|
|
|
 |
Elephant Trekking |
|
 |
Elephant Trekking
It’s a wonderful one hour tour
elephant riding through the
jungle with a visit to the
location of Srakaew cave
Hollywood movie ”The beach” with
Leonardo Di Caprio. You will
also have fruit and soft drinks,
a visit to the fruit farm and
enjoy a fun time with baby
elephant
|
|
SAFARI DAY: YEEHAW!
At 3am, fuelled by
laughter and
prodigious amounts
of local Chang beer
(or Ella-fun, as it
is known to the
locals), I was
whisked away by an
ugly white mini-van
that was so loud it
would have woken the
dead.
Only 14 hours ago, I
had landed at the
airport to be
greeted by a short,
stout man holding a
placard with my name
on it -upside down!
That is how my local
guide Roj and I
began our adventure
together on the
soon-to-be-feared
white mini-van.
Drive often enough
in Southeast Asia,
and every place
begins to resemble
another. Oddly, the
southern Thai
countryside looks
suspiciously like
its neighbour,
Malaysia's. Same
trees, same plants,
same horrible old
geezer peeing by the
roadside in full
view of passing
traffic. The only
difference is that
all the signboards
are in noodly
squiggles that
somehow make this
place terribly alien
yet exciting.
■ Ruenmai-Thai
Restaurant
An air of hunger and
anticipation hangs
in the air of the
otherwise lovely
Ruenmai-Thai
restaurant where I
get treated like a
VIP by the Police
Inspector, the
Chairman of the
Krabi Tourist
Association and the
Chief of the Krabi
Tourism Association,
while we tuck into
delicious
finger-licking
strange food with
jaw-breaking names.
After the meal, I
discover that
instead of one
guide, I now have
two. The new guy is
a dude named Nava
(who had such a
high-pitched voice
and a limp wrist
that I nearly keeled
over upon
discovering he was
married with two
kids. Readers, make
no assumptions in
this beautiful
land!). He possessed
all the necessary
credentials to begin
the Cowboy Krabi
Safari 2005, and so
we decide that
checking into the
hotel can wait, but
our safari can't.
(by a guest
diary) |
|
 |
■ Klong Thorn Hot Springs
There are always two prices to
pay in Thailand. The first price
is cheap and
only for locals. The second
price is always at least a 200%
increase over the first price,
and is charged to foreigners.
With my copper-coloured hair and
Chinese descent, I am able to
pass easily for a local. So my
guides Roj and Nava do all the
talking whilst I pretend to be
their deaf-mute cousin. In this
devious manner, we manage to
avoid paying ridiculous entrance
fees to most attractions.
Our first stop is the Klong
Thorn Hot Springs, where gazing
at the clear blue sky while hot
waters gush about me as I lay
there is amazing. My heart aches
for some female attention.
It suddenly hits me how
questionable it looks to be in a
hot spring with two other men.
"Gentlemen, it's time to move on
to our next destination," I
promptly declare.
■ Sa Morakot
Just 10 minutes away from Klong
Thorn is the romantically named
Sa Morakot or the Emerald Pool.
Reaching the actual pool is a
pain - you either trek through
heavy jungle or walk up a steep
slope for about 20 minutes.
One look at Sa Morakot, and I
feel like Dorothy when she first
laid eyes on the Emerald City of
Oz. There is nothing more
amazing than a huge body of
shimmering, clear turquoise
water.
Since there is no changing room,
I jump in, fully clothed - much
to the amusement of the other
locals bathing there. (Note to
readers: It may be a good idea
to bring a towel and a change of
shorts in Krabi - in case you're
seduced, like I was, by the
lovely ponds that beckon to be
enjoyed!).
|
|
|
|
