Having previously visited Thailand 7 years ago, I was very
excited to go back and see what had changed in the past few years.
Believe me, I was not disappointed.
Our first few nights were spent in Phuket which involved
some very busy days meeting with suppliers and inspecting various hotels,
plenty of time to experience the night life of Patong and of course get in a
few hours of serious shopping! You cannot visit this town and not spend a bit
of time bargaining in the market with the locals. Of course, all of this
walking gives a person very sore feet. Although this is never a problem, the
streets are lined with shops offering an hour long foot massage for just 200
Thai Baht (+- R 70.00).
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| PATONG BEACH PHUKET |
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| PATONG BEACH PHUKET |
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| PATONG MERLIN HOTEL |
On the 5th day of our trip we were collected from
our hotel bright and early (06:20 am to be exact) for our transfer to Elephant
Hills Camp in the Khao Sok National Park. This transfer takes between 2 ½ -3
hours and is included in your package.
On arrival at Elephant Hills we were met by one of the
friendly guides, Bamboo, who helped us with check-in and offered us welcome
drinks. She then proceeded to give us some information on the activities we
would partake in for the day. We then got to check out our luxury tents where
we would be staying for the night, followed by a delicious lunch.
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| ELEPHANT HILLS CAMP ENTRANCE |
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| ELEPHANT HILLS CAMP LUXURY TENT |
The fun was just about to start! We loaded into our truck in
which we were driven into the Khao Sok National Park for the first of our many
activities…The Elephant Experience.
The Elephant Experience at Elephant Hills is a totally
different experience to the regular elephant trekking that you would find all
over Thailand in the tourist towns. Elephant
Hills has been "Highly Commended" in this year’s Thailand Green
Excellence Awards for Animal Welfare.
The Thailand Green Excellence Award winners were announced
at the World Travel Market in London earlier this month by the TAT and the
Wanderlust Magazine and are based on how captive animals are treated, kept,
cared for and interacted with. The approach at Elephant Hills is not to ride
elephants and to abstain from elephant shows in order to offer a more
responsible, unique and rewarding experience for both elephants and humans.
They also aim at maintaining the highest level of animal welfare; guests get to
feed, wash and interact with Asia’s largest land animal. This is an excellent
opportunity to get up really close and personal with these gentle giants in a
responsible way and at the same time learn about their status and situation in
Thailand.
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| ELEPHANT HILLS ELEPHANT EXPERIENCE |
First on the agenda was for two of the younger elephants to
go for a swim. You can really have a good laugh watching them roll around and
dunk each other in the water. It’s amazing what great swimmers these large
animals are!
It is now time for us to prepare food baskets. They have
sure worked up a huge appetite. The average Asian elephant eats 250 kg of food
per day. What we are about to feed them is just a tenth of their daily intake.
We chopped up pineapples, bananas, sugar cane and we made “vitamin” parcels of
tamarind.
The elephants had
already surrounded us and were making a big show of demanding their snack’s
whilst waving their trunks about. By this stage I had already decided that this
was most definitely a bucket list travel experience. The one on one contact of
hand feeding an elephant is something not everyone will get to experience in
their lifetime.
We then get to end off the experience by giving the
elephants a bath. This is quite a task as they are rather large. This means at
least 3 people must wash at a time. So while you water them down with a hose,
you scrub them with coconut husks. To us, this feels very rough, but to the
ellie’s this is a lovely tickle and they really enjoy this part of the day. Lastly,
we get to meet Ha Ha, Elephant Hill’s 2 year old baby. She is really feisty and
full of energy, just like any child.
It’s only a short drive to our next activity. A Canoe Safari
down the Sok River. We don’t have to do a thing as we sit back and relax whilst
our guide does the canoeing and we just enjoy the beauty of the area.
The rest of the afternoon we have at leisure, so the first
thing we do is go for a swim. Typical of Thai weather, it is hot and humid. We
are lucky enough to be visiting over the Loy Krathong Festival and the camp is
buzzing with preparations for guest to partake in this rather special festival.
Loy Krathong is as old as Thai heritage and represents
a close bond between Thai culture and water. The festival takes place on the
full moon night of the twelfth lunar month when the water level is high and the
climate is cooler. Participants ask water spirits to sail away their troubles
in their krathongs, which are containers traditionally made from banana leaves
and carrying offerings of incense, lotus flowers and small money.
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| LOY KRATHONG FESTIVAL |
The evening was a very busy one. Starting with a few dances
from a group of girls from the local school, we then released our Krathong’s
onto the river for the festival, followed by a Thai cooking demonstration and
then dinner.
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| KRATHONG'S |
The next day we were up really early again to get ready for
our trip to the Elephant Hills Rain Forest Camp. We are transferred to Cheow Larn
Lake where we got onto a Long Tail boat which would take us to the camp. The
Rainforest Camp is a luxury floating camp on Cheow Larn Lake and guests can
include this in their Elephant Hills Experience. There are a variety of
itineraries to choose from. Cheow Larn Lake is a spectacular man-made lake that
is becoming famous for its towering limestone cliffs and stunning views.
Take the time to swim in the Emerald waters or explore the
lake channels on your own in a Kayak. A morning jungle trek also forms part of
this extraordinary adventure. This trip is a must for anyone who is looking to
experience a different side of Thailand.
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| CHEOW LARN LAKE |
That afternoon our group split up and we made our way to our
3 different break away destinations. We had a choice of visiting Phi Phi
Islands, Krabi or Khao Lak. Having previously visited Krabi and Phi Phi, it
wasn’t difficult to make the decision to go to Khao Lak.
Khao Lak is an up and coming destination for South Africans.
Situated nearly 60 km North of Phuket, what differentiates Khao Lak from its
neighbouring tourist destinations is its quiet, up-scale, secluded coastal
resorts; uncrowded beaches; family-friendly night time environment and
provincial ordinances that prohibit structures taller than the height of a coconut
palm tree, keeping Khao Lak down to earth.
From a personal point of view, Khao Lak is now my most
favourite Thai destination. I would love to go back and spend more time
exploring the area. Apart from the beautiful beaches, the area is a lot more suitable
for families than areas such as Patong. Although there is plenty to see and
many restaurants and markets, the whole town has a much more laid back feel.
Perfect for those who just want to have a relaxing break. Most hotels also have
direct beach access which is a lot harder to come across in Phuket.
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| VIEW FROM CASA DE LA FLORA |
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| MAI HOTEL KHAO LAK |
After 3 days of being completely spoilt in Khao Lak we
headed to Phuket Airport for our flight to Bangkok.
We only had one night in Bangkok and we spent it having a
wonderful farewell party on the rooftop of the Centara Watergate Pavillion
Hotel. What a spectacular view and a very special way to end off a spectacular
trip.
Our last day before we flew home was spent with a visit to
the Grand Palace, followed by the most amazing hosted lunch at The Shangri-La
hotel. Of course, we had to fit in some last minute shopping, and we were
spoilt for choice! MBK, The Siam Centre’s and Central Festival World were all
nearby our hotel. Shopper’s paradise!
Sadly, all good things must come to end and that night we
flew home. All of us with a new found love for Thailand, new friends and
memories to last us a lifetime.
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| GRAND PALACE BANGKOK |
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| BANGKOK RIVER VIEW |
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| FAREWELL PARTY - CENTARA WATERGATE PAVILLION ROOFTOP |
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