So it was our final day here in Phuket. Got off to a bit of a late start, but then it wasn't like we had to be anywhere.
The real adventure began in the afternoon when we were booked in to go on the Elephant Strolling excursion. Our guide met us at reception, then took us down to the jeeps that would transport us. They were so cool they even let Mokona drive:
The first stop on the tour is actually Wat Chalong. Lol. However this time we had the guide so it was a lot more interesting as we learned about the history of the buildings and a little bit more of the Buddha story. Oh and apparently the monks that we saw in the little building in the back ARE actual monks, not statues. Go figure. Oh and one of them is one of the three monks who started building Wat Chalong. Cool.
Outside there was a bit of a commotion going on. Turns out a young man is preparing to become a monk.
His family cut his hair and then he shaves the rest off and changes into a white outfit. He then goes into a nearby building to meditate and prepare and then finally comes out in the orange or yellow robes of a monk. So that was a neat addition to our tour. It's not every day you get to see that.
As we were taking photos, Carl noticed this keyring on an Asian guy's camera bag.
Hell yeah everyone loves NZ.
We then went inside the secondary temple to pay our respects to the three monks. They're three bronze statues that represent the first three. We placed gold leaf on the statues for luck.
Finally we went back to the jeeps and headed off to the elephant safari park. The first thing we did was have a ride in a wagon drawn by two oxen.:
Ok I will say here that is was NOT the smoothest ride ever. The wagons bounced over every single rut in the track, with a lot of back and forward swaying owing to the oxen's gait. Which of course is more like a plod.
After that was done, we were given a Thai cooking demonstration, showing us how they make a spicy papaya salad, which is apparently a really popular dish in the northeastern part of Thailand.
Oh yeah, we also got to sit on the back of a water buffalo:
We then we herded up the hill to where the elephants waited. And OMG if I though the ox-wagon ride was bad, it has NOTHING on that. Because of the elephant's slow and steady gait, we were swaying side-to-side, but also back and forth. It was like our asses had no idea where they were supposed to go. Good thing we were strapped in. It was fun though. And one of the elephants liked sticking his trunk up between the people in front of him whenever he got close enough. It was hilarious.
After about twenty minutes of butt-sliding, elephant farting, trumpeting and rapid-fire Thai conversation fun, we were let off and taken over to a building where they had the monkey show. They brought out their female monkey who was quite content to sit on her bench and hold hands with anyone:
Apparently they train monkeys to pick ripe coconuts, because of course they're experts at it. A monkey can pick anywhere between 800 to 1000 coconuts a day. Awesome. So they demonstrated how that worked, before bringing out Sam the superstar. He walked a tightrope on his back legs, rode a tricycle, did some weightlifting and then did a hell of a Michael Jordan impression:
From the monkey show we then headed up to the main event. The baby elephant show. Before it started we were all given the opportunity to have our photos taken with the elephants.
The show began and the elephants did some amazing tricks. They sat and posed,
Shot hoops
Played darts,
And kicked Carl's ass at soccer.
They also gave massages. Though when I said I wanted a Thai massage, that wasn't what I meant.
And this poor guy got more than he bargained for. He got a massage with a happy ending.
Finally we were able to feed them some well earned bananas.
And that was pretty much the end. It was back to the jeeps and back to resort.
Once we got back, Carl and I wandered up to the main theatre to check the events board and noticed three guys in boxing shorts. On the stage was a few gloves and pads. Turns out they were doing a Thai boxing demonstration. And as you might have imagined, Carl got right into it.
But of course I quickly got horrendously bored so I wandered out to the trapeze to catch up with the circus guys. And managed to talk myself into actually giving it a go. Of course Carl, having perfect timing, finished up with his Muay Thai lesson and came out just in time to see me suited up and about to climb.
Don't take my word for it. Here's photographic proof:
Me climbing
This is me near the top
And finally me swinging
Before landing safely in the net:
So there you all go. I actually did it. And inspired by me, Mokona gave it a go too.
And that was pretty much it. Oh, it was multicultural night tonight. So at the pergola they had a range of games and activities from different countries. The best one was the Korean soju. They'd pour a glass of beer, then on top of the glass they set out two skewers and then balanced a shot glass on them. Then soju (which is very strong rice wine, basically Korean vodka lol) was poured into the shot glass. Then you had to bang your head on the table so that the shot glass unbalanced from the skewers and fell into the beer. Then of course, you drank it. It's the Korean jaegar-bomb! Lol.
So yeah, thus ends our adventures in Thailand. Hope you all have enjoyed following along with us on our journey. I won't close this blog because hey, I'm not planning on stopping traveling any time soon. But that's it for now.
We fly out at 4:25pm. We'll be back in NZ at 1:20pm tomorrow.
See you all then.
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