Of Elephants and Opium

Saturday was, essentially, one great elephant extravaganza.

It started with a Dad and teenager joining us for breakfast:

And then it was on to the Elephant Camp for our Mahout training.  Meet Tongkum and Bhuma!

Having learnt (I will not say "mastered" some basic commands- "Pai" (forward) "Ben" (turn) "How" (stop) and "Soak" (backwards)) it was off for a trek up to Camp Peak.  A truly amazing experience - particularly noting how carefully they chose their footing (it was a wee bit muddy after all the rain!) and determination when they found a particularly juicy looking patch of foliage (specifically bamboo) to have a munch, despite the Mahouts' best endeavours!  Some truly spectacular views down to the delta and across to the rolling hills of Burma also! Apologies for the number of photos that follow - although this is only a small selection!

Once back at camp, it was time to head down to the Elephant Pond to give the elephants their well deserved bath  (Angus was such a master Mahout by this point that his Mahout had jumped off and just left him to it!)

Rather sweetly, Tongkum decided to reciprocate.  Several times....

Then it was back to the Burma Bar to bid farewell to our new friends

After lunch,  we took the boat back to the Four Seasons pier for a trip to the Hall of Opium Museum. Really interesting oversight of the history of the opium trade, problems it caused for the Golden Triangle, and the efforts by the Royal Family to drive the opium trade out of Thailand.

We were also really lucky in the weather for our boat ride to and from the camp: glorious sunshine!

 (View of the camp from the Four Seasons pier)

 (Approaching camp)

(Our tent)

After a quick shower and relax, it was time to head to the Burma Bar for the now seemingly obligatory sundowners.  Just as we left our tent, the heavens opened!  A mildly damp dash to the Bar later, the downpour that followed meant we had the place to ourselves for not only sunset (a bit washed out at first - but then a little break in the heavens!) but pretty much the next hour!

After another excellent dinner, and with the physical exertions of the morning making themselves known, it was time to head back to the tent, with all zips fastened and ensconsed in mosquito net, to be lulled to sleep by the cicadas, rain, and occasional call from an apparently monkey-imitating bird.