Getting close to Elephants, feeding monkeys and being left behind at a monks cave...

Riding on an elephant is awesome and weird. You are so high up on this giant animal. And imagining that people really used to trek long distances on this majestic animals, is amazing. Toughing their skin, feels so unknown too. It's so rough that I do not think ours feels a thing when I rub her back. So we are lead to a waterfall, where the elephants get some rest and we get to jump from the cliffs into the cold water or just dip into it like that.

Nicole and I on our elephant

Riding along

Group picture at the waterfall

Feeding our elephant after riding it

Leaving the elephants behind, we are back at Smiley's for a while, till we go to see some rubber trees. It's really interesting how they cut the trees for the rubber and stuff. Weird to be kind of a rubber farmer. :)

Posing with corn in front of
the amazing view of Khao Sok National Park

Ya showing us how to cut the rubber trees

Next stop: Monkey feeding next to a temple. These monkeys are so cute. How they peel fruits ... so weird. I am having some mean thoughts though...wish I had some onions with me... we used to freak the monkeys at the zoo back home out with them. As they start to peel them and then their eyes start crying and they start wiping them with their onion fingers.... I know...not nice...but so much fun...

Laura feeding a monkey

Sanna battling for the banana with a monkey

Anyways, at some time, there is this monk coming up to me. Waving to me, that I should follow. So I do...well, I know u should not go with unknown men, but it's a monk!! I can't say no, can I?

He shows me his cave and talks to me ... in Thai... so I do not understand a word. He is giving a stone to me...??...don't know why...then he starts talking again and hands me some paper and a pen. He wants me to write down my name and address.

I start it...and suddenly I feel crawling stuff on my feet...I am standing in the middle of a millions of ants!!!! Aaaaahh...I try to get them off, but I do not wanna kill them too obvious, as the monk might get mad then. So I try it kind of slow and these little fuckers are biting my feet...aaaahhh. I finally jump out of them and the monk offers me a chair. (I wonder how he can sleep in here with all those ants around)

I write down my stuff and he hands me a picture of him with something written in the back...in Thai... so I say bye and get out of the cave to get back to the others...well...they are gone...that's hilarious...I got left behind in a monks cave...so I start walking up the street in the direction of our place. I hitchhike the rest of the way on a scooter with a guy, who tells me he works at a place near Smiley's.

I get off the scooter at Smiley's, our group leader sees me, and his face is just so worth this whole thing, when he is like "Where are you coming from?" Wow, they seriously still didn't realize.

(PS: The Smiley's family tells me, that the monk wrote his address on the picture and the stones, he gave to me, were presents)

The picture the monk gave to me of himself