Another side of Thailand..

After three blissful days on Phi Phi Island, we took the ferry over to Phuket for the last full day of our Thailand trip. I found an excursion leaving from Phuket that explored the Khao Sok National Park and included an elephant ride and canoeing down the river. After relaxing for a good portion of the trip, it was time for a little adventure.

We were picked up from our hotel early Friday morning. After a couple of hours of driving on the tour bus (with a guide originally from Amsterdam talking to us about life in Thailand along the way), we arrived at the park. The guide warned us that there had been an accident along one of the roads that leads into the park. Apparently part of the road actually crumbled! It was crazy. Luckily nobody was driving on it at the time. I was just a bit nervous the rest of the time we drove through the park.



Our first stop was by the river where we picked up our canoes. We enjoyed a leisurely hour long ride down the river and took in the most amazing scenery. The mountains were so beautiful. It was very calm and relaxing. The water was calm so it wasn't anything like white water rafting. Just a relaxing float down the river.






Floating down a river really works up an appetite so we stopped for a delicious lunch after we finished. The food was amazing! Also, amazingly, I think only one dish has pork in it. We briefly considered moving to Thailand from Hong Kong just for the food.
After lunch, we were ready for the most exciting part of the trip that I had been anticipating for weeks. We were going to ride on an elephant. Daniel and I climbed up high on a wooden platform and boarded Fluffy. I felt like we were leaning a bit once we were on the elephant and looking at pictures we are definitely hanging off to the side a tad. But no worries...Our friend kept us safe as he walked us through the jungle, stopping occasionally to eat some leaves and branches and once to chat with the other elephants. There was a couple on our trip that had two young daughters (pictured below). It was so cute to watch them on their elephants. We don't have a picture of her, but there was one woman on the trip had the most entertaining elephant. He just wanted to do his own thing. Good for him! He kept taking her off the path and walking her into tree branches. It was pretty funny. Luckily she had a good sense of humor about it.





We had such a great time! At the end of the ride, we were able to feed the elephants. We bought a basket of fruit and loved watching them gulp down half a watermelon in one bite. This was probably my favorite part of the day. Check it out!


We had a really great time on the excursion. I would definitely recommending booking something like this while in Thailand. Our vacation ended up being a perfect blend of relaxation and new and exciting experiences. We can't wait to travel again. Next up... Australia!