The girls slept in this morning until 730am, however Michael and I were up at 630am so we could run on the beach. We ran for 30 minutes at the water’s edge. Wow, this was a ton of fun, but extremely tiring. I think I used muscles I have not used in a while. The sand was partly soft, however I preferred running on the hard packed sand close to the water. When running Michael and I were joined by a pack of three black dogs, one of the dogs was a bully to the other dogs, quiet funny to watch them run with us for a while and bark at each other. Another time a single black dog came running up to us and just started barking, not a nice doggy.
Once back at the hotel we cleaned up and went to breakfast at the Marriott Café again. The buffet was exceptional great again. We pretty much had a western breakfast, however a little Thai flavor. One item I forgot to mention in my Wednesday blog was they had natural drinks/shot glasses with everything from supporting skin cures, insomnia, to boosting energy.
Our Family Photo at the Elephant Safari
Elephant Safaritour started at 950am at the hotel lobby. We drove for 1 ¼ hours to our tour location for the morning. This morning we visited an Elephant Safari. Pretty funny thing happened when we first got off the bus we were given our tour tickets and then were asked if we wanted to buy a DVD of the tour. We decided to purchase one since did not purchase one on Wednesday when we did the speed boat tour. I got to the counter and filled out the paperwork on the DVD and ready to pay, they said the JW Marriott was too far away to deliver by tomorrow when we were leaving. Part of the deal is they deliver to your hotel. All that high pressure sales and then they won’t sell the DVD, good figure.
At the safari, we boarded a trailer pulled by a tractor where they took us to a show area. We sat in the seats to watch the introduction to the elephant tour and the show we were about to watch. There was an older and younger elephant. The younger was 5 years old and was quiet active and had some issues staying still.
Elephant SafariThe trainers did different tricks with them including picking up objects and even kicking a soccer ball. They also played the harmonica. One last thing is the can draw, at least with a little assistance from the trainers. After the show we were given time to take photos with the elephants. We got some great shots. After the photos we were then given time to feed them. for 50 Bhats you were able to buy a small basket of bananas and the feed them. There were some great photos taken here.
After the feeding we reboarded the trailer and went to the next stop where we hear a orientation about the elephants in Thailand and about the ride. They stated there were about 4,000 elephants in Thailand. The breed process is slow. A mother is pregnant for two years. They consume 2.5 kg of food daily and drink a ton of water (don’t remember the exact amount), and weight an average if three tons. Elephants are unique to Thailand. After our orientation, we walked up a ramp/steps to get on the elephants, two people per elephant.
Elephant Safarithe back-end. The person directing the elephant sat close to the head/ears of the elephant. To start, stop, and direct the elephant they use a sharp pick on a wooden handle. To control the elephant, they apply pressure behind the ear.
Our elephant ride lasted 30 minutes and was an incredible experience. The ride was very slow so we could enjoy the ride and the sights that surrounded us. We stopped at a few look outs which had views of the ocean. The person directing the elephant stopped a few times, turned himself around and took photos of us. Jenny and Michael rode together on one elephant and Cindy and I rode on another one. After the ride was complete we took a family photo and then waited for the trailer to take us back to our mini-van which would take us back to the hotel. Before leaving, we purchased photos of us.
Our ride back to the hotel took 1 ¼ hours. Once back to the hotel we had about 4 hours to do whatever we wanted to do. Michael and Jenny both went and had a one hour full body massage for 400 Bhats each or Cindy and I during our elephant ride
Elephant Safari$13 US each. Cindy and I ate lunch in the Siam Deli, shared another hamburger, they are so awesome. After lunch Cindy and I had a couples foot massage at the same area the kids were at. Our foot massages were 30 minutes and cost 300 Bhats or $10 US. I swear during my message they used acupuncture pines on my toes. I felt a pricking feeling. I tried asking them, however they did not understanding English. We were so comfortable laying in the pavilion with a warm ocean breeze coming through the covered area. Gotta love it. After a wonderful foot massage, Cindy and I went and had a banana split. Wow, this was really good.
We all returned back to the room to get dressed for our show this evening. The bus taking us to the show was leaving at 530pm. The mini-bus was almost full, we had to sit in the back of the bus, literally. It was super warm and cramped. The ride to the show location took 30 minutes, thank goodness. The show we are schedule to see is Siam Niramit. The package includes dinner and the show.
Elephant Safariwas very large, and had a mix of western and Thai cuisine. We ate quickly because between dinner and the show they had a few 15 minute shows in the courtyard outside. Most of these shows were hockey, however fun watching. The first show was Thai boxing, then Thai dancing which I was picked from the crowd to go out and dance. My kids thought I was not coordinated, they were right. The next show was an elephant show, similar to what we saw earlier in the day. The difference this evening was people in the audience were picked to participate in a tug war competition with a three ton elephant. Michael was picked to be part of the team. Within one minute, the elephant declared victory. Michael said that was very hard and his hands were sore, even with using gloves. The last show was Elephant War and it was the grand finale with all the dancers and war characters. Two elephants were part of this show and they were extremely tall, the tallest elephants I have ever seen.
The theatre entrance was very regimented. You were queued by entrance number on your ticket. You also had to
Siam Niramit Showcheck your camera. I was able to cram the camera in my pocket, however Jenny pointed out that they were patting down people, I checked my camera. There was a queue for camera checking too. Our seats were in the gold section, we paid extra for these seats to have a better view, however I think in the end the normal priced seats would have worked.
The show was well done and had a Vegas twist to it. There was fantastic lighting, incredible scenes that changed often, cast coming down from the ceiling, part of the stage became a river, and then there was a rain storm. The show demonstrated the cross between the various cultures and regions of Thailand and also shows how Thailand celebrates events. Well done by the theatre company.
We were told by a few Americans in Bangkok that when you watch a theatre show, it always starts off with the national anthem and have to stand up. This happened before our show. This is pretty cool.
On the way back to the hotel, we all dosed off so when we arrived at the hotel we were pretty wound up.
