The next morning Hero Material and I got up early for our taxi. We were a little worried that the driver might show up late, but he came on time. And to make it even better, he spoke great English and knew a lot about tourist attractions, etc. The best thing about it was that his rate was very reasonable, and Hero Material and I could do the tour leisurely, on our own schedule.

(FYI — if you want to hire him for a private tour in Chiang Mai, his name is Manop, he works for Chiang Mai Airport Taxi, his car number is 11, and his work contact is 08-1885-1563 [Don't forget to punch in the country code for Thailand first if you're calling from overseas!] or if you prefer, you can email him at nopcm02 at hotmail dot com.)

Our biggest concern — now that the taxi thing was squared away — was that we didn't want to go to an elephant camp that had abused animals. I heard some horror stories from a British couple in Phuket. The wife said the elephants she saw were so abused that they tried to beat their own trainers! Ack.

The elephant camp we chose was Maesa.

There are the pictures from the entrance. The portraits you see below are the king and queen of Thailand from way back when they were still young.

As we walked in, we saw elephants bathing. That's how the show begins, BTW. They looked so happy in the water.

Here, you see people collecting elephant poo. Per Manop, elephant poo is very fibrous, so the camp recycles that into paper. (So the next time you think you're a shitty writer, now you can have the perfect paper! Perfect for shitty first drafts!)

Along the way, you can see an art gallery. It displays paintings by elephants at the camp.

We went to the main arena for the show and waited. It takes a while for all the elephants to show up because they move in a leisurely fashion. They were very quiet though. You don't hear any thuds or anything like that, which was kind of surprising.

The people you see on the elephants are called mahouts. They're trainers and caretakers. Elephants do not like to deal with people they don't know or like, so it takes a while to earn the animals' trust and become a mahout.

Finally the show got started. You see how they march in with a welcome banner and all the elephants are linked, trunk to tail.

This baby was also part of the show.

Here's a very short video clip I made with my digital camera. This is a kind of elephant musical, featuring hoops and harmonicas.

Many elephants were very playful. They sometimes stole their mahouts' hats.

Elephants are also excellent soccer players. Look at this goalie posing!

Here are short video clips of elephant soccer!

And the super goalie!

As you can hear, the Europeans in the audience got REALLY excited during the soccer portion of the show. :D

Afterward the elephants painted some pictures for us.

Then to thank some of their hard-working mahouts, elephants gave a Thai massage…

(No, he wasn't mortally wounded…just bowing LOL)

The dart throwing competition: Who will prevail? An elephant or human children?

(Actually they tied…)

Finally the elephants built a wall of sorts. You can see how strong they are! (FYI — they were all fully grown elephants…no babies.)

And look how triumphant they look after they're finished. :wub:

After the show, the elephants came closer to say hello to the audience.

You can see me and Hero Material with the elephants.

This elephant liked us a lot because he got tons of bananas from Hero Material. HM bought a bunch of bananas to give to the elephants, but he held them too close to one, so the closest one got all of them. Oy…

We were a little thirsty and tired, so we had some coconut juice then went off into the jungle on an elephant.

Look at the caravan!

Elephants don't move very fast, so it wasn't unstable or anything, but it can get a little scary if you don't like the height.

As your elephant carries you around, it wants to eat. Well, the problem is that sometimes the grass it wants is on the downhill slope…! Ours actually tried to go down the slope instead of following the trail. So the mahout had to scold him some. (But he never hit the elephant!)

Another pic of us on the trail…

The view of the elephant camp:

The final stop was a stream. That's where elephants can drink water; because it's so hot and humid, they need to cool off, rehydrate…and bathe. But you gotta be careful because they tend not to think about the fact that the humans on their back don't want to get wet!

After we got done with our ride, the elephant lunch time started. Some of them also got a nice cool shower.

We went to the nursery to feed the elephants there.

You can see the mother and the baby. He was so young that he couldn't eat any regular food, so we didn't get to feed him, though his mom ate a lot of bananas.

Afterward, we went to several huts with exhibits. Here you can see the tool that mahouts use to control elephants. It's basically used to tug at the elephants, but some jerks apparently use it to hit them in the head…! Grr.

Then we went to see the record-setting painting by elephants. We weren't allowed to take pictures there (kind of a like an art museum…), but you can read about it here.

We also bought some souvenirs. We don't tend to buy them much, but since Maesa obviously treated its elephants nicely and we wanted them to continue to be cared for in the manner they deserve…

I'm breaking the log for this day into multiple sections because there are too many pictures, etc. After the camp, we went to the Tiger Kingdom, where Spicy Sausage awaits! Coming up next! :)

Hero Material and I made our way to the airport — this time Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort arranged for it — and got there in one piece and with plenty of time to spare. Phuket airport is one of the worst I've ever been to, alas. It's nowhere near as nice as Bangkok, Incheon or Narita.

One thing I suggest that people do is eat before boarding. This time we flew economy, and the food was horrid. I can't stand mayonnaise — I hate the smell of it, the color, the taste of it, the texture — and it was in all their food. So I couldn't eat anything. By the time we landed in Chiang Mai, I was extremely hungry and was getting a nasty headache from the low blood sugar.

Chiang Mai airport is much better than the one in Phuket. The Airport Taxi company was very good, and we were able to get to Le Meridien Chiang Mai for just 120 baht (less than $4).

I really liked the main entrance.

And the elephant fountain just looks awesome.

The hotel appeared very new and modern.

And of course, our room (the most important thing!):

Le Meridien Chiang Mai also gave us a nice platter of fruit with a memo from the general manager congratulating us on our marriage. I have no idea how they knew I love eating. LOL. Fruit in Thailand tastes awesome. Crisp and juicy and sweet. *bliss*

The hotel also has a lovely pool.

Since I was starving, we decided to go out and walk around and find a place to eat. This is what it looks like outside our hotel.

After we ate something — I think it was some kind of curry or whatever…I can't even remember to be honest because I was that hungry, and my head hurt too much. But afterward, I felt so much better, so Hero Material and I decided to walk around some. We found some interesting street shops.

And look what we found!

He's only four years old. We got to feed him some sugarcane. He wasn't chained, and his owners didn't use sticks or anything to make him move around, and it was obvious that he wasn't being abused. It cost me 20 baht to feed this little sweetie. :wub:

After that, we got a foot massage at a place called Let's Relax, on the second floor of the big McD building you saw above.

Around 9-ish or so, we returned to the hotel and asked our concierge about going to the elephant camp. We thought about doing a group tour, but decided against it because we didn't want to be at the mercy of whatever schedule the tour company decided on. The concierge recommended that we take a taxi out there. He made our reservation and everything. Yay!

Day 6 — (BIG) elephants here we come…! W00t!

On Day 3 Hero Material and I got up super early for our breakfast (again at the buffet) and went to the lobby to go to the dock. The shuttle was actually on time. Yay! And the weather was fantastic — sunny and beautiful albeit hot.

First we went to Ko Khai Nai for snorkeling. The island is beautiful.

And the big rock below looks like a Godzilla head:

The fish around the island don't seem afraid of people at all. The picture below was taken in the shallow water (shin-deep) with my digital camera. They come very close to the shore.

Afterward, we went to Tham Lod caves. They're sea caves, and you can see the beautiful view inside. They're almost like a room within a room or something.

Here's the same cave picture but I'm looking upward.

Another cave — this is accessible by kayak only. (Or maybe you can swim if you feel brave…)

And a beautiful cliff —

Ko Pannyi island's floating village — this is where we had lunch. It's a Muslim village, so we had to wear shorts and shirt, etc. to look modest. The waitresses on the island were in a full veil, etc. I have no idea how they do that in such heat and humidity. Oy…

And finally…the James Bond island!!!!!

Here's Hero Material bringing me a big rock. I mean, I asked him to get me a rock, but I guess he didn't get the note that I prefer the sparkly kind…

We were completely exhausted by the time we came back to the hotel. Besides, another storm hit us hard. So we decided to stay in and try their buffet. It was pricey — about $30 / person plus 10% service charge and 7% tax, beverage not included. But the food was very delish…!

And the buffet came with entertainment. We had dancers…

…and an Elvis Impersonator… (It took me a while to realize that he was supposed to be Elvis…)

And a man/woman singing thingie…

I spent the next day (Day 4) reading in bed because I felt exhausted. I think I was dehydrated from the tour and all. It doesn't feel that hot because we were on a speed boat, but the Thai climate really sucks all the moisture out of you. I should've had more water. Oy…

But I got to finish Kresley Cole's If You Deceive. Which was excellent.

Day 5 — Chiang Mai…! With elephants! Tigers! Pandas! Coming soon!

After a good night's sleep, Hero Material and I decided to get some grub and check out the pools and the private beach.

This is the view from our breakfast buffet table.

And our superb breakfast food.

The breakfast buffet was very good. It's pricey — about 600 baht / person (1 USD = 30 baht) plus 10% service charge and 7% tax, but worth it. The resort is completely enclosed, and Hero Material and I didn't want to trek out for cheaper places to eat.

Also restaurants around the pools were not open for breakfast except for a cafe. So if you didn't want the poolside buffet, you were stuck with the cafe.

After we gorged ourselves on omelets, sausages, bacon, pancakes, fruit and so on, we decided to walk around the compound. The landscapes were impeccable and well-maintained.

The private beach was gorgeous. Pristine with beautiful white sand and crystal clear water. It was actually fairly warm. Well, compared to the frigid water of the North Atlantic anyway, which is where we went swimming this past summer. :)

By the beach was a giant chess board. The below is Hero Material posing victoriously as he check-mated his (imaginary) opponent in just two moves.

Hero Material and I chilled out at the beach for about four hours. He went for a swim; I just dozed off and enjoyed my cold coconut. Afterward we decided to make an appointment for a night-time massage because the resort spa offered 30% off if you come after 9 p.m. We chose Le Stone (the spa's hot stone massage course) for that night at 9:15 p.m. then went to the concierge for two things:

1. to charter a boat for a tour of Phang Nga Bay for snorkeling and checking out the “James Bond island” (Ko Tapu)
2. to make a dinner appointment at Acqua, which is supposed to be one of the best Italian restaurants in Patong beach, so we wanted to try it

The concierge told us that the chartered tour was sold out because their private boat was unavailable until April 1, which was when we were scheduled to leave Phuket. The concierge recommended that we try a travel office (on the premises) for a third-party tour. So Hero Material went there to arrange for it, leaving me to deal with the second item.

The reservation was super easy. The concierge also arranged for our transportation to the restaurant.

Alas, the taxi never came.

Around 5:00 p.m. a killer storm hit the area.

Obviously this meant the taxi couldn't come on time. We waited twenty minutes past our appointed time then canceled. Seriously, dude…! It's so hard to go from Japan where everyone's super punctual — nothing short of a typhoon or massive earthquake can make anybody late for anything — to Phuket where obviously it's okay to be late. I was looking around to hear the PA announce, “Dear honorable customers, we have no words to describe how sorry we are to cause you this unimaginable and intolerable inconvenience.” *sigh*

Since we refused to go hungry on our honeymoon, we decided to eat at the resort and went to its Thai restaurant Wang Warin.

We ordered their recommended Thai course. It was superb, not too spicy and with ample portions. We were totally stuffed.

One of the head honchos came by to ask us about our dining experience. We told him it was excellent. The service was good, and the food was just right. I have no idea how authentic it was — hey, I'm not Thai and don't know much about its cuisine — but I liked it. :)

But another disappointment awaited us when we returned to our room. The spa called us and said it couldn't do Le Stone for two because one of the masseuses was unavailable. The receptionist offered us another package, but we were set on Le Stone, so she rescheduled us for the next night at 9:00 p.m.

Though Hero Material and I were unhappy at first, we decided that maybe it was for the best. Since we would be snorkeling and so on the next day, maybe it'd be nice to have an eighty-minute massage at the end of the day. :)

Our third day in Thailand coming soon — James Bond island and snorkeling…!

Hello world!

Hero Material and I are back from our honeymoon to Thailand. It was very lovely, very hot and very interesting.

We flew out of Fukuoka. Random trivia for those with an adolescent humor psychosis: the three letter code for the airport is FUK. I still think SUX (Sioux airport) is the worst though, since it not only has the suckiest code but there aren't that many things to do in town.

Oh, then we flew to Bangkok. (Yeah yeah, make fun of it! Let's get the juvenile giggles out of the way. *wink*)

Then to Phuket. (I know it reads like a naughty little place, but it's really pronounced as Poo-Cat.)

Fukuoka airport was medium-sized but not that hectic. The Japanese really know how to move people around as efficiently as possible. Our flight to Bangkok was very comfortable. The cabin attendants served us champagne, so Hero Material and I toasted to our honeymoon. :) Then we watched Inglorious Bastards. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped, but still was entertaining. I napped a little bit afterward because I was tired from having to get up so early for the trip.

Getting around Bangkok airport was a bit messy, although it's a beautiful airport. There aren't enough gates, so they have to bus you to your planes, etc. It does get very energy-sapping, esp. with the 40 degree Celsius / 100 degree Fahrenheit humidity smothering you. But if you have the lounge privilege, Thai Air has a very nice one in the domestic terminal that overlooks a beautiful garden. It's very restful there, especially with the free wifi.

It was also nice that Thai Air upgraded me to First Class on our final flight to Phuket, though they didn't upgrade Hero Material, so he had to stay in Business Class. It was amazing how many kids were in business class, but from what I could gather, Thai Air overbooked economy, so they had to bump some people up a class or two. It was only one hour long, so Hero Material and I didn't mind too much about being separated. He also got to sit in the second level — it was one of those really big Boeings with two levels, the upper one being all business class.

Phuket airport was just insane, full of people yelling at you for your money business — taxis, mini-buses / vans, tours, etc. It was completely overwhelming. I really wished the concierge had given me better information on how to get to the resort when I'd called them. They just told me to use whatever transportation was available at the airport, which totally didn't work out, and I find it hard to believe they didn't know how hectic it is at the airport.

Here are my tips:

1. Do not use the airport mini-bus / van service unless you know they're going to leave immediately. Else you'll be standing outside for a long time. Like Hero Material and me. In the sweltering heat. I thought I'd melt.
2. Also be careful who you hire because even the taxis which you've paid for in advance will try to take you to some tour offices, etc. Many taxi drivers get a cut of the packages, etc. you buy.

Hero Material and I booked a four-day stay at at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort. HM loved it, but I thought it was just okay. It may be that I've been spoiled by years of traveling and staying at nice hotels (HM is a bit more protean), but I honestly thought Le Meridien Phuket would be a lot better based on its nightly rate and category (Starwood Category 4).

(a complimentary fruit basket from Le Meridien)

The room looks a little old and basically needs a face-lift. The housekeeping's slow, and you should expect to wait about thirty minutes before your request, no matter how simple, can be fulfilled. We also had multiple issues there that required them to send in maintenance our first night. The shower door refused to stay closed (this problem was never fixed). Then the knob broke in the shower, so I couldn't shut it off (the frugal in me cringed at the amount of water being wasted!). Then I found incredibly tiny ants (this too was never corrected even though the housekeeping and maintenance supposedly did whatever they were supposed to do to get rid of the little insects).

Hero Material and I showered, had room service (which was very tasty, albeit pricey) and slept like the dead. We were too tired to do anything after 12-plus hours of travel. We didn't even bother checking out the pools or the grounds or the beach or anything like that. At least the bed was very very comfy.

Our second day in Thailand is coming soon with more pictures. :) Feel free to leave any comments or questions.

Last night between 8:20 p.m. and 9:20 p.m. Buttercup passed away.

She'd been sick for a while, and even though we gave her medicine and so on, she just couldn't get healthy. She curled inside her favorite yogurt cup and just stopped breathing.

Her death was less of a shock to me than it was with Shiro's. In a way I kinda knew that Buttercup's chances weren't very good when she lost a third of her weight very fast and couldn't gain it back after a month. Her haggard appearance reminded me of Shiro's last days.

Hero Material and I buried Buttercup under a willow tree next to the one Shiro's resting under.

Good bye, Buttercup.