Land of a Thousand Smiles

So we've been promising Declan an elephant ride, which we were supposed to take during the wedding in India. Since our plans changed, we decided to hunt down an elephant ride in Thailand. I devoured tripadvisor.com (if you haven't used it yet, you should--it gives the best reviews on everything, everywhere) for reviews on the Samphran Elephant Grounds and Crocodile Park. It got better reviews than the Safari Park in Bangkok (people commented on the cruelty to animals there), so we chose Samphran to visit today, Songkran day--or, Thai New Year's Day--a holiday in Thailand.

Dave says it was the coolest day for him because he got to play with a baby elephant. And Declan was so excited everywhere we went today, that it make us both smile, too. It was pretty obvious, from the time we arrived there, that we were going to be the only caucasians there today. After all, it was a holiday, and about 45 minutes outside of the hubub of Bangkok, and we could have come with a tour group, but since we hate being on "tours", we opted to go it alone. Hence, we are the only caucasians there. Which made for a funny and somewhat interesting day. We were celebrities for a day--people stared at us, ALOT, they asked to take pictures of us, of our kids, you name it. And everything we did drew a crowd. It really was like being a celebrity. Had I picked my nose behind a tree, at least 3 people would have gotten a picture of it! Let's just say, we were anything but conspicuous. But there were smiles everywhere and people were very kind to us. And I've noticed this everywhere in Thailand--everyone smiles back at you. It's refreshing, because in some cultures smiling isn't a norm. It's why they call Thailand the "land of a thousand smiles".

So upon arrival, the first thing we came across was two very large tigers held to a platform by two chains (which seemed rather little to me)--in no cage. They had them out for people to pay to photograph with. Now, I've seen too many of those "animal devours man at zoo" headlines in America to even want to get any closer to those tigers (in Thailand) than I did to take the picture (with the zoom feature on!). Much less let my kids get any closer. But it was amusing, and made Dave and I wonder what we were in for.

Then we mosied on to where you can feed the crocs. Yes, feed them. These Siamese crocs were divided up by age span, and you could buy raw meat for a few cents, and feed it them by throwing it at them. But you had to be a pretty good shot, because their ability to bend left and right was limited. You had to get pretty close to their mouths or heads for them to react. And I don't know if you've ever seen a croc up close, but they really look fake because they hardly move, even with their mouths wide open. Then, all of the sudden they spring to life. We even had one jump for the food, which was surprising. We went to the croc "nursery" and they just have a chain link fence with smaller links covering it, and the crocs are just on the other side. So it's like seeing a dog at the pound--you're that close. And this adolescent one was so close to the fence and didn't move, and Declan came up to the fence and he and Dave put a stick in the fence, and that little bugger moved fast--snapping at the fence. He couldn't have snapped his way out, or gotten Dave or Declan's hands for that matter, so don't worry about us being bad parents. I wish now I had a video of it, because Declan also jumped--about a half foot off the ground!
I kept thinking that just about every boy (no matter how old he is!) would just love this!



Then I spotted the baby elephants, and we went over to play with him and feed him some bananas and sugar cane. You wouldn't believe how fast they can strip sugar cane and unpeel a banana. Let's just say they peel faster than I do! It was a really awesome moment. There is this amazing book I read while in Africa called Elephantoms. If you have ever been interested in the life of elephants, you HAVE to read this book. I'll never look at them the same way again. I watched this little elephant in wonder, and was so thrilled to have such a close encounter with such a mighty creature. The young ones, just like toddlers, are fistey and fast. They move quick and are a bit abrupt. At the Samphram, they color their heads with Hindu designs. And they seem to be treated really well. In many cases, the elephants roamed free, with a couple of "keepers" following them and they seemed to respond to their keeper's directions well. They never were out of control. But they seemed happy with all the people. Even with the kids. They bring out the moms and babies to be fed. And it seemed like they rotated the moms and babies, so as not to overfeed them. But as a nursing mom, I can understand bringing them out to be fed, because they would naturally eat ALOT. It was just such a fun experience.

But the real reason we had come was to ride an elephant, so with Declan way excited about the elephants, we found the elephant riding and all piled onto one large female elephant for a really bizarre ride. I guess I never thought that an elephant's gate would be different than a horses--but it was more like riding a camel. The animal is so large, that with each step the shoulders rise and fall with great drama, causing the rider to sway like on a seesaw. Declan loved it. It was truly memorable. And, again, the elephants seemed happy. Their keepers were very good to them, letting them stop to eat as they went along. And then they take you under a waterfall, and that gave the elephants a good chance to grab some water and spray themselves (and us!) in the process. And at the end the elephants shook our hands with their trunks. It was magical.


Today was hot, and I had had my fill for the day, and was ready to return to the hotel. On the way out we saw a man with polio, his right leg having grown in the opposite direction--being that his knee cap was on the back of his leg, so his leg bent backwards. Amazingly, he was still able to walk--if ever laboriously. Declan noticed him, so we told him that the man had a disease called polio, but that God loved that man just as much as he loved Declan. We told him that when people are different, it makes them no less special in God's eyes, and it shouldn't make them any less special in ours, as well. It was a good reminder that many people all over the world are still affected by diseases that we've essentially eradicated in the US.

On the way back we were also reminded that this was indeed a national holiday. Kids stood on the sides of the roads squirting passersby with water guns and buckets of water. In fact, car load after car load of people with big drums full of water, armed themselves with pales of water and threw the water at people and cars as they drove on. Songkran is not only a national holiday, but also a Hindu festival. It lasts for 3 days, marks the beginning of the year, but also requires of its followers to undertake "purifiying" ceremonies--hence, the water. And then we noticed people with white painted faces, and were told by the cab driver that this was also a sign of purifying. But David and I thought that it was just a great excuse to have one big water fight--which it seemed everyone was doing. Which was a different Thailand than most people were seeing on the news. Yes, the country is having a revolt right now, but you wouldn't know it to see all these people out with white faces and throwing water and celebrating everywhere. And then we thought that technically all of these people should be arrested because according to the state of emergency mandates, groups of 5 or more gathering in public are subject to arrest. Anyway, no one was arrested, but it was a nice change to hearing about all the riots going on (which we have not seen except on TV).



When we got back we sat down in the lounge for some tea because Declan wanted to listen to the "kim" music. Then we went over to the cruise dock to catch a 6PM sunset dinner cruise on an old rice barge. It was a great ending to a really fun day. There were only 4 other couples on the ship, and we were seated in front, which gave us an unobstructed view of the river.
It was really breezy, and with the "kim" music playing in the background and the sun setting, It was like peeling off a layer of time.
We cruised down the most historical part of the river and gorged ourselves with delicious Thai food.
The kim player let Declan come down and play on her instrument, which looks and sounds much like a Hammer Dulcimer. They performed traditional Thai dances onboard, and washed our hands with rose water, in honor of Songkran Day.


We got back, put the kids down for bed, and put our head phones on so we could watch the rough cut of the video that was being edited down from all the footage shot in Switzerland. After all that play, it was time to get down to business.