backpacker-covered area close to our hostel. We bartered and bartered and bartered and each ended up with several great finds to cap our trip. Oh, and we certainly made a final stop at Swenson’s, our favorite ice cream shop in Southeast Asia (I think we made at least five or six trips to Swenson’s while we were there).

We got showered and packed and ready to head to the airport for our flights to Beijing (followed by a nine-hour layover, which would have been far more dreadful had we not scored three reclining lounge chairs to sleep in for a few hours) and then to San Francisco. The trans-Pacific flight going back to SF was SO much easier to take than the flight over.

As I said, we’re now in SF with Anna and Mike, who took us on a quick sightseeing tour yesterday afternoon (where we saw the ORIGINAL Swenson’s ice cream shop – it was started in San Francisco – how ironic!) before a long nap and a fun night out at a tapas bar and a dive bar (except apparently it’s trendy to go to dive bars so maybe it’s not really a dive bar?) in the Mission neighborhood on SF. Dan and Arjun met us out for dinner and drinks which was awesome! We have been so lucky to see such great friends on this trip.

We have enjoyed staying with Anna and Mike for a few days but are looking forward to going back to Indiana tomorrow. Someone said there’s possibly some snow there though? I forget what that looks like… perhaps I should google it?

Unless something wild and crazy happens on our travels back to Indiana tomorrow, this will be my last post. Thanks for all of the comments! We’ve loved reading them. 🙂

Lori

The post (many of) you have been waiting for…

As Tyler mentioned in the previous post, we are now in Karon Beach, an area of Phuket Island. It is now Tuesday (I had to float my cursor over the clock in the bottom-right corner of this PC to make sure I knew what day it was), but since Saturday, Tyler has asked me a few times, “So, what’s been your favorite part so far?” And without hesitation, my answer has been “THE ELEPHANTS!” He agreed.

On Saturday morning, Tyler, Neil and I woke up early and had breakfast before being picked up and whisked up a mountain to enter the Patara Elephant Farm. We were greeted by 26 elephants hanging out in fields, eating grass and small tree limbs and leaves and anything else you can imagine a vegetarian would eat. We sat in a group of about 20 people and listened to Pat, the owner of the farm, talk about the history of the importance of elephants to Thailand from various perspectives – from the economy to politics. The chat was about an hour and a half but we dug it. It was great to learn so many things about the beautiful creatures we were about to meet.

We then were introduced to our elephants and our trainers for the day. My elephant was Chompu, Tyler’s was Boon and Neil’s was Maeboonthong. My elephant was born on the farm 9 years ago, Tyler’s was a 26-year old male who had already created 24 baby elephants and Neil’s was a recent momma elephant who was getting ready to be the “birthing partner” elephant to her best friend who was due to give birth any day now (we even got to feel the gigantic elephant kick inside of the preggo elephant – how cool!).

We were first given a basket of melon, pumpkin and bananas to feed to our elephants so they grew to like us. I still think Chompu was trying to show me he was boss because he sneezed on my legs and slapped me in the face with his giant ear during this time, but I didn’t mind. 🙂

We then checked to make sure our elephants were healthy:

1. Were they flapping their ears and wagging their tails? (Yes.)
2. Was there dirt on each side of their body, indicating that they had slept laying down on both sides overnight? (Yes.)
3. Were they sweating through their toenails, which is the only place that elephants sweat? (Yes.)
4. Did their dung look healthy (i.e., there were at least 4-5 balls, it had a neutral smell, the fibers were small and greenish, and there was water that came out when you squeezed it)? (Yes.)

We then brushed all the dirt off the elephants with a bunch of leaves and then led it to the stream to brush it and clean it. We then rode the elephants for about an hour up the mountain (somewhat of an uncomfortable experience – our legs were definitely sore the next day from having to sit on its head with our knees up and feet behind its ears). We ended at a beautiful waterfall where we had lunch and swam with the elephants before riding them back down the hill (much shorter ride this time luckily as they took us through a shortcut) to end our day and say goodbye to the creatures we’d grown to love. We’re told that if we come back to the elephant farm years from now that our elephants will still remember us by our sound and smell. Perhaps we’ll need to do that!

(Sorry, I kind of rushed through the second half of the day but there is someone waiting to use the computer after me so I need to finish up!)

Here are a few photos from the fantastic adventure:

I doubt we will have Internet access in Ko Phi Phi where we are headed later today, so we will try to check in again in on Thursday afternoon/evening on our way back to or when we get into Bangkok.

Lori