new years eve

what a magical night.  i love the wish lanterns in thailand and could think of no better way to bring in the new year. 

the yoga center was holding a 24 hour meditation service for each of the 24 hours around the globe.  since the US is so far behind thailand i woke up on new year's day and went for the meditation when it was turning midnight in the US.  made me feel connected to the family and friends who were celebrating.

there were flags for every country and as it turned midnight in each time zone the list was read and the flags from those countries put onto the altar.

it made one of the best new year's celebrations for me.

not such a secret beach

secret beach isn't such a secret anymore.  it was packed this week as i expect most beaches were.  it's my favorite beach on the island and one that i always can find a friend either on the beach, in the water or at the beach bar.

the polish/burmese couple who run the restaurant and bungalows are just fantastic and make me feel at home anytime i am there.  you can check out the place here .

the reef is just a short swim off the beach so there it's a great snorkel spot with lots of color and plenty of curious fish. 

when you are tired of the food, fish and sand you can get a massage at the hut right on the beach.

time to enjoy the island

enough about airlines, travel nightmares, military regimes and such.  i'm on the island and it takes me 10 minutes of riding around on a scooter to forget everything outside the bubble that is Koh Phangan. i'm flooded with memories of the last time i stayed on the island and as i ride around Sithanu it feels like home.  i check in at the yoga center and head down to the beach to my favorite spot to get a fresh coconut.  

later i meet up with friends at eat.co for dinner.  this is my favorite vegan restaurant on the island but everything is good and the plant based proteins all taste like meat or chicken.  i'm getting hungry just thinking about the kebab plate they make.

high speed internet

at some point someone decided to use 'high speed internet' as a marketing message here.  it probably stems from a time when what little internet access was available was at internet cafes.  now wireless access or wifi as it is called is available everywhere. here's the thing, the 'high speed internet'  access here is still quite a bit slower here than a regular wireless connection in the US as i am painfully reminded each time i try to upload photos.  after a week at the Elephant Nature Park with little or no access it's just nice to have reliable service again.

i'm off to Myanmar [also referred to as Burma] tomorrow and i'm so excited because i've never been there and have been wanting to visit for years.  i'm told the electricity is not consistently available and the internet access quite slow.  it may be a while before i can post again.

spirit houses

some are simple.  some are as elaborate as a palace.  some are big and some are small.  they are in every house and business.  a spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirits that dwell on the property.  the concept of a spirit house comes from Animism which predates Buddhism.  the purpose is to provide an appealing shelter to spirits who if not appeased can be mischievous.  the spirits are guardians of the home and help in business maters.

there are often fresh food or flower offerings at the shrines so when you are walking down  the street there will be a plate of prepared food sitting on the sidewalk. that's not trash or food for the homeless.  that is a spirit offering.  at this tree a full soda with a straw so it's ready to drink and a joss stick are offered to the tree.  there ae elaborate rules around the construction and placement of these shrines like they must face north or east and can not be in the shawdow of the building it's protecting.  if intercession from a special spirit is required, rituals can be preformed.

the place i stayed in Chiang Mai had quite a nice spirit house.  i did notice a correlation between the affluence of an establishment and how elaborate the spirit houses were.  at this spirit house there was an offering of two apples, some liquid in tiny cups, a heaping plate of garlic, a mango and flowers.

elephant walks

during the week at various times with various guides we have the opportunity to walk through the park and visit with the different social groups in the herd.  we call them elephant walks.

after a couple of days it's really easy to identify the groups.  the three ladies that always hang together.  here the are playing in the river.  the lady on the left is Mae Do who i remember from my last trip.  she is one of the gentlest elephants at the park and one we get up close to alot.  she's fiercely protected by the other two ladies that's she's formed a bond with.  both her back legs are dislocated.  i'm not sure why, the two common reasons for dislocations at park are being hit by cars or trucks while street begging or during logging operations when the logs roll down a hill and hit the elephants.  yeah, both of those sound like horrific situations.

the group with the baby boy and baby girl (called the Dok Mai) family.  it's a large social group because the female elephants gravitate to the social groups with babies.  they all want to be nannies and auntie to the baby and some times even compete for the baby's attention.  because the babies are so active they are fun to watch and the changing dynamics of the group are easy to see.


the Nuvonn family with just one baby boy.  there are some elephants that don't get along so well.  some elephants are bullies some of the old ladies try to monopolize the time with the babies.  it's on these elephant walks that we get a chance to see the dynamics of the social group play out.

there were a few instances when i saw an elephant chasing another one but it didn't amount to much other than a bunch of tourists running for cover which was a little bit funny.  a lot of funny after the fact when everyone is safe and the elephants back with their mahouts.

one day i was on the sky walk during the elephant bathing time and saw one of the elephants start towards another elephant.  they were both in quite deep water so she was moving slowly but i could see her mahout waving from the bank and yelling to get her attention so i knew she was getting into trouble.  next there is trumpeting and waving of trunks and all the elephants start to react by leaving the river.  that triggers the guides who are Thai to start yelling 'up to the river' repeatedly.  which means nothing to me but the urgency in their voices is very clear to everyone who starts to bolt in every direction.  remember, i'm safely on the skywalk so i'm thinking it's all kinda funny.  wish i had the video.

every moment spent on the elephant walks is precious and everyone enjoys being up close to the elephants.  one day after an elephant walk Jodie needed some help to get some steamed pumpkin over to some of the old ladies.  when their teeth wear out it's harder to get the nutrition they need so the elephant kitchen steams up some pumpkin which is easier for them to digest.  they missed getting it at the platform feeding so we haul three baskets out to the pens and feed them there.  steamed pumkins are nasty and to distract the other elephants in the pen we break up some of the pumpkins and feed it very slowly to keep them away from Jodie who is shoving steamed pumpkin as fast as she can into the mouth of the old lady.  

the Elephant Nature Park

the Elephant Nature Park is an elephant rescue and rehabilitation center in Northern Thailand where you can visit or volunteer.  they have been involved in dozens of rescues which have created a thriving elephant herd. the park provides a natural environment for elephants, dogs, cats, buffaloes and a few other animals. volunteers and visitors contribute to the healing while learning about elephants.  there are projects in Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar and visits can be arranged to any location.  all the revenue from the ads on this site for this month will be donated to the ENP to support their work.

there are many places in SE Asia where you can get up close to elephants.  i've chosen to go to the ENP because of the phenomenal work they do there.  it is 100% funded through private donors and it is the first sanctuary for elephants in Thailand.  i visited in 2010 and always planned to return when i had a week to spend as a volunteer.  i get asked a lot about the favorite places i've visited and since 2010 i've always replied 'Elephant Nature Park'.  

the park van picks me up at my hotel and up until this point i wasn't sure i had been booked correctly. there is another volunteer going a day late and they put us in the van with a few overnight guests.  the volunteer program runs Monday through Sunday but they are quite flexible about people showing up late or leaving early.  they have day trips from Chiang Mai so it's easy to get back and forth to the city if needed.

volunteering in SE Asia comes in a lot of flavors.  there is a bit of an industry around volunteering and research needs to be done in advance to be sure it's a good match.  in general i'm not a fan of paying to do volunteer work but in this case the charge covers food, housing, insurance and volunteer coordinator costs.  there are plenty of organizations that do not charge and some even provide room/board or a stipend to volunteers.


back to the elephants.  on the ride out to the park which is about an hour we watch a safety video because the elephants roam freely on the property and it's important to understand and respect their space.  we arrive at the park in time for the morning feeding.  the elephants are fed twice a day from the platform area.  the first day at the park is an orientation day so there aren't any assigned chores.  after the feeding we get a tour of the health clinic and meet a few elephants before lunch.  

after lunch we watch a short video about the sanctuary then head down to the river for a swim and elephant bath.  in the afternoon we do another elephant walk to meet more of the herd and run into Lek, the founder, down by the river.  we have a short chat and i ask for a photo.  i've only just arrived but already i can see that there has been so much work done in the last four years.   it's blazing hot and after we are back at the main platform we are handed over to the volunteer coordinators.  we get moved into our rooms and they are a little bit scary.  i'm in the original volunteer housing which probably hasn't been updated since it was built.  it's a block of rooms - two beds per room - with a row of shared toilet/showers.  we affectionately refer to this housing as the ghetto.

there's a volunteer meeting before dinner and Q&A with Jodie.  Jodie is from Detroit and has been with the project since 2003.  she is an elephant nerd for sure and because she's a westerner she is the go to person for asking questions about culture, etiquette, etc..  she talks more about safety.  there are elephants here who have hurt and killed humans so it's important to be aware at all times when around them of the potential dangers. 

dinner and a short introduction to Thai culture by the volunteer coordinators.  topics include Thai Royalty [loved and respected - no chance a woman can be monarch], Feet & Head [keep your hands off Thai heads and your feet off the furniture], Wai [appropriate Thai greeting], Clothes [women need to cover their shoulders and knees - men don't need to bother] and lastly a brief tutorial on Thai language.  turns out there are 42 letters in the alphabet, and multiple tones, which means 1] the same word can have a very different meaning based on the tone used and 2] there is a diminishing possibility i will ever learn this language.

that's the end of the first day.  i crawl under the mosquito net and try to sleep but the bed is rock hard and i keep waking up.  still, i am so happy to be here and looking forward to seeing more of the elephants.

getting to Thailand

on my way to Thailand i arrived at Denver International early enough to catch breakfast at Root Down.  honestly, i'm going to miss that place.  the eggs, potatoes and croissant were done perfectly and the garnish of arugula is the perfect green to plate.  it's amazing to me that so few restaurants can deliver fantastic food so consistently.  i took a salad to go so i'd have something on my 12 hour flight if i got hungry.  i'm loving the Denver to Tokyo non stop service on United.  they use the dreamliner which is pretty comfortable for a long flight - at least it was in EPlus where I was sitting - also it wasn't a full flight so when there's an empty seat next to you it feels really roomy.  the entertainment on demand is ridiculous with something like 50 movies available.  i rarely make it to the theatre so I caught up on a bunch of films... i watched Million Dollar Arm then got distracted when a woman five rows behind me started vomiting.  the crew responded accordingly which in this day and age means they put on a hazmat like suit to clean up - depositing everything into a red hazmat container.  the woman was black which of course everyone was associating with the very deadly virus circulating in west Africa.  later i asked the crew if she'd been in Africa and they said she had not.  then i watched the Grand Budapest Hotel and Wolf of Wall Street - yeah i think i'm all caught up on movies for a while.

in Tokyo even though i was just in transit i had to go through an additional security clearance and they did not like that one of my bottles was 4 oz instead of 3 oz.  i tried to keep the contents of the larger bottle by dumping out hairspray in a different bottle but i was weary from the 12 hour flight and i accidentally ended up dumping out both containers.  it made a mess but the Japanese security team didn't seem fazed and were quite polite the whole time.  we'll see how my hair does without any products.

the flight from Tokyo to Bangkok was in an Airbus 380 which is humongous and has over 500 seats.... talk about a people mover!  it was late my time so i grabbed a whole row that was empty, stretched out and fell asleep.  the moment i stepped onto that plane and was greeted by the Thai Airlines flight crew all the wonderful experience i've had with Thailand came rushing through my mind.  they stop and connect with every passenger on the plane - it's just not like the US carriers where the crew will barely look you in the eye and serving a coke is just an extra chore for them.

immigration was super easy - no line and just one question - where would i be visiting. they did have a 'medical scan' set up to detect anyone with an elevated temperature and a request for anyone who had been in West Africa to make themselves known.  i was glad to see they were at least making an effort even though the whole setup was a camera like device pointing at people as they walked by.  i grabbed a taxi to where i was staying and crawled into bed around midnight.