They drove us, on the elephants, to the train station. Kickin it up.

Afterwards, they just started offering us free rides around town, so amazing. Just chilling out on the backs of elephants.

My friends and I took a ride on two elephants about fifteen minutes away, I got to ride right behind Jay, bareback. They let us off and we starting walking down the street but we thought it would be cool to buy some drinks and sit around with the mahouts. Wild and friendly guys [we’re hanging out on a platform that people use to climb onto the elephants]

At the end of the day we decided to take elephant rides around town; the mahouts had been doing it all day, but it was far too hot for me to make the attempt. This is Jay, ontop of his elephant, who took me on my first ride. The “implement” is their training stick. Not only does he own and train elephants, but rides a motorcycle. Too cool.

The Mahout

Imagine. Over three hundred scantly clad, sleek-ripped elephant trainers. Yowsa.

Nagas

The naga is an epic snake in Hinduism. The pristine condition of these nagas is incredibly rare.

Khmer Temples

The Khmer rulers were mostly Hindu, originating from what is now Cambodia. Modern Thai Buddhism still retains a lot of influence from Hinduism. We saw four different temples, all dedicated to different gods. The tour was guided by the owner of our guest house, an expert in Khmer art and architecture. I’ve never seen any thing like it so I was going crazy.

SURIN!!

Holy man! I had an amazing weekend in north east Thailand. We took the night train to Surin, the capital of the province with the same name. We arrived at five in the morning after a 7 hour ride, took a tuk tuk to a guesthouse and were lucky enough to get a room. This weekend was the renowned elephant festival, where elephants and their trainers from all over the province put on a massive show. There were around 300 elephants in a city of 40 000. The “elephant round-up” or Phon Chang is a ceremony celebrating the relationship between the Kui people and their elephants. While we were in town we took a guided tour to Khmer (Cambodian) era temples from the 9^th to 12^th centuries, CE, visited a silk-weaving village and watched the elephant festivities that involved ceremonies, dancing, epic battles and the intriguing mahout (elephant trainer). Our weekend culminating in partying with the mahouts AND their elephants…

Art Deco Splendor: The Democracy Monument

 

Everybody's buying

Not entirely typical of those who hawk food from motorized carts. Equipped with a freezer and a grill.

 

Bicy-styling

The Bangkok bike. Note the double seats. Pure envy.


 

View of Bangkok from the Golden Mount

"House and Home"

I sit on my balcony and eat breakfast. This is what I see. And my apartment as seen from where I work, aptly titled "house and home".

Loy Krathong Festival

We bought little floats made out of flowers and sent them down the river to take away our faults and lit a paper lantern on fire. It fills up with gas and floats away into the sky, like a jelly fish in the deep sea. Unfortunately, a disenchanted cop came and stopped the party. At least I had my balloon!

Bangkok Pride

Saw a crazy pride parade; it was hot and smoggy. I was pratically choking.

Friend or Foe?

This bird lives down the street from where I work, in plain view.

Second Day in Thailand: Petchaburi

Petchaburi is a two hour bus drive south west of Bangkok. I was entirely delrious.