Thailand: The Pachyderms of Phuket

As we made our way across the Malaccan Straits from Singapore to Phuket, we learned of yet another cruise ship incident.  The Silversea ship, Silver Shadow, ran into a cargo ship in the fog while en route to Hong Kong.  Not only had we just traveled the reverse route from Hong Kong to Nha Trang, Vietnam a few days earlier, but we were actually in port with this same ship in Nha Trang.  We saw her sail in the morning we arrived, and she was gone by the time we returned from our shore excursion that day.  My goodness, we’ve heard of strange things happening on other cruise ships during our time on board the ms Amsterdam.

Since we knew our cousins Terry & Rebecca were particularly interested in elephants, we sent them a quick email to let them know we’d be thinking of them in the next two ports since both excursions were to involve elephants.  At that time we discovered that the new addition to their family had arrived.  Congratulations to Terry & Rebecca on the birth of their son, Harrison Cooper.  What wonderful news! 

Our one and only stop in Thailand was the island of Phuket, located off the west coast of the mainland of Thailand.  Up until now when I thought of Thailand, my mind immediately went to Yul Brynner and the musical, The King and I. We learned, however, that it is quite politically incorrect to ask Thais about this as they feel the king is not portrayed in a very positive light.  So we kept that thought to ourselves. 

We had been told that Phuket was an area that was hard hit in the tsunami that struck on December 26, 2004.  However, they had done such a wonderful job of rebuilding that we were totally unaware of the destruction; the only evidence we noticed were road signs that marked tsunami evacuation routes! 

 It was quite a trip to get from the ship to shore – not so much because of the tender ride, but because of the very long floating pier they had to construct for us to walk between the tender and the shore. Then it was quite a hike (about ¼ mile) to get to the buses.  All a part of the adventure, I guess! 

Phuket, with an area of less than 360 square miles, is home to about 3000 elephants, about 20 of which we saw during our shore excursion, Siam Elephant Safari.  As we drove from Patang Beach to the safari, we passed beaches, shops, and homes, and once again, more tangles of electrical wires than one could imagine!   At the entrance to many of the properties (homes and businesses alike) were what looked like ornate and brightly- colored little houses up on pedestals.  These were spirit houses, which Buddhists believe will keep evil spirits away and bring good luck to those who live and work within.     

As we drove our tour guide taught us a lot about the similarities and differences between African and Asian elephants.  Elephants have a 22-month gestation period.  They can only give birth to one baby at a time, and when the baby is born, the mother cares for it for its first few years.  This means that a female elephant can only have one baby every four or five years.  African elephants have bigger ears than their Asian counterparts, and while African male and female elephants both have long tusks, Asian males have long tusks and females have short tusks.  Asian elephants have a pair of bumps on their heads that allow them more space for their brains.  Therefore, Asian elephants are more intelligent and trainable than African elephants.  Asian elephants are used as beasts of burden, and at one time they were believed to be the vehicle of the gods.  That meant that only kings were allowed to ride on elephants, and they would often ride them into battle.  Fortunately for us, this has changed so that we were able to enjoy and elephant ride.   

After boarding 4 wheel drive vehicles and being transported up into the hills to visit the Siam Safari, we were separated into groups and sent on our way to do several different activities.  Al, Chuck, and I, as well as our friends Bob & Nancy, were in the first group to have a ride on the back of an Asian elephant.  We had been told by someone on the ship that we would need to climb a ladder to mount the elephant so we were pleasantly surprised that all we had to do was take the stairs up to a platform where we were helped onto a seat (much like a wagon seat) balanced on the elephant’s back.  Our elephant was 44 years old and was named Tarfan.  We got ourselves situated, feeling very precariously perched on this placid pachyderm.  As we set forth, every lumbering step taken by Tarfan made us feel as if we were going to tip out of our seat.  Our driver, who was mounted bare-back behind the elephant’s ears, asked us to shift slightly to the left, and from there on, we felt a little safer.  Once we got used to the gait, we really enjoyed our ½ hour ride.  We got a kick out of watching our driver guide the elephant with each step, putting slight knee pressure behind the ears depending upon whether he wanted to go forward or turn left or right.  Each ponderous step felt like a small lurch as we took our well-traveled trail up the hill through the forest, where we enjoyed seeing the rubber trees being tapped much like one might see of New England maple trees.  At one point Tarfan turned around and backed up, and our driver turned around to face us and took pictures of us with the ocean backdrop far below.  All too soon we were arriving back at the platform and dismounting.  That had been a brand new experience for us and definitely one we would not forget. 

From there we continued to a cape buffalo demonstration.  After being served coffee or tea and coconut pancakes (which were very tasty despite my dislike of coconut), we watched as a “farm laborer” hooked one of these enormous beasts up to a yoke and pretended to plow a rice paddy.  I can’t imagine walking around in that muck, but neither the demonstrator nor the animal seemed to mind it a bit!

We were shown how they harvest and process rice as well as coconut milk and oil.  Then they demonstrated the making of curry from many different spices.  I’m not a fan of curry, but the sample food they gave us was quite tasty – at least not so hot that I couldn’t eat it! 

Our final stop at the safari was a baby elephant training center.  Two young elephants, aged 4 and 6, were put through their paces.  They picked up small toys, then they had a race to see which could pick up and put the trainer’s hat on the head the fastest.  They each played us a little harmonica duet.  One of them demonstrated her painting skills with a brush in hand (er – trunk).  They kicked soccer balls, and then picked them up with their trunks and handed them to someone in the crowd.  I was quite pleased to have the 6-year-old hand me her soccer ball.  These little girls really won our hearts over!  We enjoyed posing with them for pictures, and I got a basket of fruit and fed the 6-year-old. 

We finally tore ourselves away and left the safari behind and headed for lunch.  We went to a lovely Thai banquet hall where they served us a buffet lunch, mostly of Thai food.  I do have trouble getting used to curry, so I was glad to have rolls available to take care of the hot spiciness I felt every time I took a bite! Despite the unique (to me) flavors, we did enjoy the meal.  We think our friend Betsy, with her love for Thai food, would have been in her element!

Our final stop on the excursion was one we hadn’t anticipated – a visit to “The World’s Largest Jewelry Store”.  I love diamonds and sapphires, and emeralds, etc., but I wasn’t planning to spend my money here!   I have a few pieces of jewelry at home that have sapphires, and each time they come with a statement that the sapphire came from Thailand.  However, Chuck, Al, and I weren’t in the market for sapphires, so we sailed through that part of the shop and found our way to the souvenirs where we were able to browse a little more comfortably. 

As we made our way across the Malaccan Straits from Singapore to Phuket, we learned of yet another cruise ship incident.  The Silversea ship, Silver Shadow, ran into a cargo ship in the fog while en route to Hong Kong.  Not only had we just traveled the reverse route from Hong Kong to Nha Trang, Vietnam a few days earlier, but we were actually in port with this same ship in Nha Trang.  We saw her sail in the morning we arrived, and she was gone by the time we returned from our shore excursion that day.  My goodness, we’ve heard of strange things happening on other cruise ships during our time on board the ms Amsterdam.

Since we knew our cousins Terry & Rebecca were particularly interested in elephants, we sent them a quick email to let them know we’d be thinking of them in the next two ports since both excursions were to involve elephants.  At that time we discovered that the new addition to their family had arrived.  Congratulations to Terry & Rebecca on the birth of their son, Harrison Cooper.  What wonderful news! 

Our one and only stop in Thailand was the island of Phuket, located off the west coast of the mainland of Thailand.  Up until now when I thought of Thailand, my mind immediately went to Yul Brynner and the musical, The King and I. We learned, however, that it is quite politically incorrect to ask Thais about this as they feel the king is not portrayed in a very positive light.  So we kept that thought to ourselves. 

We had been told that Phuket was an area that was hard hit in the tsunami that struck on December 26, 2004.  However, they had done such a wonderful job of rebuilding that we were totally unaware of the destruction; the only evidence we noticed were road signs that marked tsunami evacuation routes! 

 It was quite a trip to get from the ship to shore – not so much because of the tender ride, but because of the very long floating pier they had to construct for us to walk between the tender and the shore. Then it was quite a hike (about ¼ mile) to get to the buses.  All a part of the adventure, I guess! 

Phuket, with an area of less than 360 square miles, is home to about 3000 elephants, about 20 of which we saw during our shore excursion, Siam Elephant Safari.  As we drove from Patang Beach to the safari, we passed beaches, shops, and homes, and once again, more tangles of electrical wires than one could imagine!   At the entrance to many of the properties (homes and businesses alike) were what looked like ornate and brightly- colored little houses up on pedestals.  These were spirit houses, which Buddhists believe will keep evil spirits away and bring good luck to those who live and work within.     

As we drove our tour guide taught us a lot about the similarities and differences between African and Asian elephants.  Elephants have a 22-month gestation period.  They can only give birth to one baby at a time, and when the baby is born, the mother cares for it for its first few years.  This means that a female elephant can only have one baby every four or five years.  African elephants have bigger ears than their Asian counterparts, and while African male and female elephants both have long tusks, Asian males have long tusks and females have short tusks.  Asian elephants have a pair of bumps on their heads that allow them more space for their brains.  Therefore, Asian elephants are more intelligent and trainable than African elephants.  Asian elephants are used as beasts of burden, and at one time they were believed to be the vehicle of the gods.  That meant that only kings were allowed to ride on elephants, and they would often ride them into battle.  Fortunately for us, this has changed so that we were able to enjoy and elephant ride.   

After boarding 4 wheel drive vehicles and being transported up into the hills to visit the Siam Safari, we were separated into groups and sent on our way to do several different activities.  Al, Chuck, and I, as well as our friends Bob & Nancy, were in the first group to have a ride on the back of an Asian elephant.  We had been told by someone on the ship that we would need to climb a ladder to mount the elephant so we were pleasantly surprised that all we had to do was take the stairs up to a platform where we were helped onto a seat (much like a wagon seat) balanced on the elephant’s back.  Our elephant was 44 years old and was named Tarfan.  We got ourselves situated, feeling very precariously perched on this placid pachyderm.  As we set forth, every lumbering step taken by Tarfan made us feel as if we were going to tip out of our seat.  Our driver, who was mounted bare-back behind the elephant’s ears, asked us to shift slightly to the left, and from there on, we felt a little safer.  Once we got used to the gait, we really enjoyed our ½ hour ride.  We got a kick out of watching our driver guide the elephant with each step, putting slight knee pressure behind the ears depending upon whether he wanted to go forward or turn left or right.  Each ponderous step felt like a small lurch as we took our well-traveled trail up the hill through the forest, where we enjoyed seeing the rubber trees being tapped much like one might see of New England maple trees.  At one point Tarfan turned around and backed up, and our driver turned around to face us and took pictures of us with the ocean backdrop far below.  All too soon we were arriving back at the platform and dismounting.  That had been a brand new experience for us and definitely one we would not forget. 

From there we continued to a cape buffalo demonstration.  After being served coffee or tea and coconut pancakes (which were very tasty despite my dislike of coconut), we watched as a “farm laborer” hooked one of these enormous beasts up to a yoke and pretended to plow a rice paddy.  I can’t imagine walking around in that muck, but neither the demonstrator nor the animal seemed to mind it a bit!

We were shown how they harvest and process rice as well as coconut milk and oil.  Then they demonstrated the making of curry from many different spices.  I’m not a fan of curry, but the sample food they gave us was quite tasty – at least not so hot that I couldn’t eat it! 

Our final stop at the safari was a baby elephant training center.  Two young elephants, aged 4 and 6, were put through their paces.  They picked up small toys, then they had a race to see which could pick up and put the trainer’s hat on the head the fastest.  They each played us a little harmonica duet.  One of them demonstrated her painting skills with a brush in hand (er – trunk).  They kicked soccer balls, and then picked them up with their trunks and handed them to someone in the crowd.  I was quite pleased to have the 6-year-old hand me her soccer ball.  These little girls really won our hearts over!  We enjoyed posing with them for pictures, and I got a basket of fruit and fed the 6-year-old. 

We finally tore ourselves away and left the safari behind and headed for lunch.  We went to a lovely Thai banquet hall where they served us a buffet lunch, mostly of Thai food.  I do have trouble getting used to curry, so I was glad to have rolls available to take care of the hot spiciness I felt every time I took a bite! Despite the unique (to me) flavors, we did enjoy the meal.  We think our friend Betsy, with her love for Thai food, would have been in her element!

Our final stop on the excursion was one we hadn’t anticipated – a visit to “The World’s Largest Jewelry Store”.  I love diamonds and sapphires, and emeralds, etc., but I wasn’t planning to spend my money here!   I have a few pieces of jewelry at home that have sapphires, and each time they come with a statement that the sapphire came from Thailand.  However, Chuck, Al, and I weren’t in the market for sapphires, so we sailed through that part of the shop and found our way to the souvenirs where we were able to browse a little more comfortably. 

We all agreed that despite the forced shopping stop we had been delighted with our visit to the Siam Safari and thoroughly enjoyed our time among these gentle giant animals!  It was a thrilling experience to be able to interact with them, and we’re very pleased that we will have another opportunity in Colombo, Sri Lanka, our next port, to encounter elephants in a different surrounding. 

We are now well into the seas of the Indian Ocean.  I’m not sure why I never thought of whales and dolphins inhabiting these waters; maybe it’s because I’m not at all familiar with the Indian Ocean.  But we’ve had two sea days in the waters of the ocean and both days have brought us entertainment for our dining pleasure as what seemed like dozens of dolphins arching and diving and in some cases flipping and spinning as if to bring us greetings.  

We continue to enjoy our Explorations Speakers.  What a wonderful surprise when one of the speakers was our favorite speaker on our Voyage of the Vikings, Danny Catt.  He is a naturalist and photographer who gives very interesting talks with (needless to say) beautiful wildlife photography!  I can’t remember how many times I commented while we were in South America and Antarctica that I wished Danny Catt was on board so I could ask him about a particular bird or animal that I’d seen!   After several scientists and naturalists, we once again have a historian as a speaker – Ambassador Krishna Rajan, who has given us a very interesting perspective on the Southeast Asian countries, some of which we have visited on this cruise.  One comment that particularly interested us was that Thailand is one of the richer countries in Southeastern Asia. A new entity has been developed with similar purposes to the European Union:  ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) that includes ten nations, of which we have visited four:  Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand. 

Each day brings new and exciting adventures, whether it’s learning about the people of a region or experiencing the wildlife that inhabits the region we’re traveling through. 

We all agreed that despite the forced shopping stop we had been delighted with our visit to the Siam Safari and thoroughly enjoyed our time among these gentle giant animals!  It was a thrilling experience to be able to interact with them, and we’re very pleased that we will have another opportunity in Colombo, Sri Lanka, our next port, to encounter elephants in a different surrounding. 

We are now well into the seas of the Indian Ocean.  I’m not sure why I never thought of whales and dolphins inhabiting these waters; maybe it’s because I’m not at all familiar with the Indian Ocean.  But we’ve had two sea days in the waters of the ocean and both days have brought us entertainment for our dining pleasure as what seemed like dozens of dolphins arching and diving and in some cases flipping and spinning as if to bring us greetings.  

We continue to enjoy our Explorations Speakers.  What a wonderful surprise when one of the speakers was our favorite speaker on our Voyage of the Vikings, Danny Catt.  He is a naturalist and photographer who gives very interesting talks with (needless to say) beautiful wildlife photography!  I can’t remember how many times I commented while we were in South America and Antarctica that I wished Danny Catt was on board so I could ask him about a particular bird or animal that I’d seen!   After several scientists and naturalists, we once again have a historian as a speaker – Ambassador Krishna Rajan, who has given us a very interesting perspective on the Southeast Asian countries, some of which we have visited on this cruise.  One comment that particularly interested us was that Thailand is one of the richer countries in Southeastern Asia. A new entity has been developed with similar purposes to the European Union:  ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) that includes ten nations, of which we have visited four:  Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand. 

Each day brings new and exciting adventures, whether it’s learning about the people of a region or experiencing the wildlife that inhabits the region we’re traveling through. 

BT