Orphans & Elephants

A weird start with a car accident on the slippery Blueberry Paulsom pass from Crescent Valley to Vancouver. Then a strange 1 1/2 hour delay at Vancouver International airport. Then an odd turn about with the airplane mid flight due to a generator failing.  Apparently a rare event yet the pilot figured it might be best to turn and head back to Vancouver rather than fly for a day over the ocean on one less generator. Perhaps a good decision.

Now I am in Korea waiting for my flight to Chiang Mai a day late yet in one piece. It actually felt good to reboot here. At night I saw a documentary that highlighted a great Center in Cambodia called "Homeland" that I am now keen on seeing. It helps street kids, children that were human trafficked for the sex trade, and kids dealing with HIV. Wow.

I am also keen on volunteering at an orphanage yet we shall see which place allows foreigners to help out. I have also contacted the Elephant Nature Park to volunteer working with their elephants. This center works with abused and neglected elephants. A lot of them were hurt during their logging careers and some also discarded because they are no longer needed.  The park also have a heap of displaced dogs and cat there that they brought after the floods in Bangkok a couple years ago.  If you leave your door or window open you wake up to meows and a wet dog nose on your finger tips so my travel pal, who volunteered there recently, tells me.

I adore elephants and can't wait to see my favorite one in the funky town of Pai. I believe her name is "Chitty", yet I thought the owner said "Sweety", so I dubbed her that. The woman that cares for her really loves her and only allows Chitty to take people for two rides a day so she is not over worked like many others.

Gillian & I on Chitty (aka Sweety)

She loves to play in the river and that is what my friend and I did with her. She bucked us off, we got back on. She bucked us off and we got back on etc etc. I think Sweety just thought of us as two pesky monkeys yet she enjoyed herself as much as us. That was my favorite time in Thailand actually.

She was relentless with us



The treehouse - I stayed at the top



I stayed at a treehouse just beside where she lived and she walked by my place every day. I would go out and give her bananas when she was done her walk to the river with a new set of monkeys on her back. She remembered me and warmed up to me. She can seem aloof and independent, yet when one likes bananas . . .

Thanking her for the ride

She also likes corn stalks.  I also really appreciated the way the mahout treated her. He never hit her and walked beside us singing, smiling and then laughing at out antics in the river. What a blast. The treehouse was pretty cool to crash at too. And Pai is one funky town man. I look forward to revisiting there.