The elephant camp went far beyond our expectations. We arrived on time for their 9:40 show, with time to buy a bunch of bananas and sugarcane to feed a few of the many trunks swimming in the air looking for treats. The show was fun for kids of all ages (Truth being that Brittany and Brian probably had more fun than Gabriella!) We watched the elephants hula hoop with their trunks, paint pictures, lift logs, and kick soccer balls around. These beasts are beautiful and could totally ham up the show! Before and after the show, they would wander around the premises playing in the river, eating brush, and giving rides to the tourists. I have to come back here with Lexie in order to have someone who will ride an elephant with me...
A few blocks down the road lays the Hillside Conservation Center (or something). This one-stop-hillside village-shop holds many families (mostly woman) who wear traditional garb and bust out traditional handicraft work in front of your very tourist eyes. It was VERY cool, but it made me think how I need to come back and do the one week trek from village to village for the real deal! Here we saw young women working on looms, primitive machinery that "smushes" rice, straw huts, suckling pigs, wandering roosters, and entertained tourists. The single road through the "village" brought you through many booths vending similar merchandise, and the grand finale was the hill tribe women who still entertain the tradition to lengthen their necks with gold coils. It was fascinating and easy all at the same time.
We followed Mr. Chan's plan to eat lunch at the Tiger Farm. We have since learned to not listen to all of his suggestions. The food was not good and we wouldn't even think about entering the overpriced trap of tourism they were offering.
We wanted to be "less tourist-y" so we told Mr. Chan to bring us to the day market! Well... people were feeling stressed out within five minutes of exiting the van. Narrow walkways tight with people selling crappy knickknacks, weird western style clothing, and disturbing snacks. We all got over that place real quick and jumped in the car requesting to head home :)
After several gin and tonics, we piled into a vehicle that combined the feel of a tuk-tuk with the look of a... mini fire engine? Two benches facing each other with an open ended back. The 15k trip took a bit longer than expected, but the food and ambiance were well worth the trip : ) Our New Years Eve dinner was fantastic- we ate, drank, and were merry! After dinner we went home for a big glass of cheap sparkling and the new year crept in as we were all asleep in our beds.
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