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| Keith & Ted meet this
little (?) one-year-old who is glad to take our bananas. Ted lost the
shoving match he had later with this this "child." |
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| Peg seems to have a way
with young elephants & receives a big smile in return for her bananas. |
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| Here mother elephant
supervises as she gets something to eat from our new British friend Tom. |
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| Peg, Ted & Susan walk through
the Karen village where the families have begun their evening activities. |
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| Angela gets Tom's picture
for posterity and to prove a point to her snake fearing mother. |
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| Susan and Peg get a hug
and neck massage from two cool guys. |
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| The gents wait while the
ladies get the first bath with the elephants in this fast flowing river.
What do you see in the upper right corner of this photo? |
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| Wading out into deeper
water, the handlers encourage the elephants to submerge. The elephants seem
to enjoy this - the ladies get a thrill. |
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| It was evening and had
been raining, but Thailand was still warm enough for this fun activity. |
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| Are you supposed to take
your bath now, or just hang on? The elephants can go under for quite a
while. |
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| It was pleasant to be so
close to a storybook animal such as an elephant, but Peg's mount wanted to
roll on her side. |
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| Do you think the animal
even knows there is a big human on his back? They're SO strong. |
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| Keith gets his turn and
is also pleasantly surprised at the experience. He never thought he would do
such a thing, but was very glad that he did! |
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| Ted and his elephant have
had enough and it is time to head for shore. Can you see the big guy with
tusks in the distance, far right? |
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| These 3 decide they have
enjoyed the cooling waters long enough & also head towards shore --- a
very enjoyable & memorable experience. |
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| Next on our program was a
delicious & authentic Thai meal served in an open sided, grass roofed
hut. |
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| After eating it was time
for us all to mount elephants for a long trek in to the forest by
starlight. The mahouts with lighted helmets provided the expertise to
guide these kind beasts, however, the lights were only occasionally used. |
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| This surprisingly was the
highlight of the day for us. To be lulled by the wooden bell sounds,
sights of fireflies in the night and the rhythmic, undulating walk of the
massive animals while the mahout hummed peacefully, was a truly memorable
experience. |
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| Ted summed it up with the
remark that it was never something he would have chosen to do, but it now
ranks among the top ten funnest things he's ever done in his life. |
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| With bananas, Peg repays
the big fellow that took us & led the group through the dark night. We
will never forget the pleasant sound of his wooden bells hanging from his
massive neck. |
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| On Sunday, while Ted
& Susan visit the Railway Museum & prepare to return to Ban Pong, we
explore more of Kanchanaburi. Here Keith checks out the old German
locomotive by the railway station. |
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| We end up back by the
railroad bridge over the river and decide to have lunch on the floating
restaurant just below the bridge. Notice the little birds enjoying the
bucket of rice behind Peg. |
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| Keith couldn't resist
taking this last photo of this famous bridge and continued to ponder about
the tragic history & much suffering related to the building of this rail
line. He wonders what the many Japanese tourists are thinking of all
this...? |
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| As we walk back to the
main road to catch a bus back in to town, Keith notices these street lamps
with the bridge motif. It seems much of Kanchanaburi's economy & identity
is tied to this bridge. |
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