Once we arrived, we hopped out of the van and followed our guide, a really nice Thai woman. She was fairly young, but knew so much about wildlife and nature! We arrived at a primitive Thai village, and she guided us around telling us about the people. The village was practically deserted, and she told us that the men and boys went away early in the morning to work during the day. Only the younger girls and women were left making hammocks and scarves. They were all smiles for the short time we were there. After this, we made our way up a surprisingly steep hill. Halfway up the hill, I noticed she was pointing to a plant on the ground. We all stepped closer and heard what she was saying. She said that if you touch the plant, it would "close". I honestly didn't understand completely. The stems and leaves looked like a baby fern. So I glided my fingers down the leaves, and they all folded in towards each other. It was amazing. I've never seen anything like it before(other than a venus fly trap), and Stephanie got a video of it. How amazing is God's nature?
We continued our hike through the outskirts of the village. We noticed that each hut had a HUGE pot bellied pig tied under it. Apparently, it's a custom to keep a pig, and then on a very special occasion, they slaughter it and celebrate. Everyone in the
village keeps one. Interesting, eh?
Throughout the hike, the guide told us some interesting
things about the local flora and fauna. She showed us one tree in particular that amazed us! The tree is Teak(you may have heard of teak wood), but its leaves are what we discussed. She pulled a leaf off the tree and rubbed it between her
fingers - she held her hand up and it looked like she had dipped her fingers in red paint or blood! I mean, they were BRIGHT RED! We all gasped and immediately went over the the tree to get a hand on this amazingness. She also told us that they used to use the teak leaves for war paint. Makes sense, doesn't it?
We were treated by beautiful scenery! We also tromped through rice fields and over bridges(some a little "iffy"). Honestly, I was just enjoying the fresh air! It could have been the ugliest views around me, and I wouldn't have cared because I was breathing fresh air! Living in Bangkok definitely has its perks, but it comes with pollution! But, the beautiful views were a definite +plus!
After an hour of hiking, we began descending down some rather precarious steps. We all slowly gathered our footing as we traveled down hill, and stayed that way for a few minutes. Our next view was a spectacular waterfall! It was so refreshing. It was sending out plenty of mist and they also had a snack/drink area where bottles of water were available for purchase(way to ruin a good nature story, right?). We spent 20 minutes at the waterfall before we headed back and it was marvelous to spend some time sitting down enjoying nature.
Lunch was SO GOOD. It was rice, coconut/potato soup, and something else I can't recall that was yummy. The end of the meal signaled dessert time! This was delicious pineapple and watermelon. I had my fair share(probably more) of pineapple and was SO content! After lunch, we....guess what? Climbed back into the van! This wasn't for too long either. It's a good thing too, cause it was getting a little warm outside! We were told ahead of time that we were headed to the elephant riding extravaganza! We were pretty stoked, to say the least.
Before we hopped out, the guide stuck her head into the van and
asked if anyone wanted to ride on the neck of an elephant. She said that this would allow her to use one less elephant. I waited a moment trying to allow anyone else that wanted a chance, to take it, and finally enthusiastically raised my hand! Once there, we applied sunscreen(apparently not enough) and readied ourselves for the journey. We needed to get into groups of 2, with one group of 3(my group). Stephanie and I assumed we'd be together(because we love each other SO much and can't be separated), so that left us with having to find an addition to our group. One of the other girls that we didn't know from the group agreed to join our group, and once everyone else was 
paired up, they began bringing the elephants up. Everyone else "mounted" their elephants, and we were last. After Stephan
ie and the other girl sat down, I hopped onto my awesome ride. They positioned me right where the neck and head meet. To me, it felt like I was sitting right on top of his brain! My feet were right behind his ears, and they continually flopped against my legs. I
WAS IN HEAVEN. This riding experience will have to suffice for my lack of equestrian riding this year. Our elephant was attached to the one in front of it, which the other two girls(friends of the girl with us) were on. We had one guide with us(on the other elephant) and he was pretty comical. Every couple of minutes he would say, "Oh my Buddha!" Don't know if that SHOULD be funny or not, but I admit that I chuckled more than a few times. If you don't already know(which most of you DON'T), elephants are crazy BUMPY. Seriously, when they're climbing hills or walking fast, you are jostled around a ton. I had the time of my life in those 40 or so minutes. Once our time was up, I reluctantly hopped off of my new friend, Mango, and proceeded back to the van.
Our last adventure of the day was a bamboo rafting trip. Unfortunately, water is involved with rafting, therefore, there are no pictures at all to prove that this was actually done. I only have amazing memories! Steph, Mike, and I were all on a raft together and Leah, Tatiana, and Erin were on one together. The rafts are basically just a bunch of bamboo poles tied together. You can either sit or stand on your way down the river. We chose to stand of course! Each raft had a guide that held a long bamboo pole, whose purpose was to change direction. You see, I say its purpose was to change directions because our wonderfully kind raft guide found another use for this long pole. It was used to SOAK us. He would slap the pole on the top of the water, and apparently he had practiced this and could splash water on whichever person he intended. Stephanie and I were soaked to the bone. When we heard Mike chuckling behind us, it was all efforts turned towards him to soak him as well. All Steph and I had were our hands. So, we bent down and used our cupped hands to throw as much water as we could on him. Eventually, our efforts paid off because Mike fell off into the river not once, but twice(in a row)!!! It was so funny. Stephanie nor I could muffle our laughter and were laughing so hard that we couldn't hold ourselves steady and fell over!
This day was perhaps the most exciting one I've had not only while here in Thailand, but EVER. I enjoyed it so much and the only thing that could have made it more perfect would be if I could have shared it with my mom as well! I know she would have loved every aspect of today! Love you Mom!
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