Hello to everyone back home!!! I hope you all had a safe and wonderful holiday. I've heard about all the snow there. I've lived in Richmond for close to 25 years and this was the first Christmas I have not been home for, so it only seems fitting that it would be the first time is has snowed, ON CHRISTMAS, in three decades. Oh well, what can I do...aside from sitting next to a pool in 97 degree weather with a beer in my hand. I hope you all are enjoying the snow.
We went out one night last week to Beach Road and Walking Street (they are the same road, but no cars or motorbikes can drive on Walking Street after a certain time). The nightlife is quite interesting. The street vendors, the bars, the lights, they all create an atmosphere like nothing I've ever seen before. If you sit at the bar on the street vendors will approach you and attempt to sell you their products. They might sell flowers, watches, paintings, etc. If you are just walking around the neon lights shining down onto the street create a sort of ambiance that cannot be matched anywhere else. Walking Street is definitely one of those things you need to see and experience yourself. Having said that, you now must come out and visit, or at least come over at some point even if it is after we have left.
Beach Road is a more tame form of the nightlife. There are still bars and vendors, but it is more laid back. The cars and motorbikes are also still able to drive down the street, which can make it hard to cross the road (but that holds true all day, everyday). While we were walking around the street we came across something that I have vowed for the longest time to hold and get a picture of while I'm over here. I got a picture with a bush baby.
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| She was so cute. When the lady handed her to me she grabbed my finger and it was a weird feeling. It felt like a newborn baby when they first grab your finger...but she had fur. |
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| Look at those eyes. So cute (and no, not me) |
As Rachel liked to say, "it had people hands." It was a great lead-in to Christmas.
The next day while walking around doing our usual window shopping we went into one of the malls. Mind you, it is Christmas Eve and we still hadn't found a tree for our condo. Well, long story short, we found a tree (well Rachel spotted them). It is 3 ft tall and was only 150 Baht ($5). I love Thailand. After we bought our tree we ended walking around a little bit doing a little more window shopping before heading back home. Imagine the scenario; sweating bullets, in a mall Christmas Eve, walking around with a 3 ft long box. And then, if that weren't enough, I got hot and wanted to stop and sit for a bit so we stopped at a small restaurant and bar, with our 3 ft tree. I walked roughly 3 miles all around the city with that tree. That is how committed we were to getting a tree this year.
That night we made our own special chili and the next morning we made French toast. They were both yummy and we plan on making them again quite soon (mainly because they are cheap to make and make leftovers)
That afternoon we went over to Shirley and Allen's house to have dinner, but first (as any holiday should be spent) we sat out by the pool and had drinks. Now, I know what most of you are thinking, but it wasn't snowing here like it was back home. It was quite nice and I avoided, yet, another sunburn.
That evening we went to dinner. It was a nice, quaint place with a buffet. The atmosphere was like that which I had never seen. There were older men wearing pink and blue and green paper hats, people were exploding party poppers, and this was all taking place at the tables where people were eating. That's right, confetti right into the wine. Oh well, it was all in good fun and everyone was having a great time. Rachel even made a new friend. He was about 65-70 years old, owned the restaurant, and said that if we left her behind he wouldn't charge us for dinner. He then told us he would be right back with our check and that was the last we saw of him.
The next day we had made plans to go and pay a visit to the Crocodile Farm. This is something Rachel and I had been looking forward to for several weeks and it was finally happening. When we arrived there was a Crocodile statue greeting us at the entrance.
As soon as you enter the park there is a beautiful garden with all kinds of stone statues. Some are actually petrified wood. There are flowers, trees and ponds covering every inch around the walkway and it is just breath taking.
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| There is a pond just in front. |
Once you have had a chance to take in the beauty and walk to the left, this is the sight you will come to, and I will tell you it is a dramatic transition (and this was my second time visiting the crocodile farm).
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| Many of them had their mouths open. I can't remember why but I think it has something to do with regulating their body temperature. Whatever it is it was somewhat creepy. |
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| He just looks mean, doesn't he? |
I’ve only showed you several crocs, but if you can, imagine walking over four or five pits of crocodiles. I think one of the main attractions they have there is allowing the guests to feed the crocs. I’m not talking about feeding the smaller ones because let’s face it, that just wouldn’t be as much fun. I’m talking about the biggest crocodiles on the farm. Standing on the pier over the pond you can just see the beasts lurking in the water.
Now, how you feed them is not your typical food in a cup and throw it in the water. No no, they tie a whole chicken on a string to a bamboo pole and let you dangle it over the railing above roughly 15-20 crocs. It's intense and gives you a slight adrenaline rush.
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| There are only a few in this picture, but as soon as the crowd came they started swimming from all different directions. |
We were not able to get any action pictures, but we managed to get a video of it. I'll try and put that up soon.
They have other attractions at the farm, but the one that is probably the most intense is the crocodile show. This is just like it sounds. A man enters a pool area filled with crocodiles and starts pulling them around and doing all sorts of crazy and insane tricks and stunts that no sane human being would think to attempt. So naturally, I tried to jump in with him (in that not really sort of way). He put his hand in their mouths, he slid down the tile strait towards them and basically was just off his rocker. I took about 4 min worth of video and will post one (probably on Facebook), but i got one great picture I want to share with you. This picture will show you how truly insane this man has to be.
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| The stupid things men do. |
Now, the whole reason we even came to the Crocodile Farm in the first place was because I told Rachel this is where I saw elephants last time I was in Thailand. She was so excited when I told her we were going to see the elephants.
We started off by feeding them. You were able to buy a bunch of bananas and walk up to the elephants and they would take them right out of your hand. It was so much fun.
I tried to pet one on the trunk and he would put his trunk out there, but he was only trying to get the rest of the bananas. Once he figured that out he shied away from me, until i brought more back.
They also had two baby elephants. They were about as tall as we are and they were so adorable. We got some of the cutest pictures with them, in which we were laughing in just about all of them.
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| They made a nice little heart shape for us. They were sweet. |
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| I got a kiss from one of the babies. I have to admit, this was the weirdest kiss I've ever had. |
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| Judging by Rachel's face I think it's safe to say this is the weirdest kiss she's ever had as well. |
I don't know how many of you have ever been kissed by an elephant, but think if you put a vacuum (turned on) on your cheek and then pulled it away. It was like that except wet. Since we've been in Thailand it has been one of our favorite excursions and the memories will remain with us forever.
Well I hope you enjoyed catching up with our adventures here in Thailand. We managed to survive being away for the holidays so you can expect more blog posts and Facebook pictures in the not so distant future. I would like to wish everyone a Happy and safe New Year. Take care everyone and I'll talk to ya again in 2011.
Cheers,
Cush
