Monks and Monkeys

Yesterday I went on an elephant ride. It was 1000 Baht for the morning, during which we also visited a temple and fed giant catfish. The transportation to and from our hotel was included, as was fish food, and a snack of water and pineapple. Of course they still sold us a basket of bananas for 100 Baht to feed to the elephants and the professional photos of us on the elephants were 200 Baht each. They tried to sell us two different ones but I only bought one. The elephant ride was thrilling. Most of the time we sat on a sort of saddle-seat but we were able to ride it bare-back for photographs. It is very scary when elephants walk downhill... it feels like you will come toppling off.
The tour took us through the farmstead of our guides. It was hard to see how they lived, in pieced together shacks with no walls. As we walked by on the elephants I was able to see a baby sleeping in a hammock, and a paddock full of cattle that were all skin and bones. They had chickens also and there were many dogs because there was a dog shelter nearby. I even saw a white cat sitting on a rock. There was lots of construction going on to fix the statues of the nearby temple. One statue had all scaffolding around it. After we trekked out of the farmstead we went through the jungle. I saw some bright red beetles and some trees with huge thorns on them. We walked down through a pond.
When we went to see the catfish some were 3 feet long and there were other fish too. Some were really ugly. There were turtles and a lot of hungry street-dogs which we fed some of the fish-food to.









Today I decided to go see the monkeys at Monkey Mountain. I was given bad directions but a motor-taxi picked me up and took me the 8km. The motor-taxi driver was crazy. He drove in the wrong lane to get around traffic and laughed like an adrenaline-junkie, which probably was not too far off the mark. Still, it is safer than the van-taxis and makes me less motion-sick. I am yet to ride in a Tuk-Tuk (3-wheeled taxi). The ride was pricey but still a good deal by North American standards. I spent about 2-3 hours taking photos of monkeys and visiting the 2 temples on the mountain. I then began the long and arduous journey back to the hotel. The motor-taxi driver had suggested I go along the beach, but I was unable to find a way down there. It is about a 7-8 km hike back to the area of Hua Hin where my hotel is, much confused by the fact that the sign will claim that 5 streets in a row are all Road 88 and the like. I need to get to Road 46. The heat was intense and I stopped at a 7-11 (which are plentiful in Thailand) and bought a 2 Liter of water. The whole trek took about an hour and a half and caused me lots of looks from the locals. Normally someone like me would take a taxi, I guess. The roads were quite safe except that some of the power-lines hung down low over the sidewalk.
I was relieved when it rained for a bit, but soon it was hot again. I thank my SPF 60 for only getting a sunburn the size of a loonie on my arm where the sunscreen must have worn off because of my watch. My feet are very sore and I am thinking tomorrow I will check out the used bookstore a few blocks down or perhaps get a massage.