Haven't mentioned the weather for a few days. It is absolutely fabulous-- foolish, maybe high 70's with low humidity.

In all my years of Thailand travel we have never experienced anything as pleasant as this.

It was actually too cool to swim this PM.

rhkkmk.....Forewarned, forearmed, and all that. A few sudoku puzzles will help pass the time. You might have enjoyed the 0745 train from Thonburi station to Kanchanaburi, and get picked up on arrival @ 1015.

"In all my years of Thailand travel we have never experienced anything as pleasant as this."

It's global warming :)

Aloha!

Thanks Al...

I can't write tonight, but today we had a fabulous day: Train Market, floating market at SD, and finally about 5-6@ hours with the wonderful elephants at Tong's new elephant and nature park on the Kwai River. The only day that has rivaled this day was the first time we went with Tong to the "secret place".

We are booked on a tour to some of the floating markets plus the train market on our first full day after landing the previous afternoon -- not the best timing but literally the only day we could do it given that it's weekends only... am super excited but desperately hoping our international flight isn't delayed! ;-D

Kav-- just a note, it has not been hot here. Both my wife and I wore polar fleece jackets for at least part of the day today.

There was also a bit of snow in Chiangmai today.

Bring a light weight jacket and a wrap for your wife.

You should be fine for the tours...

Bob

Still too tired this night. Relocated to Khao Lak on the coast today for 8 nights.

Still tired but I must write....


The view from the top of the Avani is fabulous. Great bar up there and the restaurant is very pleasant.


WEDNESDAY


Tong's people came for us at 7AM. This time it was her guide Kris, a super guy who made a great day even greater. Tong prefers to only have one group visit at a time, so she suggested to Kris that we first visit the train and floating markets before arriving at her place. We had planned to visit them later but this would work just as well, as long as we had plenty of time for Ellie's.

Kris took us as close the the train market as possible in the van-- only required a 1 minute walk thru an alley to be right in the market. He seated us in a small coffee shop to wait for the train. Soon the awnings began to be lifted and the train approached slowly. We stayed a 1/2 hour until the train returned. Great show---"only in Thailand"..

From there we headed to the DS floating market and again we were very close.
I sat on the sidelines and watched the activities. The others got into a small boat and were paddled around right in the middle of everything... with boats hitting each other and boats going back and forth with no system....

If all this was not enough we now headed to Tong's elephant and nature park.
The Park is located in an isolated area on the River Quai (sp).

We were greeted by Tong, some of her staff and several elephants. The elephants presented each of us with some flowers. Tong was all hugs and kisses.

Maddie got right up on one full sized Ellie. We walked into the park and Tong showed us all around. We fed the Ellie's some fruits and they learned quickly to trust us. There was 1 baby too, 18 months old.

The staff had prepared some lunch for us: rice, veggies, whole fish prepared 2 different ways, small pieces of fried chicken and perhaps something more.

Following lunch everyone changed their clothes--- in our case everyone brought throw-away clothes and shoes and Chris wore blue denim mahout clothing. Tong and I went to the waterfront by car and the others mounted their elephants and started a track through the woods to a point away where they entered the river from a small beach. Soon we could hear them coming, laughing etc. they were soaking wet up to their chins. They were hooting and hollaring and having a blast.
Even Karen at two weeks short of turning 74 was having fun.
When they arrived in front of us the elephants ducked a bit, splashed more, shot water from their trunks.

The Ellie's came ashore and headed over to the mud pit where they were given mud baths. Following that it was back to the river to wash off and receive a lanolin coating to preserve their skin. This completed the elephant 1 on 1 experience, but they were never far off.

After showers we reassembled for picture taking and posing by the elephants in various positions.

Sadly it was time for us to leave, but before that we were presented a small brass elephant and 6 o 8 framed pictures of our day's experiences in beautiful frames.

It was a long ride (2-2 1/2 hours) back to Bangkok.

A SUPERIOR DAY. !!!!

Now I must address the nay-Sayers before they attack me, and thru me Tong and her treatment of these fantastic beasts.

THIS PLACE WAS CREATED FOR LOVE AND HUMANE REASONS ONLY!!!!!

Does she make money-- not much... do you have any idea how much it costs to acquire and maintain a "herd" of elephants....food, medical costs, mahouts and their families, grounds keepers, builders for more buildings, etc, etc...

Tong and her staff treat these damaged animals like family. They retrain them from years of hard work in logging, entertainment and other industries through the use of firm commands. We saw no switches, hooks, etc anywhere...

Each staff member is compassionate and caring with the animals. Tong has had to dismiss a number who were not.

Please do not comment on my remarks if you are unable to be positive, PLEASE.

Karen gave her shoes to a workers wife who was not wearing shoes. She cried.
Maddie and Tab did the same.

I urge you to visit this low key camp. Best to do so by telephoning Tong directly at the number on her website.

Costs: Transportation to the camp--- we had a lux van at 6800 B for 10 hours, plus 3000 B each for the 3 hours with Ellie's, including lunch, tips (driver, guide, mahouts). Yes, a very expensive day but worth it when you compare costs to other elephant excursions, and very superficial exposure to these fascinating animals.

Would we do it again....of course...

One of the best touring days of our lives.

THURSDAY


We had a pickup in a big van at 10:30 for our 2PM flight to Phuket on Thai Airways.
Ratt provided this to us for 1200 B.

We left a number of luggages at the Anantara while we were at the beach. We have been doing this for years.

Easy ride to BKK and easier checkin. We were, btw, at the furthest gate that you be at....

The hour plus flight seemed a bit long???

I had arranged with Khao Lak Discovery Tours to transport us to the JW MArriott in Khao Lak-- normally a 1.25 hour ride but longer yesterday because they are widening the road most of the way.

We arrived just as the sun was setting. We have adajacent klong access rooms. It is so nice to be able to step down directly into the klong-- a 3.1 kilometer canal pool around the property. Maddie swam after dinner. We had a delicious dinner in the Olive restaurant-- Italian inspired.

BED, BED, BED..

FRIDAY


Unfortunately, Tab was sick in the night and is sidelined today.
The rest of us went to breakfast about 9. Tab slept in.
It' a lazy day today with some swimming and catching up with ourselves.

This might be the theme for the next 7 days.

The trip you describe continues to be fabulous. What a lucky grandchild.

I have misnamed the elephant camp. It is elephants' home and nature.

There are several camps with similar names so please note this change..

Yes she is a lucky kid, but I should note that she is also a great kid, just like my other four grandchildren who are home in the snow in NE.

SATURDAY

Another just laze around day by the pools and beach.

I can't believe how many miles you covered by road on 20 December..... but I can believe how tired you appear to have been since then.

Even most bespoke day trips from Bangkok to that area don't attempt to cover that many miles. While it's your choice what you packed into the day, there is one heck of a lot that you missed, that could have have been covered at much more leisurely pace had you allowed the time. Some fabulous accommodation options too.

Kanchanburi Province and the Southern Central Plains are such fascinating and scenically beautiful areas of Thailand that I'd recommend at least 2 full days/3 nights, more if possible.

Booked into Issaya Siamese, was on the list of recommendations from my friend who grew up there and visits every year, and then you posted that you had a great experience there too, so I've booked it for our last night in Thailand, we're meeting up for dinner with an instagram friend of mine for the meal!

Hi Bob & Karen been following your family trip since my return to reality I feel like we are still with you! The elephant home sounds like so much fun. I’m so happy Maddie got there. Sorry I missed the “taxi ride to the tailor” you know how much I love “interesting “ adventures. Love ya and THANKS.