Thailand - The Land of Smiles

Elephants and a Waterfall

Our third day on Koh Samui we took a half day trip to go visit Namuang Waterfall (the second biggest on the island) and go for an elephant trek in the jungle.

We had organized the trip through a local travel agent and so, we were picked up at our hotel at around 9:30 AM. It took about half an hour to drive to the elephant trekking. There was a baby elephant - Tongkul - right at the entrance - he's so cute! We proceeded to the elephant station, which is an elevated platform where you climb onto the elephant.

The first thing that surprised me was that I actually had to step on it's back to get into the seat. Now, I should have expected that, I mean, how else do you get on an elephant? But it immediately made me ask the question I hadn't thought of before - is this humane? I still don't have an answer.

So we sat in our seat on top of this massive 45 year-old male elephant named Sankom, and his trainer sat on his shoulders. We were off. I hope that doesn't sound like we went running through the jungle, because it was quite the opposite. I think our elephant was tired as he was going pretty slow the whole way.

Atop the gassy Sankom.

About two minutes into the jungle he started farting! Which was hilarious - it sounded a bit like a machine gun firing! A couple of minutes later he stopped to relieve himself - number one thankfully! But that was also strange as his entire body sort of vibrated from it. Soon, we were off again, but he wasn't happy and kept trying to wander off the track. Eventually we got to an area where the trainer jumped off and took our picture for us.

Watch you don't fall off!

Ranya was brave enough to get onto Sankom's shoulders and ride him like that the rest of the way. I was too scared of falling off, and I think she soon regretted the idea as well. We stopped a little while later and switched places so I could get my photo taken while sitting on his shoulders.

Ranya on his shoulders.

A little scary, but I did all right!

Then it was over - thirty minutes is all you get.

We had about an hour to explore the area around the trekking, which is where Namuang Waterfall 1 is. You can hike for about a half hour to get to Namuang 2, but we didn't have time... so we made do.

Me at Namuang 1 Waterfall...

It was pretty cool to swim in the pool under the waterfall, but not as amazing as I thought it would be. I liked taking pictures better.

Here's what the sign at the falls says:

"Na Muang 1 Waterfall, Ko Samui District, Surat Thani is a famous falls of Ko Samui. It originates from the mountain in the heart of the island and falls from the cliff 30 - 40 meters high, 20 meters wide. Presently the Royal Forest Department has classified it to be reserved forest park with an area of 10 rai. King Rama V and His Majesty Kimg Bhumibhol Adulyadej used to visit the waterfall. One can enjoy swimming in the big water basin but with care about the rocks under the water since they may cause accidents."

Anyway, here are some pictures. It was nice, but I'm sure NaMuang 2 is much more impressive as it's about twice the height... oh well, something to do next time!

A close(r) up shot of the top of the Falls.

The "perfect" shot - I had to wait for everyone to get out of the way.

After the falls we returned to the parking area which is adjacent to where the elephants hang out when they're not trekking. It's also where the baby elephant gets fed lychee's by every tourist that walks by. For 20 baht you can buy a big bushel of them to feed the elephants.
If you raised your hand in the air, the baby elephant would lift his trunk and open his mouth so you could throw the fruit directly into his mouth! I got a hole in one once. Feeding them was the most fun of the whole experience.

Tongkul - the four-year-old baby elephant... what a cutie!

Ranya feeding Tongkul - he was a hungry/greedy little/big guy!

One of the older elephants eating palm fronds.

One guy was even feeding him water, which was awesome to see. He poured it down the elephants trunk and then the elephant would spray himself a bit and drink the rest. It was awesome. We fed the baby and then realized that the other elephants probably never got anything, so we started throwing lychee's to them too.

Tongkul spraying water.

Then it was back into the mini van and back to our beach for a day of relaxing in the sun. Coming up: Koh Tao and then back to Bangkok... so keep reading!

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On another note, I have only 5 days left in Korea. I'm so excited I could IMPLODE! I have a ton of stuff to do this week, so I'm just trying not to stress about it all. I had a GREAT birthday/leaving party in Busan over the weekend and will write about that very soon.