Breakfast was peanut butter n' jelly, a nice reminder of Western Food. We embarked on an anticipated event this morning, headed to the elephant camp on the Pai River. I can actually say I've been on an elephant before, although this experience certainly proved unique. These beasts are huge and intimidating. To climb on, they actually lift their right front leg, bending the knee. You stand on the leg, grab hold of their enormous ear with both hands, and pull yourself up (quite akwardly, I might add, as it's much higher up than you'd think).
The ride was quite calm at first, heading down the road, checking out the mountains and rice paddies. As we entered the river, I began to think, "Ummmm, these things don't trip and fall, do they?" Yes, a little scared. So we cruised down the river for about 15 minutes, stopping at a river bank. I should preface this story by saying these animals are highly trained and understand a multitude of commands from our Thai Guides. So Terri and I are riding together, and before we know it, the beast is spraying water over its head at us and full rip. I would estimate to say the pressure coming out of their trunk is worthy of any fire hose. It was very fast, and very cold. Little did we know, but to our Guides, WE were the entertainment this day.
After several dousings, our elephant was then commanded to do a nose-dive into the river, sending Terri and myself headfirst into the river over the elephant. Uhh, thanks, did I sign up for THAT? Was that in the waiver? Oh wait, there's no Waiver? Are you kidding? After climbing back on (I'm not sure why), we continued to be pawns in their game, repeatedly being sprayed and thrown into the river in all directions. If you haven't been ejected and fallen on by an elephant in a river before, I suggest it with utmost caution. It was a blast and thoroughly scary at the same time.
After curry and phad thai for lunch, we headed to Tham Lot caves for our afternoon tour. This cave system is rather large, consisting of 3 giant chambers and a river flowing through. We hired a "lantern boy," a guide, and another guy to push our bamboo raft at the impassable spots. The caverns were really worthwhile, and again, an experience you'd never get in the US. Terri and I had the place to ourselves with the guides, and although there were a couple times they said, "Don't go there," we generally could cruise and get as close as we wanted to anything.
At the rear entrance of the cave was one of the spookier things I've witnessed. 300,000 swallow birds enter the cave at sunset, and they were ripping into the cave at full blast when we got there. The sky was blackened at the cave's mouth, literally. And in case you're wondering, the answer is YES. Bird bombs were dropped, we were targets, and we are wounded. I need to go change my shirt. Goodnight.
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