Surin Elephant Festival

Although lots of awesome travel stories have happened previous to this one... since I am all alone now I figure this story takes priority since I have shared it with no one. Until now. I will be sure to try to catch up on the other stories soon. The story can start in a number of places, but I'll begin on the evening of Thursday, Nov. 14th, when I flew into Phuket from Singapore after a little bout with Malaria. That was no fun, but that's another story. I met up with my buddy +Chad Dahne at the airport, as he had kindly volunteered to give me a ride back to his place on his motorbike, to save me some baht on a taxi fare. When the plane landed, it was POURING rain, which delayed the flight quite a bit. Once we got ready to take off, after bundling up in ponchos and rain jackets, etc... the rain actually decided to stop. Lucky break. 

Chad geared up for the rain

So I hopped on board, and we started off on the 40 min ride back to Chad's place. On the way home, we picked up Jackie, Chad's fiance, at the mall. This meant the three of us got to squeeze on the bike for the final few kilometers home. I had ridden with three people on a motorbike at Sakaerat a couple times, but this was my first time doing it in traffic. Now I can check that off the things-to-do-while-traveling-in-Thailand list. Jackie and Chad were super awesome hosts, despite the fact that I was barely able to spend 12 hours with them, due to an early flight back to Bangkok the next morning. I worked with these wonderful characters at Seacamp in the Florida Keys way back in the summer of 2010, but I hadn't seen them since. It's always great to run into friends when you are on the other side of the world! 

Friendly faces in a foreign land

Since I had to leave so early (my flight was at 6:45 am) I said goodbye to Jackie and Chad that evening before going to bed, and then woke up at 5 to catch my taxi to the airport. Thanks to security in Asia being relatively relaxed, I was at my gate in plenty of time. I arrived in Bangkok around 8 am, and then caught a taxi through some nasty traffic and pricey toll roads to the Hualamphong Train Station, where I bought a ticket to Surin leaving at 10 am. The only option for this train was third class, so I took it. This turned out to be an experience all of it's own, and for the most part it was great. 

Inside the third class train car to Surin

The total trip took about 7 hours, and after a while... the novelty of having the train window open and the warm sunny air blowing in your face kind of wore off. No worries, you can pull down the shades and close the windows, but it's hard to get too comfortable. I managed to doze off for a little while though, until periodically being woken by vendors hopping on the train trying to sell you all sorts of random snacks and drinks. At one point, I decided to buy a bag of peanuts, which gave me something to do while starring out the window. The scenery was filled with lots and lots of marshy rice fields, speckled with white egrets and storks fleeing as the rickety train approached. 

Leaving the big city behind

Most of the other tourists got off the train at Ayutthaya, leaving me to fend for myself on making sure I knew what was going on and when to get off. Not that I wasn't already on my own, but this eliminated all hopes of anyone else that spoke English. Eventually 5 o'clock rolled around, the time when I was slated to arrive in Surin... but stops that weren't Surin came and went. I was beginning to get a little nervous, but finally at 6 pm we rolled into the Surin station, much to my relief. As soon as I got off the train, I was greeted by at least 15 elephants... meandering around, looking to give people rides to their destinations. Clearly I had come to the right place! 

Elephant taxi 

Now, I should give you guys a tiny bit of background on this festival. This was one of the first things I read about when perusing the Lonely Planet that my parents gave me when they found out I was going to Thailand. 

It's official! 

The Surin Elephant Festival takes place only once a year, on the third weekend of November... and it is famous for featuring over 300 elephants performing a variety of talents. When I heard about it, and realized that I would be in Thailand during that time... I knew I had to go! I booked my hotel way back in August, and I'm glad I did... since when I was checking in, the phone at the reception was ringing off the hook with people looking for rooms. The first evening after I arrived I took it really easy... grabbing a bite to eat in the hotel restaurant, and I had my first beer since recovering from Malaria, then headed to bed early. The next morning, I woke up nice and early to enjoy a complimentary hotel breakfast and a free shuttle to the Surin stadium, where the Elephant show would be taking place. Unfortunately, I arrived too late to see the Elephant Buffet, a famous part of the festival which features all of the elephants parading down the streets and stuffing their faces with fruits and greens. According to this sign, it was a record-breaking event. That happened on the morning before I arrived, so it's not like I overslept or something. In fact, we arrived at the stadium with ample time to spare, which gave me time to explore and get up close and personal with lots and lots of elephants. 

Grabbing a light breakfast before the show

When I say lots, I mean LOTS. In a few minutes, I had seen more elephants here than I had previously seen in my entire life. There were at least 50 or 60 elephants just roaming around the stadium grounds, eating bamboo and going wherever their mahout nudged them. There were big elephants, small elephants, and every size in between. 

Smile for the camera!

I had at least an hour and a half to explore before the show started, and in this time I learned of something I had heard of but didn't quite understand, known as "Elephant begging." This involves the mahout (elephant trainer) approaching you with a small plastic bag of melons, which he tries to get you to buy to feed to the elephant. Presumably this gives him enough funds to buy more melons, and keep the process going. Elephants eat a TON, so it's not surprising that they are constantly looking to be fed. But it's too bad when this has to result in begging, and I'm not sure how much of the money goes towards feeding the elephant... and how much is exploitation to line the pocket of the mahout. I had lots of practice turning down cute kids begging me to buy things in Cambodia, but this was a whole new level. Sometimes the younger elephants would even reach out and grab your hand with their trunk, seeming to plead for you to feed them. That was something else. I cold-heartedly resisted their pleas though, and continued on... just taking lots of pictures. 

Elephant pushing a bag of fruit in my face, hoping I will feed it to him

After taking way too many pictures (who am I kidding, there's no such thing!) I eventually headed to my seat in the stadium to get ready to watch the show begin. The pre-show gathering of elephants, moving loads of bamboo around reminded me of the intro scene in Dumbo. 

We eat all day...

Anyhow, you can check out a ton more of my elephant encounter pictures on Facebook. I settled into my seat in the stadium, which was near the top of the bleachers since I didn't buy my ticket until only a few hours before the show. I didn't mind that though, as it gave me a nice bird's eye view of everything. 

My view of the stadium, prior to it being filled with elephants

Thankfully, in addition to announcements made in Thai... there was also an English translation that was broadcasted which brought a lot more meaning to everything. To kick things off, a couple young elephants waltzed in holding a banner that read "Welcome to Surin." Their mahouts helped out quite a bit with the holding part, but it was still pretty cute. Following them was a train of seven mothers with new born calves, each of which had been the recipient of a large sum of donated money in order to help raise the new babies. This was a sort of display to say thank you to the donors, and the audience in general for contributing to continuing the traditions of raising and caring for elephants, an expensive process. They were preceded by a bunch of older mahouts, who had once worked to catch wild elephants many moons ago. 

Welcome to Surin! 

There was a bit of intro fanfare, with someone important getting up to make a speech with a bunch of other sharply dressed people standing by his side. Not sure exactly who he was, perhaps the mayor of Surin or something... if they translated that bit then I missed it. 

Blah, blah, blah... Yayy elephants!

The next part of the show was definitely my favorite, and certainly one of the most breathtaking things I have ever beheld. Filing in from the left, this was a display of the sheer number of elephants that were part of this festival. They slowly meandered in, and then they just kept coming, and coming, and coming! In the middle, there was a large "White Elephant" which means he was lighter in color, with huge tusks. Supposedly the King of Siam used to give the countries he wanted to conquer a "white elephant" as a gift. It was very expensive to maintain, and this would drain their resources... making it easier for him to take over. As a result, the term "white elephant" has come to mean something that is expensive and pretty, but useless. 

The White Elephant

By the time all of the elephants had filed in, there were well over a 100 elephants in the stadium. I tried very hard to count them all, but there were just too many! And I was a bit excited. The feeling inside me at that moment was overwhelming. This was what I had traveled all this way for, and now here it was... right in front of me. That was definitely an awesome feeling.

Elephants taking over the stadium

 In a coordinated show of respect, all of the elephants bowed to the King at one point, which was also an awesome sight to behold. Who knows, maybe they were just looking for an excuse to sit down.

Bowing to the king

After this, the elephants slowly paraded out the left side... which gave the glorified pooper-scoopers time to do their duty. haha... duty.

Professional poop picker-uppers

The next part of the show demonstrated how wild elephants used to be caught. They brought out a few elephants with mahouts on their backs, equipped with lassos and long ropes... designed for catching the feet of the elephants they wished to snare. Then the younger, "wild" elephants were led by their mahouts away from these elephants in an attempt to avoid being caught. The result was fairly amusing, and most avoided the lasso. One guy did get caught though, much to his surprise, and then he started shaking his foot around as if to say, "What the heck is this thing?! Get it off!" 

Reenacting the capturing of wild elephants

The next part of the show was quite an act, with a bunch of little kids leading a whole line of elephants from either side into the center of the ring. The middle of the ring was equipped with basketball hoops, small platforms, and wheel-of-fortune-type wheels with balloons attached to them. The kids twirled hula hoops as they marched in, and jovial music blasted from the speakers. 

Leading the elephants to the center of the stadium

The elephants then proceeded to break off and hula hoop with their trunks, shoot baskets, and throw darts at the balloons. It was all very entertaining, and quite impressive. Here's a short clip of one of the elephants throwing a few darts, while others hula hoop in the background.

Then those guys filed off stage, and the next act called for a few brave volunteers. They were told to lie down on mats, and then the elephants were going to walk over them. The first elephant more or less walked around the people, but the next one had a lot more fun with it. He went up to each person, tapped them a few times with his trunk, and then lightly patted them with his foot before stepping over them. Just shows how intelligent these animals are! 

Playful pachyderm, putting his feet on the volunteer before stepping over him

Not only are these guys smart, they are also strong. And to demonstrate just how strong they are, there was a tug-of-war with about 20 volunteers from the audience, and one determined elephant. The volunteers didn't stand a chance!

Pull!!

The next event was one of the most famous, Elephant soccer!! The two "teams" approached from opposite ends of the stadium, with their captains (the goalkeepers) leading the way. They shook hands, of sorts, and then "kicked" things off!

Pre-game trunk shakes

The whole thing was quite amusing, and the ball never stayed in play for too long. It was also considerably slower paced than any other soccer game, with most of the players just sort of standing around. Still, a few decent kicks were made... and there's no such thing as a "hand ball" here! Here's a video of some of the action.

Of course, it wouldn't be soccer if someone didn't get injured! At first I didn't quite realize what was going on, as one of the younger elephants was lying down on his side... I thought maybe he just got tired. But then suddenly two other young elephants came rushing over with big white sheets with red crosses on them... symbolizing that they were the medics. In true futbol form, the elephant lay on the ground longer than necessary, and when he did eventually get up... he limped off the field!

Medics come to the rescue, while the ref issues a red card

After a bit, it was determined that the game would be settled in penalty kicks. This proved to be quite a show, with some elephants scoring quite easily, and others missing the goal entirely. Once or twice the keeper even blocked a shot!

Taking a PK

After the game was over (not exactly sure if anyone really won, since no one kept score...) the elephants left the field, and the humans took over for a bit. Lots and lots of local dancers took the stage, showcasing the traditional regalia and dance of the region.

Dancers take the stage

The next part of the show was pretty cool, and something only a bunch of elephant trainers would think of. It featured a bunch of elephants traveling close together, with one guy standing up on one of the elephants in the rear. Then, as the elephants moved, he jumped from elephant to elephant... working his way all the way to the front of the herd! It was quite impressive. 

Notice the guy standing up between two elephants

Eventually he made it to the front elephant, and he then led the herd around the stadium before beginning his next set of tricks. This time, he wasn't just hopping from elephant to elephant... he was engaging in hand-to-hand combat while doing so! A few wily opponents had snuck up onto the elephants' backs, and he was fighting to defend his territory while the herd roamed around the stadium. It was quite a sight. Eventually he returned to solid ground, where he was able to beat up on the ring of cronies surrounding him properly. 

Teaching some guys a lesson

They hopped back up on the elephants for more acrobatics... this guy had a lot of flips and spins that he had clearly been practicing. After some more choreographed punching and kicking, the fighters returned to solid ground to put on a display of synchronized moves. Here's a clip of some of the fighting on top of the elephants, hopefully it's clear enough to see. 

The final part of the show was a massive reenactment of an ancient battle, complete with elaborately decorated war elephants. This was just as impressive as every other part of the festival, if not more so. Hundreds of fighters, decked out with shields and spears covered the field on foot. Meanwhile huge tuskers carrying a mahout and a fighter armed with many different lances surrounded the edge of the stadium. 

War elephants, taking their place in the field of battle

Elephants and fighters entered from both sides of the stadium, prepared for an epic clash. 

Facing the enemy

Suddenly, cannons fired and the battle had begun! The majority of the action was between the battlers on the ground, as they engaged in aggressive hand-to-hand combat. Most of the war elephants just stood there and looked pretty... since they weren't actually fighting for their lives. At one point though, two of the huge males met in the middle and squared off... with their mounted warriors clashing spears while the elephants tangled tusks. Surrounded by fighting soldiers, it was really cool to see. I can only imagine how epic those bloody battles of ancient Siam must have been. I'm sure the elephants are glad those days are over though. Apparently their mahouts would get them drunk before battle so that they were reckless and wild. Talk about a shot of courage...

Armed to the tusk, battling it out

Eventually, the battle came to an end as the soldiers and elephants returned to their ranks. There was an announcement thanking the entire audience for coming to the show and supporting this traditional way of raising elephants... an important part of the Surin culture. After a huge synchronized bow from the elephants and a massive round of applause... the show was over. 

An end of the show salute

The rest of my day was comparatively very boring... I wandered around outside the hot fair grounds for a while, among throngs of other sweaty, mostly older tourists. I wasn't too impressed with the souvenir selection unfortunately... lots of ivory stuff. Not cool. I bought some fried tofu on a stick from one of the street vendors and then slowly wandered through Surin, practicing my map navigating skills. I walked across town to search out a restaurant that I'd read about in my guidebook... only to discover it no longer exists. So I stopped at a random nearby shop for some cake and a smoothie before heading back to the hotel. Lots and lots of walking, but I didn't mind since I had no other plans that day. I was just taking everything in. I got offered rides by an elephant multiple times. This is the only place where you'll get offered a ride by an elephant more often than by a tuk-tuk.  

Just a part of traffic here

Eventually I made it back to the hotel and took a much needed nap. I ventured out that evening to a place that I had read about online called N&N restaurant, which was known for serving German beers and a broad variety of western food options. Thanks to wandering so much that afternoon, I was familiar with the territory and made it there with no problem. I settled in for a delicious beer and a pizza, and was very pleased. Quite a satisfying reward for such an awesome day! 

Pizza and a beer. Well deserved

Next stop on my travels, Khao Yai National Park. Hopefully there I will get to see some elephants in the wild. Until next time, Peace Out! 

Country Roads, Take me home

The time has almost come for us to leave Sakaerat for good, and I am still having a hard time coming to grips with that reality. I really don’t want to leave, but of course more adventures lie ahead in other places, and so I must continue to explore. I am excited to head off and travel around Southeast Asia for a while, but I am also quite bummed to be saying goodbye to this precious corner of the world and the people here. This place has been not only a marvelous home, but also a source of constant adventure and wonderful times. You never know what you might find while exploring these lush forests. Just peeking into the vaults of their expansive wealth of biodiversity has been richly rewarding. So many times when I've least expected it I have chanced upon something I couldn't of even imagined, such as watching a bat get stuck in a spider web (and then escaping) or a Slow Loris staring at me eye-to-eye. I can only dream about what else I might have discovered if we had a bit more time here.

Whatchu lookin at?

In the spirit of unexpected adventures and saying goodbye, I thought I’d tell a story of a day back in September which involved a series of unforeseen events and a fantastic farewell party. The day before, Taksin had invited us to lunch, mentioning something about a retirement party for one of the workers. None of us thought too much of it, after all we have been invited up to the station for meals many times before. Usually there is a healthy buffet of many different Thai foods, which we will happily devour and then head on our way. This time was different though. It was the first time we were invited up for lunch, instead of dinner. When the time came for us to go, Sheila and the girls weren’t feeling up to it. Sheila decided to keep sleeping, and Sara and Tesco had both just woken up… so they weren’t in the mood for lunch food yet. So Mike and I headed up to the station alone. As we approached the dining hall, I saw a large elaborate stage set up outside. That was the first clue that this was going to be a special event. 

All the Jungle's a stage...

We walked into the main cafeteria to see quaint round tables covered with elegant white table cloths. At each table there was a fancy spread of many different dishes, each prepared with an exquisite attention to detail. I was very impressed, and quite surprised. This was much more extravagant than I had expected. Mike and I sat down with the other members of the snake team and we began to dine like royalty. 

A feast from the east

Not only was there plenty of delicious food, but the beer was free-flowing and ubiquitous. Every time we turned around, an employee would deliver us a few more bottles to the table, despite the fact that we already had quite a few open bottles. At one point I believe we must have had 8 or 9 beer bottles on the table at once. Luckily Mary-Ruth and Chia-Yi joined us not soon after the meal began, so there were plenty of people there to help diminish the seemingly never-ending supply. 

By 1:30 pm or so, most of us were done eating… but the party wasn’t over yet. Beer continued to be delivered while high officials from the Thailand Ministry of Science and Technology (the Thai equivalent of our NSF) stood up to give speeches about how great Sakaerat was for Thailand. They are absolutely right about that, Sakaerat is definitely something that Thailand should be proud of. Every year this place is responsible for teaching thousands of Thai children the importance of nature, a lesson that loses some of its effect when taught in a polluted city such as Bangkok. And then of course there’s the huge amount of scientific research that is carried out here every year by scientists from all over the world. This place is definitely a diamond in the rough. A lot of this success is thanks to the leadership of Taksin and his tireless drive to keep this place up to par with international expectations. In the short time that we have been here, he has instituted many changes in order to improve the quality of life for us and others at the station. A few examples include having an entirely new bathroom built as an addition to our house, replacing old drinking water jugs with actual plumbing and metal water fountains, and installing extremely high speed internet which has made skyping home so much easier. Taksin is an amazing man, and it’s easy to see that he truly loves his job. In fact, he once turned down a promotion to one of the higher positions in the government so that he could continue to remain at Sakaerat instead of having to work a desk job. My kinda guy!

Before and Bath-ter

Anyhow, back to the party. By about 2 pm the formal speeches were winding down, but these guys had another trick up their sleeve… Karaoke! A giant projector screen that was being used earlier to showcase photos of Sakaerat had been transformed into a gigantic Karaoke machine, and the head honcho of the Thai Ministry of Science was leading the charge into la-la land. Everyone loved this spectacle, especially our table… since we had no idea this was coming. A few Thai songs were sung which most people in the audience seemed to recognize and enjoy, and a few more beers were consumed by our table. Around this time Sara showed up, wondering what the heck was taking us so long to eat lunch. Like a rowdy bunch of pirates we all cheered and shoved a mug of beer towards her while insisting that she join in the celebration. She didn't require much convincing, and soon she was clapping along blindly to the music with the rest of us. 

Sala joins the party

Then it suddenly became obvious why they had been giving us so much beer. One of the employees waltzed over to our table with the Karaoke microphone and insisted that we sing a song! I didn't see this coming at all, but turns out they actually had a few songs in English… so we could at least make complete fools of ourselves in our own language. They put on “Country Roads” by John Denver, and handed the microphone to Nico, one of the Field Technicians on the snake team. Nico is from France, and he knew that I was from Virginia. So he cleverly used that tid-bit of knowledge to pawn the pressure on to me, saying “Look, it says Virginia… you do it!” Granted, it’s actually West Virginia… but I figured I was stuck so I figured what the heck. Thanks to the constant supply of beer I didn't need too much convincing to look like a total buffoon. After a couple verses I was really getting into it and all of the Thai folks seemed to love it. One guy even joined in with me! It was a blast, and I’m glad I did it. Sara actually managed to capture some of it on video, and since I am many miles away from most of you… I don’t mind embarrassing myself by sharing this beauty with y’all.

For some unknown reason that song seems to be an international sensation. I have friends in Poland that love it, and one of my friends in Ghana recently posted on her blog that she heard a guy playing it in the street one day. Who would have thought that people all across the world are excited by the idea of heading home to the Shenandoah Valley? It is pretty cool to have your local region so widely recognized though. After all it is a pretty special place, and I hafta admit I definitely miss home. I am looking forward to returning in a month… but until then I am doing my best to make the most every moment over here.

...To the place, I belong (Photo taken at Shenandoah River State Park)

In that spirit, I was doing my darndest to enjoy this party to the fullest. Singing Karaoke in front of the station was really just the beginning. After a while of singing indoors, someone made the move towards relocating everyone outside so the celebration could continue in the sunlight. At this point everyone had pretty much given up any hopes of being productive that afternoon, and we were all carrying on and having a great time. This was a much needed, unexpected break from the rigors of data-entry and field work… and it was quite well received. Even Tesco and Sheila eventually came up to the station and joined in on the fun and general shenanigans.

Moving the party outdoors

The kitchen staff brought out hot, freshly-roasted cashews for us to munch on while we continued to drink and goof off while singing and watching others sing. Now that we had extra space for activities, dancing was added into the mix and we joined in a circle with some of the girl counselors while trying to learn some new moves. They put some chairs in the middle, but we never quite figured out what they were for. At first I thought we might be playing musical chairs, but no one ever sat down. The whole thing was a hoot, and even though we looked completely ridiculous… nobody seemed to care. It was an awesome way to break the language barrier and actually hang out with these people that we see every day but don’t normally have time to interact with except in passing.

Musical chairs, anyone? 

Since Sala and Tesco didn't get the chance to take part in any Karaoke while the party was still inside since they were a tad late, they requested a few songs while we were outside. When their time came, they hopped up and began belting out “Build Me Up, Buttercup” as if it was the reason they were born. This was hilarious to watch, and after a little bit one of the male administrative workers decided he wanted in on the action. So he grabbed a microphone and next thing you know he was front and center, singing along to a song he probably didn't even understand. I managed to snag this photo of the performance, which pretty much sums up the moment perfectly.

"I need YOUUUU!"

Good times! The party continued well into the afternoon, with some of the more levelheaded workers heading back to their tasks, while others continued to fool around and enjoy this break from responsibility. At one point all of the young girl counselors and one of the Japanese researchers got on stage and put on a synchronized dance show for those who were still in the audience. It was quite well done, and I was impressed with the Japanese dude’s ability to keep up.

And the dance goes on...

The Karaoke microphone was never turned off, as many of the employees waited patiently to have their moment in the spotlight. Even the hardworking kitchen ladies took a break from their duties to sing a song or two.

Everybody got their time to shine

Ask the daylight began to fade, the party continued on… with music in full-swing and beer glasses constantly being refilled. No one expected a simple lunch to turn into an all day fiesta, but no one was complaining. We were constantly laughing and taking silly photos as the day slowly passed us by. What a fantastic way to spend an afternoon!

Look at these Looney, err,... lovely ladies

As dusk approached, a few of our team left to attend to checking on the frogs in the shed… one of our daily tasks. Afterwards they returned to the station, where the kitchen staff had prepared a delicious soup for everyone who was still hanging around. So we ate a light dinner, and then returned to the party for awhile until eventually it was time for us to start getting ready for work. Since I was on dawn shift I had some time to sleep before I had to wake up and head into the pond. Before we dispersed, a few of us climbed the kitchen tower to stargaze for a bit… since this evening was particularly clear. This was a fantastic ending to a wonderful day, and I went to bed that night very happy. I don’t think we will have quite the same farewell party when we leave in a couple days, but I am sure that we’ll have lots of fun. Either way, I know all of us will look back on this day in September with fond memories. The next time you hear from me, I’ll be a travelin’ man! Until then, Peace Out!

Such an awesome day, I might Phimai self

Way back in the beginning of September, we took a field trip to the small town of Phimai to see one of the finest surviving Angkor temple complexes in all of Thailand. This turned out to be an amazing trip; I think I can comfortably say it was the best field trip we have taken all season. Of course it’s been busy here, and without a doubt I have been procrastinating like crazy, but finally I am ready to tell the story. It was Sunday, Sept. 1 and we had almost no frogs at the time. I think we may have had 1 pair in the shed - that was it. The Upper Dam Pond was dry, and we had pretty much all day to do whatever we pleased. That seems like ages ago now that the UDP is overflowing with water and we have housed over 150 clutches in the shed since then. Oh how the times have changed. Anyhow, we started the day around 10 am or so, and we headed to Korat first to grab some lunch. We decided to stop at a nice little café called Café 16, which advertised some of their menu items in English. Boy am I glad we did!

Inside Cafe 16

It was a quaint little place that was fashionably decorated with empty glass bottles and other things you wouldn't let a toddler touch. They had comfortable chairs with fluffy pillows, and the menu was in English and Thai, which is always nice. It gets better. I opened the menu and on the first page I saw what I had been craving for many weeks… Pizza! Needless to say I had no trouble making up my mind. We got some drinks, and then relaxed and perused the guidebook to see what we had in store for us that afternoon. I have become a huge believer in green tea since I've been here, and I've even learned how to order it in Thai! Here they make it very green, and usually with lots of milk… I think it’s delicious. J

Green is good!

While we were waiting, I read up a bit on Phimai and its history, so I will share a bit of that with you now. All of this comes from my Lonely Planet guidebook; I would be so lost without it. 

Phimai was once located on an ancient Khmer trade route, and it linked Angkor Wat with some of the more northern reaches of the territory. Building started in the late 10th century by Khmer King Jayavarman V and was finished by his successor King Suriyavarman (could you imagine his mom yelling that out when she’s angry?) in the 11th century. It’s a Hindu-Mahayana Buddhist temple, so they’ve covered their religious bases. Around this time period, the pizza arrived.

That was a very historical event. Try starving yourself of pizza, and cheese in general for a couple months (sorry lactose-intolerant friends) to get an idea of how I felt. A goldfish will look like a gourmet dish. Anyhow, the pizza was fantastic… and I’m not just saying that because I was cheese-deprived, it was actually really good. They even had pineapple on top, a hidden surprise! I wolfed the whole thing down in no time, but I decided to snap a quick photo to document the occasion first.

Yum-O!

After we were all finished and extremely satisfied with our meal, we piled back into the car to continue on our journey. Just the pizza alone would have been enough to make this day wonderful, but it only got better. We arrived at the ruins a little after noon, and it was pretty hot outside. So we decided to kill some time and educate ourselves while enjoying free air conditioning in the visitor center.

Yayy knowledge!

Inside there were actually a number of nice displays informing you about the park’s history. Most of the exhibits had English transcriptions as well as Thai, although some of the translations may have needed an edit or two. At one point they used the word defecate instead of decapitate, oops. We learned a bit more than the guidebook told us though, such as the fact that Phimai was Thailand’s biggest Mahayana Buddhist temple, and that Angkor Wat was actually modeled after it. That last part might be wishful thinking, but who knows. They had a bunch of ancient artifacts on display as well, which was neat.

Prehistoric tools at the visitor center

After a while of meandering around the halls of the visitor center, we ventured back outside to explore the ruins. Just like we saw at Phanom Rung, one of the first features of the temple was a naga bridge that led to the entrance of the temple. As we crossed over this symbolic passage between heaven and earth, we entered the temple on the south side of the complex. This is unusual, since most Khmer temples face east.

Temple worker sweeping the naga bridge

Once inside, we discovered lots of ancient window frames (that’s the best way I can describe them) that were perfect for photo shoots. There were also long hallways with empty door frames, offering lots of cool opportunities for artistic pictures. Unfortunately I don’t have a very good eye for things like that, but I imagine the people who are in charge of taking senior portraits would have a field day at this place.

Fit to be framed!

Once inside the temple, we took even more pictures (of course) and goofed off quite a bit. It was nice to have ample time to explore. Since the temple is located within the Nakhon Ratchisma (Korat) province, it was only a little over an hour’s drive from Sakaerat… so we were in no rush.

Entering the temple...

There were many similarities between this sanctuary and the one at Phanom Rung, which isn't surprising considering they were both constructed in somewhat similar time periods by the same society. Detailed art adorned the rafters above our heads as we entered the center of the temple complex, where a tall monument stood solemnly. Pigeons flitted about, attempting to squeeze in a nest here or there in the various nooks and crannies, despite the wire mesh designed to deter them.

Wai, Hello there!

As we approached, we passed through a grassy courtyard that featured a series of large ancient stone pits that were presumably once the location of lovely lotus pools, similar to the ones we saw at Prasat Muang Tam.

The center shrine, constructed of white sandstone and standing approximately 28 meters tall… stood out quite clearly above the rest of the temple. Even though we were there on a Sunday, there weren’t too many people there. Most of the people that were there were Thai, since this place isn’t exactly on the well-worn tourist track. That made the experience even better!

Throughout the temple, we saw workers raking leaves or sweeping the walkways. Some guys were even up on a ladder near the main tower, fixing some bricks. It’s no wonder this place is renowned as one of the best-maintained Khmer ruins in Thailand. Clearly these people took pride in it, as they should. According to my guidebook, the place was originally restored by the Fine Arts Department… pretty nifty.

As we approached the inner courtyard, we passed through an arched gateway that was part of a rectangular gallery surrounding the center of the temple. There were various placards throughout the temple explaining the significance of the different forms of architecture. Most of them seemed to say a lot, without really saying anything at all. I think something must have been lost in the translation. 

Approaching the center...

Once inside, we thoroughly explored the various structures inside the center courtyard surrounding the main tower. Within one of the many prangs, there was an armless statue sitting cross-legged and leaning forward slightly, looking quite pensive. According to my guidebook, this was not actually a meditating Buddha as I first thought, but a stone replica of the Angkor King Jayavarman VII.

A somber silhouette

Inside the main tower, there were other statues and one of my favorite features… more ornate lintels that told stories of ancient Hindu and Buddhist deities. Playing Pictionary with these guys would be intense!

An ancient battle immortalized

The outside of the temple was no less ornate, with many of the outer walls being exquisitely carved. They were so detailed and striking, that I think they were probably replicas of the original carvings. Still, they were quite captivating and very attractive… especially to Sara.

Hmmm... how did they do it?!

In the spirit of being super tourist-y, we took some group photos to document our time together on this marvelous day. Some were sillier than others…

Are we having fun yet? 

We wandered around the grassy courtyard area surrounding the main temple for quite a while, each of us attempting to take the perfect shot. I made many attempts, even going so far as to lay down on the grass to get a different angle, but most of them ended up looking the same. Still, my motto is always to take more pictures rather than less… since you can always delete them later (which I never do) but you can never go back and take more.

The primary prang, the main monument, the center shrine... this is it!

I fooled around with my panoramic setting for a bit, to try to capture the total size of the courtyard. The outer wall apparently stretches 565 m x 1030 m, so there was quite a sizable amount of room to goof around in within the walls. This place would be an epic setting for some lawn games. I wonder if they ever hosted any ancient family reunions here. You never know! 

Lawn darts, anyone? 

After a while of relaxing in the grass and taking lots of pictures, we exited out of the north entrance of the temple to investigate a small building just outside the walls. I believe it was just a fancy backdoor, minus the door. I bet all the people who didn’t want to buy tickets to the temple would sneak in here.

Backdoor to the temple

Looking back towards the temple from this angle provided some pretty awesome views of the area though, and it’s easy to see from here why Phimai is featured on so many postcards. Some of you may have even gotten a postcard from me with this view (or one very similar) on it!

Old-timey setting is appropriate for an ancient place

We took a couple more group shots from this angle, thanks again to the self-timer setting on the camera and a few precariously placed rocks. This one is my favorite.

What a lovely bunch!

After a while, we left the temple and headed to a nearby café to grab some refreshing drinks and relax in the air-conditioning while there. Of course we were cracking jokes and fooling around like we always are, which led Rooney to make the fantastic one-liner that I have used in the title of this blog. She deserves full credit for such a fantastic pun. This is the face of a super-genius. 

"That's so funny, it almost made me Phimai pants!"

Hahaha what a great one. Anyhow, I’ll get on with the story. We left the café and decided to go try to find a place that was listed in the guidebook called Sai Ngam. Lonely Planet described it as Thailand’s largest and oldest banyan tree… so I bugged the others to take a detour so that we could go see it. We had a bit of trouble finding it though, and ended up going in circles for a while. We explored a few back roads, and found these dudes out for their afternoon stroll.

Why did the cows cross the road? ... To get to the MOOOOvies!

Eventually we found the turn that we had managed to pass by at least twice, and we pulled into the parking lot quite relieved. According to the guidebook, this tree… which is really was more like a bunch of trees intertwined, is over 350-years old. I was amazed. It was really hard to capture the magnitude and greatness of this place on camera, but I tried. The whole place was more like a forest than one tree.

Within the "Beautiful Banyon"

The whole network of tree trunks and branches was located on an island within a small reservoir. There were flags, shrines, cobbled walkways and even some cement picnic tables spread throughout this tree town. It was absolutely amazing to behold.

Wood ya look at that!

But to truly appreciate this breath-taking tree, I couldn’t just stay on the ground. I had to climb it!! So I scampered up into the trees faster than Sheila could say “Squirrel!” I was in heaven. I love climbing trees, but this was something else. It was like an entire playground up in the sky.

It doesn't get better than this!

I wanted to sneak up on the others since they had gotten further ahead of Sheila and I, but the network was so huge that I had to get down and walk… they were far away and unfortunately I can’t scamper through trees faster than I can walk. So I dropped back down, careful to avoid being seen by some of the nearby Thai worshipers in case they found my behaviors offensive. We strolled through the shaded pathway until I spotted the other three by the edge of the reservoir.

A walk in the woods

I clambered back up into the trees to try to surprise them, but Sara spotted me. So then I switched tactics to trying to get everyone to climb the trees with me, instead of just calling me crazy from down below. Eventually I was successful!

Sara and Sheila, sittin' in a tree...

I was bounding about the trees like a monkey who has just escaped from the zoo. I had plenty of hoots and hollers to match. The only thing slowing me down was the need to pay attention to the trails of large fearsome red ants marching throughout the branches, but I was so happy I hardly paid them any mind. A few bites here and there weren't going to ruin this magical place.

Just hanging out!

I was having so much fun, I hardly noticed that I was working up quite a sweat. I’m gonna go out on a limb here (did you really think I wasn't gonna use that one?) and say that this was the best part of the day, by far.

This is the real jungle gym

Some parts of the tree actually extended out over the water, so of course I had to go and scope it out.

I could live up here

Alas, eventually it was time for us to leave… so I slipped down from the branches and said goodbye to this magical forest. I felt like a little kid or a dog, very happy and worn out from playing at his favorite park all day.

"May the Forest be with you!"

Speaking of dogs, this little guy greeted us as we exited. He looked like he could use a friend. 

"I like you. You like me? You are my friend?"

But alas, there’s a strict no-pet policy at Sakaerat, so we couldn't take him with us… even though I was very tempted. On the way home I relaxed and thought about how lucky I am to be here, in such a beautiful place with such great people. I've grown used to driving on the left side of the road and seeing buffalo in the fields as we drive by. I’m not looking forward to having to say goodbye to it all so soon. 

Buffalo grazing in the countryside

On the way home, we stopped for dinner in Korat… and while we were trying to find one of the places listed in the guidebook, we ended up stumbling upon a restaurant named “Hansa” which we all thought was an awesome coincidence, given that the species of frog we’re stuying is named hansanae. So of course we ate there, and it was actually quite nice. Good food, excellent service, and a tropical atmosphere.

Happy Froggers

After dinner, Sheila treated us to dessert (she is too kind) and then when returned to Sakaerat to resume our froggy duties. This was definitely a day to remember. Until next time, Peace out!