Subtrips in Thailand.
First trip: Koh Chang.
A large island, southwest of Bangkok, getting towards Cambodia. Named after its profile, which looks like an elephant ("chang") -- and because of this some people have put elephant refuges on the island for otherwise unemployed elephants.
The trip was mostly a disaster, but I had fun anyway. The bad: travel took closer to seven hours than the four everyone promises (including lonely planet), it rained which scrapped my first day hike, the hike wasn't that interesting, I ended up not making it to the beach, and I *of course* got to ride the surly elephant with the annoying mahout rather than the happy elephants with the friendly mahouts.
I expected that last one, superstitiously -- the same has happened on every tourist animal ride I've ever been on (donkey, horse, camel; now elephant). I've gotten to ride happy horses in non-tourist settings, so it's not just me.
Anyway, elephants are fascinating and impressive animals, so it was worth it. Also, as I mentioned on Facebook, I was struck at how the hike felt like hiking down (or up) a creek in southwest PA or in West Virginia at the hottest point of the year -- except for the monkeys in the distance, and the details of the vegetation. One jarring point was getting tangled in a spiky vine that is endemic in the laurel highlands.
I also got to experience the joy of Thai leeches. They perch under leaves and drop onto passing wildlife, then crawl about until they find skin. Plucking them off is easy, but you then bleed from where they bit you. But they otherwise seem to be benign. Mosquitoes I know all about, but some of these ones carry dengue or malaria.
A large island, southwest of Bangkok, getting towards Cambodia. Named after its profile, which looks like an elephant ("chang") -- and because of this some people have put elephant refuges on the island for otherwise unemployed elephants.
The trip was mostly a disaster, but I had fun anyway. The bad: travel took closer to seven hours than the four everyone promises (including lonely planet), it rained which scrapped my first day hike, the hike wasn't that interesting, I ended up not making it to the beach, and I *of course* got to ride the surly elephant with the annoying mahout rather than the happy elephants with the friendly mahouts.
I expected that last one, superstitiously -- the same has happened on every tourist animal ride I've ever been on (donkey, horse, camel; now elephant). I've gotten to ride happy horses in non-tourist settings, so it's not just me.
Anyway, elephants are fascinating and impressive animals, so it was worth it. Also, as I mentioned on Facebook, I was struck at how the hike felt like hiking down (or up) a creek in southwest PA or in West Virginia at the hottest point of the year -- except for the monkeys in the distance, and the details of the vegetation. One jarring point was getting tangled in a spiky vine that is endemic in the laurel highlands.
I also got to experience the joy of Thai leeches. They perch under leaves and drop onto passing wildlife, then crawl about until they find skin. Plucking them off is easy, but you then bleed from where they bit you. But they otherwise seem to be benign. Mosquitoes I know all about, but some of these ones carry dengue or malaria.