Saturday, March 17, 2018

Saturday – March 17, 2018

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Today we arrived in Phuket, Thailand. We were not greeted by any dancers or bands, but there was a nice market set up just outside the gate. It will have to wait because we are off on a 6-hour tour that includes an elephant ride.

Phuket is a resort area situated with mountains behind it and beautiful beaches along the coast. It is also possible to reach nearby islands by boat for swimming and snorkeling. We boarded a coach for the drive to the city proper. It is about six miles away. This was a bit of a surprise because the tour description said we would be going by 4-wheel drive vehicle to the highlands for panoramic views. Maybe that comes later. We drove through the city and out to the country. Soon we arrived at Elephant Island. First we saw a water buffalo wallowing in a rice paddy. This was supposed to be a face-to-face encounter with a tame water buffalo. All we saw was his rump with no face painted on it.

The rubber plantation visit included in the tour description turned out to be a rubber tree. Our guide described the process as the worker cut a six-inch by ¼ inch piece of bark from the tree. We did see a thimble full of rubber flow into the pot. OK! I guess we did learn something about the process. I had also hoped to learn about the state of the industry today and its history.

After a rest room stop we walked to the platform where we would board the elephants for our 30-minute ride. We boarded a bench seat for two strapped atop the elephant behind the driver. The attendant latched the safety bar, and we were off. The ride was interesting and fun. Once we learned to anticipate the gait of the animal it was fairly easy to ride securely and comfortably. Our driver did not speak, but he did weave a bracelet for Alice out of a palm leaf. A great tip producer. Our ride lasted just 20 minutes.

Then we were led to a viewing stand where we watched two elephants eat bananas that were purchased for $4 for 6 to 8 small bananas. After consuming several bags of bananas one elephant kicked a soccer ball which one of our ladies was able to block. Then the other elephant stood on a pedestal first on its front legs then on its hind legs. This was fun to see. Now an elephant used its trunk to hurl darts at a rack of balloons to break them. He succeeded on two out of three tries. Finally the lady who played goalie got to lie down and have an elephant massage. The elephant tapped her back with his trunk before tugging gently at her hair. The finale was for the two elephants to come to the viewing stand to accept tips with their trunks and pass them to the trainer. They were to differentiate between the paper bills and bananas. No bills were swallowed. It was entertaining.

Now we attended a cooking demonstration where we learned how to make green curry chicken. This was very interesting and informative. The samples tasted very good. I wish they had passed out the recipe.

Our final stop here was to view and maybe purchase the pictures that had been taken of us riding on the elephant. There were 2 pictures in a nice frame made from recycled elephant dung for $18 US. We couldn’t pass this up. Capital One converted the local currency to just $16. This was an unexpected surprise.

We left for lunch. This was a buffet lunch, not the lunch served at a restaurant as described. The drive back to the port was uneventful. We never saw a 4-wheel drive vehicle or a panoramic view. The tour operator pulled a switch on the shore excursions folks.

Back at the pier we went straight to the market. Hey, this was pretty darned nice. There was a wide selection of clothing, purses and other goods. Alice found a nice pair of Elephant pants. That’s a design, not a size. The elastic in the ankles could be used to convert them to shorts. In any event they are airy and cool. I found a nice Thai Silk shirt for just $8. Nirvana!

Tonight we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in the Pinnacle Restaurant with our friends Bob and Dee New. We met them on the 2014 Grand South America cruise. This was great fun. Afterward Alice and I went to the Crow’s Nest for a Grasshopper and a Guinness. Guess who had which.

All in all this was a fine day.