Day 7: An elephant never forgets... and neither will we

The overnight train to Surin was horrendous. They were sold out of air-conditioned sleeper cars, so we ended up in the peasant car. Literally. We were surrounded by peasants traveling back to the countryside. The car consisted of what looked like prison beds, stacked bunk style, with only a few fans to help circulate the air. Our sleep was restless, and when we woke up sweating through our mattress we were amazed to see the locals underneath blankets. We arrived in Surin at 4 am and shared a half gallon of milk while we waited for the 6:30 "bus" to depart.


After riding in the back of a modified pick-up truck for 1.5 hours, we arrived at Tha Klan, the "Elephant Village". We wandered around for a few minutes and stumbled upon a gathering of people. A local girl - whose nickname was "Apple" - spoke English (apparently having been taught by watching Britney Spears music videos - who knew she was a teacher, too!) and invited us to join the group for breakfast. It turns out they were gathered to celebrate the death of her grandfather. It's a local tradition to offer food to guests to bring good luck to the departed.

Across the street was the elephant compound, which was established by the Thai government to keep elephant families from begging in the city streets. We wandered through, observing the over 200 elephants, and even incited the youngest baby (5 months old) to jump awkwardly over the short bamboo fence to play with us. Even at 5 months old she easily pushed us around.

We went back to the ceremony across the street and were offered lunch, which consisted of a porks head dipped in a spicy chili sauce, and papaya salad that was spicier than anything we have ever tasted. Even Danny's eyes watered. Wanting to fit in, we washed it all down with about 3 liters of beer (a few of the locals were drinking from 9am til dark). During lunch we met 2 British girls who were volunteering at the elephant center, and they showed us around the small village of Tha Klan.

Later in the afternoon, we watched the "Elephant Show", which they use to raise money to feed the animals (they eat 20 hours a day, so it can't be cheap). The elephants shot darts, threw basketballs, played soccer, spun hula hoops, and walked on top of 2 foolish volunteers from the audience.... the two of us.

Because of our friendship with the locals, they invited us to take part in the bathing of the elephants in the nearby Moon River. It was a truly remarkable and unique experience to swim and bath with elephants. We got on their backs, walked in the river, and scrubbed them down with shampoo. They seemed to enjoy the experience as much as we did. We then were allowed to ride the elephants for an hour, back to the center, through seemingly endless rice fields in all directions. There is no better way to really experience Thailand, and we made some great friends.

They invited us back into their home for a traditional pork soup and rice dish, which was extraordinary, and then drove us 45 minutes on a pot-hole filled road to the nearest bus station. Having not been allowed to pay for anything due to the nature of the day's ceremony, we forced Apple to take our 2500 Baht (about 75 USD) and told her we appreciated their overwhelming hospitality.

Who knew this all would happen after asking a man "How is the yogurt and fruit?" A truly serendipitous encounter that led to a once in a lifetime experience.