So the one thing I REALLY wanted to do while in Thailand was ride an elephant. Brett rode one on a work trip he went on a few months earlier, and said it was just very bumpy. I said I didn't care- I wanted to do it. So, we set it up with the hotel and they asured us it would be fine to take Mallory. We opted for the all day package, where you ride and elephant, they show you a few things about Thailand and go on a sunset boat ride. The day came, and we were off. I was so excited! The Siam Safari sent a representative to come to our hotel and pick us up, and he came in a very pimped out van. We drove about 45 minutes, where we got off the van and onto a little jeep thing, and drove up a hill where we saw...elephants!!!
We were introduced to our tour guide for the day, and she explained to us a few things about the elephants. Here she's showing us the "hook" they use to guide the elephants. They hold it upside down and the hook goes behind their ear to get them to turn or move.
Climbing on...There was a "seat" tied to the elephant's back. It was a bit wobbly, but I was still so excited.
We were up at the top of a hill, on top of an elephant, so their was a very pretty view down to the ocean.
A lot of Thai people are Buddhist, just like in Japan. They have a "big Bhudda" up on a hill. We didn't go see it, but you could see the head from the hill we were on.
The seat ties around the elephant and under their tail. Doesn't look very comfy if you ask me- kinda like wearing a thong I would think :)
About 1/2 way thru the ride, Mallory woke up. I was a bit afraid she'd freak out being on a big animal, since she hated the horses at Tama (back in July) so much. After looking around for a few minutes, she seemed perfectly content though (phew!!!) and actually seemed to enjoy the ride.
Our family pictures on the elephant (Christmas card?!?)
After our elephant ride, we got to get up close with our elephants and their masters. Mallory and I got to "pet" the trunk of our elephant, Krajeab. It was rough and scratchy, but Mallory seemed to like it.
They had signs up about each of the elephants. This was ours. Her name is Krajeab and she is 47 years old. She's lived at Siam Safari for 10 years and had 1 baby.
Our family picture: Brett, Kim, Mallory and Krajeab :) She was so sweet- I woudl have taken her home with us, but she was a bit big for a carry-on!
All the elephants just hung out afterwards so we could pet them and say hello. You could feed them a few vegetables too, which they scarfed up quickly!
Mal and I were standing by them after the ride, and one of the other elephant masters took his elephants ear and wrapped us up in it. It was pretty funny, and Mal and I both laughed.
The elephants liked her too- that's the trunk of one of them, coming over to check her out and say hi!!
We posed for another family picture. These guys were smaller than Krajeab, but still too big to take home with us :( Oh well, I'm not sure our income is large enough to cover their food budget anyway!
And they ate some veggies, again eating like they hadn't been fed in forever (which wasn't true- this was a good camp that is highly rated by the government and wildlife societies for it's good care and treatment of it's animals. I refused to go to one that wasn't well kept!)
After the monkey ride and show, they took us over to see another animal that lives at the camp- this little monkey guy. He is trained to get coconuts out of the trees. He sat right down in front of us, and ate a banana.
He climbed up a rope and got a coconut from a tree too.
After the elephants and the monkey, they brought over a water buffalo. These big ole guys are used a lot for hauling things and manual work. They let us hop on and take a few pics though, so Mallory and I gladly hopped right up.
Then they hooked a cart up to him and we took a ride around. The other nice British couple was like "oh, man, we are going to be in your family picture now". I told them we'd use it as our Christmas card and send them out to all our friends and family- hahaha.
After the animal shows, it was time for them to show us a few other things about Thailand. A big export of this area is rubber. It is tapped from rubber trees, and there were many growing up in this area. They showed us how they get the rubber. A lady wearing a light on her head (I guess they cut at night too?) and with a knife
carves a line in a diagonal around the trunk of the tree. The rubber seaps out, follows the line, and drips into a little pan below.
They only cut about 1/2 way up the tree and our guide asked us if we knew why. We all thought for a minute, trying to come up with a reason. Then she said, "because we are all Thai, and Thai people are short and can't reach any higher". Hahahaha- being 5' 1" myself- I can relate!
After they collect the rubber sap, it dried into a solid, sorta bouncy consistency. They collect that from the cup and take it over to a press. They roll it thru the press...
She walked around and we all could touch the rubber sheets. Mallory wasn't really to sure what to think about it. (Mom and Dad weren't either, and we promptly wet wiped her hands off after touching it.)
After the rubber making demo, we walked over to where they were making coconut pancakes. They cooked them in a round metal pan that had little holes in it. Batter was poured into each hole, and once cooked, they tasted like thicker version of a pancake and had a coconut flavor. Yum! Mallory loved hers too!
After the rubber making demo, we walked over to where they were making coconut pancakes. They cooked them in a round metal pan that had little holes in it. Batter was poured into each hole, and once cooked, they tasted like thicker version of a pancake and had a coconut flavor. Yum! Mallory loved hers too!
We saw a short Thai cooking demonstration.
They use LOTS of peppers in Thai food. They like spice. Me...not so much.
Next we went over to the coconut demonstration. Coconuts are a big product of Thailand and can be used for a variety of purposes (other than just a yummy treat- I LOVE coconut.)
They also showed us how they get coconut oil by cooking the coconut milk. It is used in cooking and also skin care products.
After all the demonstrations and animals, we got on a jeep type vehicle and whizzed down the busy street (without seat belts of course, so I held on to Mallory as tight as I could) towards a marina.
Once we got to the marina parking lot, we got out of the jeep and onto this little tram to go down the walkway, closer to the boats.
Then we were directed to this boat, called a Thai Junk Boat.
They fed us snacks (bananas, watermelon and something that resembled fried pig ears).
and explore new places. (Notice the outfit change too- had a bit of a blow out as we boarded the boat).
The beautiful sunset and a view of the Thailand Big Buddha (at the very top of the hill, right in the middle of the picture). 
It was a FABULOUS day, and we made some memories that will last a lifetime. I am still in disbelief that I rode and elephant, a water buffalo and a boat all in one day! Crazy, but so much fun! My favorite day of our whole trip! But hang on, because there is still much more to come on our fun family adventure...
