Elephants, elephasnts, elephants

Her name wasn’t Babar, but rather Bumbam. We went with Sairung Elephant Trekking through Khao Lak Land Discovery and found that the group consisted of just us, Bumbam and her mahout, Dam. It was a wonderful experience though Bumbam did not seem fully committed to the adventure. At 35 years old, she should be in the prime of her life but I don’t think she took more than nine steps in a row before stopping to browse. At one point, she stopped to relieve herself–I think it was raining at the time (and I certainly hope so as we did get sprinkled and I don’t fancy the alternative.) It was fun feeding her bananas after her exercise.
This was our second day after the Similan excursion. We had spent the first day relaxing around the pool at the Briza and walking the beach–nicer than the beach at the Suwan Palm. The Briza is a four-star resort (well above our usual choice) but they were offering a very good Internet deal as part of their soft opening. They had originally opened about two months before the tsunami hit this area and they’ve been in repair mode ever since. They opened too late to take advantage of the high season this year so they’re trying to catch up to the competition. We enjoyed the luxury though we avoided the dining room except for the breakfasts which were included in the room deal and one dinner on the day we checked in after the cruise. There are a lot of good restaurants around that offer more reasonable prices.
After the elephant trek, our guide from Land Discovery, Pa Chuck, took us to see Rainbow Falls. Some local kids were having a great time sliding down the rocks into the pool at the bottom of the falls. We then had an early Thai lunch at the restaurant at the bottom of the trail. While eating, we were surprised by Adrian and Sandra, the British couple from the cruise. They, too, had been elephant trekking and visiting the waterfall. We talked for a while and arranged to meet that night for dinner at Jo’s Seafood. We had a great meal and talked about our travels and our kids. They love to travel as much as we do and, from England, they’ve been able to do quite a bit. (Is my envy showing?)
We spent our last full day sunning by the pool and following the elephants from the tourist attraction across the road from the hotel. It seems they work the elephants in the morning and then take them down to the beach area via a back route where they leave them overnight (suitably hobbled, of course, or the elephants would probably wander off and scare the tourists on the beach). Rain shortened the afternoon and we decided to take a taxi into Khao Lak proper for a final dinner. Doreen also wanted to do some shopping.
The next morning we went looking for the elephants before breakfast and found them coming up the back road to get ready for another day of work. There’s nothing like an elephant to raise one’s spirits. Then, a final breakfast at the Briza, a little sun and a taxi ride to Phuket Airport. We have an overnight in Bangkok before heading to Cambodia and the temples at Angkor Wat.