Mother Daughter Adventure Chronicles VI- Koh Samed

The Mother Daughter Adventures continue...

Well the adventure doesn't stop with Chiang Mai.  We flew out of Chiang Mai on a Saturday morning and arrived back in Bangkok a few hours later.  Then we got on an eastbound bus to Ban Phe where the ferry to Koh Samet is located.  Although the skies weren't as bright as one might hope when going to the beach, we were excited to put our feet in some sand.  We arrived at our guesthouse in the rain, and just relaxed.  It was nearing Easter so we made plans to call home and check in with folks for the holiday.

Koh Samed is a lovely, diamond shaped island.  It's a popular weekend destination for Bangkokians because it only takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there.  I'm lucky because Koh Samed is in the province of Rayong- I only have to take a 30 minute song thaew (truck that serves as a bus) and then the 40 minute ferry.  

Koh Samed is also popular in Thai folklore because its beaches are used for a few scenes from the famous poem Phra Aphai Mani by the poet Sunthon Phu.  Sunthon Phu is an icon of Rayong not only because of the usage of Koh Samet in his epic, but also because his father came from Klaeng, a town in Rayong province not far from the city of Rayong and Koh Samet.  The central character of the epic, Prince Aphai Mani, is guided to the island by a mermaid.  Their statues are present on Hat Said Kaew, the main beach on the island.  Sunthon Phu's statue, along with the statue of Aphai Mani can be found in Rayong, and I've even seen little statues of Aphai Mani adorning lightposts in Mae Ramphueng, a beach town closer to Rayong than Ban Phe.  

 

Koh Samed, in terms of tourism, is somewhat young.  It is still protected by the Foresty Department of Thailand as a National Park, but until 1981 it was completely closed off for overnight stays.  The beaches are beautiful, and the further you venture from the northern end where the main pier is located, the more pristine they become.  Sadly, in the short 30 years that this island has seen major numbers of visitors, it has seen a great amount of trash build-up.  It's also a bit crowded in the downtown where the pier is located, but once again, once you get to the beach your initial reaction will change.  When you've got that tasty, fruity drink in your hand and a big plate of king prawns just off the grill, feet in the sand and you're looking at the blue sky of the day become a rainbow of oranges and purples in the evening, you're in paradise.  

Look at that spread!

And for the most part, we were!  We didn't have fantastic beach weather for the few days that we were there, but it was relaxing nonetheless.  I'd say our only major snafu with that part of our adventure was a run-in with some spiky sea urchins.  We decided to do a boat trip around the island with some snorkeling.  The boat trip was alright, and it was nice to see the whole island, but we were not warned about any dangerous sea life.  I was kicking myself later and felt extremely guilty for not pointing them out sooner to mom, and sadly she learned about urchins the hard, painful way.  Needless to say, our boat adventure happy moods took a dive about then.  She was in some serious pain for a while after that, but she took it like a champ and continued to enjoy our experiences.

Weather looking a bit ominous, but we stopped at the aquariuam anyways- we stopped at the floating aquarium on our boat tour.

Hi friend!

I've always wanted to stay in one of these guesthouses.

Day is done.

 

There isn't a whole to do on Koh Samed but relax and eat tasty seafood.  If you're in the mood to party, you'll find plenty of that on the main beaches.  We stayed away from that and had a quieter Samed experience.  It was nice to have some beach time together, and time that wasn't filled with activities, especially as we both felt the end of the trip coming near. 

Mother Daughter Adventure Chronicles V: Chiang Mai IV- The Queen's Botanical Garden

 Orchids and lillies and brommeliads oh my!

Not much to say here, I'll let the flowers do the talking.  Mom and I took a little jaunt out of town- about half an hour's drive- to the Queen's Botanical Garden.  Although it was quite hot, it was still nice to be outside, surrounded by a view of mountains in the distance and flowers and trees all around us.  We walked in gardens, in the jungle and through many green houses.  Good mother daughter time amongst the flowers.  Mom knows flowers, even a lot of Asian ones, because these days you can get all sorts of flowers anywhere, and some similar species exist in the U.S.  It was fun wandering around with her because she has so much experience with flowers and gardening.  We didn't have enough time to wander through all the green houses, but we got quite a fill.


Check out the site if you want more information!

Queen Sirikit Botanic Gardens

 

Salas (or rest houses in this case- the term 'Sala' also means open room, usually on the first level of a house) with view of the mountains

 

Pitcher plants

Mom catching some mist to cool down.

The Aquatic House- Lotus flower

Lotus flowers

Inside of a lotus flower- the seeds are edible. 

Pitcher plant

Brommeliad

Arid house- Desert plants

Orchids and Ferns House- Orchids

The Aquatic House- waterlillies

Waterlillies

Walk in the jungle outside the gardens

School kids playing in the falls in a trip

This used to be my favorite flowers as a kid- Bird of Paradise

 

 

 

Mother Daughter Adventure Chronicles V- Chiang Mai III- The Gentle Giants

While in Chiang Mai mom and I wanted to spend some time with those gentle giants that Thailand is famous for, the elephants.  There are many elephant camps all over the north of Thailand where you can learn to be a mahout, or trainer for a day, 2 days 3 days, or a week.  We didn't have a lot of time so we opted for the one day camp.  It was a gret time, and an interesting learning experience for mom. 

Elephants have a very important history in Thailand.  They used to be work horses for the logging industry in the North, but once the logging was banned, the use of elephants for moving the logs around ground to a halt.  After that the fortunes of the elephants were mixed.  Some were well cared for, some wild elephants remained wild, and some were abandoned by their caretakers.  

The uplifting part of the tale comes in the development of places like the TECC- Thai Elephant Conservation Center.  They are a fantastic place that was originally built in honor of the princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in 1991 to commemorate her 36th birthday.  The Royal Family has been very important to many aspects of cultural and agricultural preservation and education.  The TECC does a fantastic job of caring for healthy elephants, rehabilitating sick or injured elephants, educating tourists, promoting  eco-tourism, and in general saving elephatns from extinction.  His Majesty The King of Thailand's Royal elephants are housed here- although no one is allowed to visit them.  They are special elephants because they are more 'white' than the typical gray like most Asian elephants.  Of course they aren't completely white, but lighter than most elephants.  There are many elephant camps all over Thailand, but the TECC is the only one that has a hospital for elephants.  Any camp has a sick elephant or is in need of assistance with the conception of, or birth of elephants can seek assistance from the TECC or can bring their elephants to the center free of charge. These efforts are funded by eco-tourism and in part by the cultural preservation efforts of the Royalty.  It is truly heart warming to know that these incredible creatures can be so well cared for.  

It is heart breaking to see them wandering the streets begging for food with their mahouts who don't have adequate resources to care for their elephant.  I used to see one in the market where I eat dinner every night in Rayong and had to look away.  Supposedly you can notify the police of you see an elephant and mahout wandering the streets begging for handouts (or asking you to pay to give sugar cane to the elephants which they have already purchased for this exact purpose) but I'm not sure how well that issue is policed.  Elephants are banned in cities- all should be at some sort of facility or zoo to be properly cared for.  I haven't seen this elephant in months, so I'm hoping it's found it's way to a proper center.


Elephants have been economically, culturally and religiously important to Thailand.  I won't bore you with all sorts of research and facts, because the TECC does an excellent job of laying out all the information.  But from my perspective, it has been inspiring to see this type of reverence in practice by Thai people.  Everybody loves and respects the elephant.  This is especially noticeable in worship in temples, as the elephant appears as the icon Ganesh (In Thai Ganesh is "Pra Pickanet").  In Buddhism the elephant represents intelligence, power, stability, gracefulness, and by some it was believed that elephants supported the universe.  

Biologically the elephant does have a small brain compared to its body size. However, due to the high number of curves and notches in its brain, it is widely accepted that elephants are highly capable of learning, are very intelligent, and that much of their brain is devoted to scent and memory.  The Asian elephants like to live in groups, the babies do not stray far from their mothers, and the mothers usually rarely separate from their babies and are quite protective of them.  


That's all I'll write about the elephants.  Please give these sites a visit if you want to read more about the elephants.  They are quite comprehensive and informative.  Also if you are at all interested in spending time with elephants, the TECC is a great place to stay for one day or a few.  You will be taken care of as a mahout, and you can rest assured that your money is well spent and goes to a good cause.  You can get their contact info from either site and reserve a time to come on as a mahout. 


http://www.thaielephanttraining.com/?page_id=96


http://www.changthai.com/


or just google Thai Elephant Conservation Center or TECC.


Now for some photos!

Me and my pal- Pang Tantawan "Sun Flower".  Pang Tantawan is 50 years old.

Mom and baby

Baby elephant getting a cool down.  Elephants love being wet.

I mean, come on.  Doesn't this just melt your heart? The elepants were recently painted for fun during the Songkran New Year's festival.  It's non-toxic paint and the elephants weren't harmed. 

Artist in residence.  Yes, there is an elephant show at the TECC where they paint, play instruments and show the old logging techniques.  Some people don't like the idea of putting elephants on show like that, so it's a debated issue.  But they're taken care of and not mistreated, and that's what I cared about.  The paintings are sold for about 15 USD and go right back into the center to care for the elephants and for the hospital.

Just thought I'd throw this in here- some elephant commands-  The center gave use these little laminated papers with Thai phrases, elephant commands, and facts about our elephant and mahout's names.

Song Soong- Get on beside
Hub Soong- Get off beside
Pai- Go forward
How- Stop
Tack long- Get off and on in front (jump onto the elephant by vaulting yourself onto his neck!)
Map long- Lie down on their belly
Non long- Lie down on their side
Look- Stand up
Ben- Turn left or right
Soke- Walk backward
Bong- Drink water
Bong bone- Spray water
Geb bone- Pick something up
Ma phe- Comer here
Ya- Do not / no
Dee mak- Very good

And no...you do not use the same words for an elephant as you would in conversation with a Thai person.  Except for the word 'pai' which means 'go' and you'll hear that word a lot.