I wake up early on my first day — as soon as the light begins to sneak through the tiny cracks in the wood, and the more than 100 dogs begin to bark their “hellos” to their cat neighbors and the elephants start making their noises out my window. I’m too excited to sleep anyContinue reading “I’m not full of it, I’m shoveling it”
Category Archives: Asia
Blessings from a shaman
It starts as a drizzle after dinner … a soft pitter patter on the roof of the main area at the Park. It’s dark, so we can’t really see the full effect. But, we can hear it. Within minutes, that light little drizzle gives way to sheets of rain, dumping from the sky. As weContinue reading “Blessings from a shaman”
A room at the (primitive) Palace
I don’t expect much when Jack hands me the key to my room, a hut in the Palace complex. On the Elephant Nature Park’s Web site, it states the toilets are squat and the showers are Thai (meaning buckets to rinse, no shower heads), so when I walk the few feet to my lodging forContinue reading “A room at the (primitive) Palace”
Floating elephant poo and other awesomeness
“Ele poo! Look out, ele poo!” Jack screams as we wade into the rushing water, elephants at our side. Sure enough, there are huge balls of elephant poo floating by our legs. It’s like the elephants just hold it until they hit their own, big rushing river toilet. Before we get into the water, weContinue reading “Floating elephant poo and other awesomeness”
The Thailand Foodgasm: The ultimate Thai buffet
The lunch bell rings at Elephant Nature Park at noon. Had we really already been there a few hours? The time so far has flown by. And, while I love that the experiences were that supremely amazing thus far, I don’t want the week to fly by. I want to savor every single moment and feelContinue reading “The Thailand Foodgasm: The ultimate Thai buffet”
Feeding elephants
Within an hour of arriving to the park, I have met my first elephants. Our van is the first to arrive at Elephant Nature Park, so we drop our bags, and sit down. But, it is hard for any of us to sit still. There are elephants. Everywhere. Not just the actual animals, either. ThereContinue reading “Feeding elephants”
Tuk tuks, red cabs … and elephants: arriving to Elephant Nature Park
The drive from Chiang Mai to the Elephant Nature Park is nothing short of surreal: from urban to highway to jungle in about an hour. And from cars and tuk tuks to elephants and ox on the side of the road. We start our first day as volunteers, 23 of us ranging in age fromContinue reading “Tuk tuks, red cabs … and elephants: arriving to Elephant Nature Park”
Sunday Night Market madness
The Sunday Night Market, in theory, sounds awesome. Cheap shopping. Cheap eats. Stall after stall of items you don’t need, but suddenly have to have. My kinda market. I should have known better. Crowds and D never mix. And yet, there I was, being the cheerleader for Katie, Isabelle and I heading out into theContinue reading “Sunday Night Market madness”
Escape of the Week: The Japanese Toilet Controls
When I landed in Narita for my (surprisingly long, thank you United) stopover, the first thing I did was head to the bathroom. Nine-plus hours on a plane will do that to you. I wanted to take a look at myself in the mirror, see how haggard more than 12 hours of traveling had madeContinue reading “Escape of the Week: The Japanese Toilet Controls”
Hangovers and headaches
I woke up in the morning, curled up in a ball on my bed. I looked to my right, Katie and Isabelle were just waking up, too. My head. I sought to put together the pieces from the previous night. Whiskey and Coke bucket. Chang Beer. Which, apparently, is super strong. Dancing at the reggae bar. AContinue reading “Hangovers and headaches”
D Travels 'Round 