I am way behind on my blogging, so I will start with what I did the weekend of February 26th.
I had two goals in mind: ride an elephant and see the largest flower in the world.
I made my way to Krabi on Friday night, unsure of exactly how or when I would be getting to Khao Sok, a national park that makes up part of the oldest rainforest in Thailand, my ultimate destination. I tried to plan a tour, but none of the tour groups would book a trip without more than one person--one of the cons about traveling alone, I've learned. So I arranged for a minivan to drive me to Khao Sok in the morning.
Saturday started off with a series of clumsy decisions and slaps on my head (the ones I have given myself since the age of 4). My day started at 8, but I didn't actually leave Krabi until after 12, which I should have expected knowing "Thai time", as everyone calls it. Stuffed in a minivan with a bunch of traveling couples, we made our way to Khao Sok, passing by Ao Luk at about the halfway mark... My mouth dropped as we literally passed by the block I "live" on, but I laughed it off as you do in these silly traveling situations. When we finally got there, I made my second silly move and told the driver to drop me off at the wrong hotel, but was quickly saved by a German couple who happened to be walking in the direction of the hotel that I had actually booked my stay at.
The Rainforest Resort was the most amazing super-cheap place I have yet to stay. For 400 baht ($12) a night, I climbed up into my awesome treehouse (with a bathroom inside too!) and looked out to the rainforest on one side and a flowing river on the other. I had been looking forward to a peaceful weekend alone, but the staff of the "resort" were eager to entertain my lonesome traveling self. Cherry (maybe Sherry? I never cleared that one up) was the receptionist, a big round girl with perfect tourist English (The English they teach in universities is geared towards the tourism industry so the phrases they use are all very scripted...it's pretty cute). Cherry's parents were the owners of the place, a man who is the director of the Khao Sok Primary School and a woman who is a teacher as well. They were excited to have me and talk about my teaching experiences, inviting me to sit at the table with the locals and share some food. "Sexy Man" (the only name he goes by) was a hilarious addition to the Rainforest Resort staff. I enjoyed many a game of Jenga with Sexy Man. There was also "Jackie Chan", but more on him later. I was immediately thankful of the Lonely Planet guide book for recommending this place and their welcoming staff.
For weeks...actually, months, I had been so stoked to get on an elephant's back and trek through the jungle like an Indiana Jones adventure. Well, the real thing didn't quite match up to my idealized vision. It was certainly a true safari trek through the rainforest that ended at a waterfall--amazing scenery. But the moment I arrived at the elephant camp, it clicked in my mind what elephant riding is all about. What made me think these elephants were happily playing and sunbathing in their natural habitat, taking a break every now and again to cheerfully take some tourists for a little ride? I walked up the stairs to the platform where you mount the elephants, and suddenly wanted nothing more than to leave this place. The seats for the tourists are benches balancing on top of the elephants' backs, tied with rope back underneath their tales, pressing all of the weight on their poor bottoms. Each elephant is assigned to a Thai man who leads them, yelling all the way, disciplining them with sharp sticks. I climbed onto my own elephant, feeling like I was hurting him, trying not to touch my shoes to his skin. I wobbled back and forth on the little bench as the elephant stepped along, listening to the orders of his teacher. As this elephant, this Thai man, and I wandered through the jungle, I was trying so hard to take in the scenery, but my mind was moving too fast. Who do we think we are domesticating this incredible, intelligent, gorgeous creature, and turning it into an attraction? How were these people around me on other elephants smiling and enjoying the ride? Didn't they feel sorry for the elephants? "OY OY OY!!!" Every five steps the Thai men would yell, and if the elephant stepped one foot in the wrong direction, they would get a hard slap with the stick. I couldn't block this out, and felt extremely uncomfortable. On the way back from the waterfall (about 30-40 minutes each way), my elephant's guide asked me if I wanted to get down from the bench and sit directly on the elephants neck. I was honestly just trying to decide which would hurt the elephant less, and decided to hop down onto the neck to give his back and bottom a little rest. Sitting on the neck definitely allowed me to have a little fun. I was very concerned about the safety of it, considering I was 12 feet off the ground and struggling to stay still as the elephant climbed up and down and over nature, but it was a fun challenge. The elephant wrapped his ears back around my legs, which I like to think was his way of holding onto me safely. His hard work was showing in the sweat I was feeling all around my legs. The inner ears, which are spotted like leapards, were sweating onto my legs and shorts, which were soaked all the way through with elephant sweat. I expected the little hairs on the neck of the elephant to be soft, but instead they were thicker than they look and extremely prickly, scratching into my legs. As I held onto the elephant's head trying not to fall off, I tried to give it a little rub and some pats here and there, hoping it would understand that I was trying to show it a little love. Needless to say, I felt relieved when the ride was over and was looking forward to doing something different for the remainder of the day.
I was told that I would be taken on my tour to see the rafflesia arnoldi, the biggest flower in the world, after lunch. This is the only information I knew, which is how most things go here due to the combination of Thai culture and language barriers. So when Cherry told me to get on the back of "Jackie Chan's" motorbike, I would have been silly to be surprised. Jackie Chan is one of the relatives who works at the resort, a 20 year old guy who works in the kitchen and as one of the tour guides. Since I was the only one signed up for the tour, it was just the two of us. He drove us about a mile away, and stopped at the bottom of a hiking trail that leads up to the flowers. He led me up the hill, and it wasn't long before I realized that this was going to be an actual hike (I was imagining it would be an easy walk), but I was excited for the exercise. We hiked up and up and up, which was more like speed-climbing (Jackie Chan was given his name for a reason) as I struggled to keep up behind him. An hour later he said something about arriving at the flower (his English was VERY limited). It was a closed up blob of waxy-looking material....very anti-climactic....I reluctantly took a photo before I was relieved to find that there were blossoming flowers up ahead. The flower is a parasite that lives on a specific vine, so it doesn't have a stem, leaves or roots. It is about a meter in diameter, and looks like it's made of wax. I was talking with an Irish family up at the flowers, and the mother and I were joking about how if they were going to put out a fake flower, they could have at least placed it at the bottom of the hill. It was beautiful, nevertheless. On the way down from the hike, Jackie Chan had to hold my hand because we went down a very steep way and I would have eaten shit (for lack of a more accurate term) if he didn't guide me down carefully. It was a funny experience, holding this Thai boy's hand 70% of the way down, trying to keep up and not slip on the leaves (which I did several times). We couldn't speak to each other, and I found the quiet company the perfect way to be alone but have my own personal tour guide. Halfway down, Jackie Chan whipped a full pineapple and a large cutting knife out of his backpack, and cut it up beautifully for me. Then he asked me if I had the time, which I didn't, and I had a brief moment of fright as I realized the sky was getting darker and thundering. But not to worry, Jackie Chan led me down before the sun set and no rain interrupted my hike.
A little Irish boy that was up there with his family (so you can see how big the flower is)
It was a long but rewarding day. I played one last game of Jenga with Sexy Man and headed back the next morning, this time making sure to get dropped off in Ao Luk instead of going out of my way into Krabi town.
