Jungle Camp Day 1: Meeting the Elephants and Canoe Safari

On our fourth morning in Thailand, we left our hotel in Bangkok at around 5 am and took a transfer over to the airport, where we caught a plane heading south to Phuket. We flew with Bangkok Airways, and the 90-minute flight was the first flight I've actually enjoyed in a long time, with surprisingly roomy seats and even a full meal. Flying into Phuket, we had great views of the beaches, and even passed right over one as we came in to land!

After picking up our suitcases, we got into a minibus for the two or three hour journey to Elephant Hills Rainforest Camp in Khao Sok National Park. On the journey, we passed by the picturesque beaches of Phuket, before crossing over the bridge to mainland Thailand and entering deeper into the jungle. Unfortunately for Claudio, he slept for most of the journey, but I was lucky to see some Thai cows (which look so different to the cows we're familiar with in the UK) and even a couple of elephants!

We arrived at Elephant Hills at around one or two o'clock, and I have to say that our arrival was pretty chaotic (though things only got better from that point on). A lot of people were arriving at the same time, and we were all told to leave our luggage in a big pile at the entrance, before being given forms to fill out. Afterwards we had 20 minutes to grab a bit of lunch from the buffet, search through our suitcases for a change of clothes, and get changed in the toilets, before going off for our first activity. To be fair, the lunch I had of stir-fried noodles and sweet & sour vegetables was really good, but I would have liked to have been able to have more of it!

We then got into a truck and drove the 5 or 10 minutes to the elephant sanctuary. 

The moment we arrived, it was as if the day thus far, with the early wake up, all the hours of travel, and time spent in airports, just melted away. The elephants were just so majestic and the surrounding scenery was amazing.

After a few photos, we went into a wooden hut, where we watched a short documentary about elephants. We learned about the differences between African and Asian elephants (Asian elephants are generally smaller, with smaller ears and more toenails) and also about the history of how Asian elephants previously were used in conflict and in the logging industry. Nowadays, there are much fewer elephants in Thailand than there were in the past, but generally they have happier lives, living in places like Elephant Hills.

Then we got to meet the elephants up close and even touch them! All of them were female and ranged in age from 19 to 81, if I remember correctly. They were so noble and beautiful, and it was such a special experience to be so close to them. Their trunks feel like leather and are surprisingly hairy!

We also got to prepare a snack for them, which consisted of pineapples, bananas, sugar canes and protein balls wrapped in banana leaves. It was so fun to put the food in their trunks and then watch them putting it into their mouths!

We also loved watching them bathing in their pond - they looked so cute and it was clear they were having a great time!

Back in the hut, we were given some unusual bookmarks...that were made out of elephant dung! It turns out that they're processed in a way which makes them completely hygienic. We had fun decorating ours, and were happy to leave with a nice little souvenir from this wonderful experience (though unfortunately, the one I made for Claudio did not survive the journey home very well!).

We then moved on to the second activity of the day, which was the canoe safari. This was a very relaxing, hour-long ride down the Sok river with a local guide. Here we saw some incredible mountains, as well as amazing wildlife, including snakes and monkeys!

Back at the camp, there was a programme of optional evening activities before dinner, starting with a short documentary, followed by a Thai dance performance and a cooking demonstration. It had been a very long day, so we decided to give these a miss and get settled into our tent.

The tent was actually like a small hotel room with a proper bathroom and shower. It was really cool to have the experience of camping in the middle of the jungle but in relative luxury!

We also took some time to explore the rest of the camp, which is such a beautiful and enchanting place. All of the décor is so well thought out.

One fun thing to do was to put a pin on the camp's map. I couldn't add one, as there wasn't any space left to put one on the UK (the vast majority of guests at the camp were British), but Claudio had more luck, and got to put the first ever pin on Chile!

We finished off our evening with a quick dip in the pool, before enjoying a delicious buffet dinner and drinks from the bar.

It was quite surreal to have started our day travelling through the city streets of Bangkok at 5 am and to end the day drinking a piña colada in the middle of the rainforest in southern Thailand. This was one of the busiest days of our honeymoon, but also one of the most memorable. It felt magical to be in the jungle camp, and meeting the incredible elephants was an experience we'll remember forever.

We still had another day and a half left in this beautiful place, and our second day would see us exploring more of Khao Sok National Park, spending the day at Cheow Lan Lake. A blog post all about it will be here shortly!

Ayutthaya

Our last morning in Bangkok was the most relaxed of our time there - we had a big breakfast, spent some time by the pool, and then headed over to the Hilton Garden Inn, where our journey to the historic city of Ayutthaya would begin!

It is possible to travel to Ayutthaya from Bangkok by train, but we decided to do a coach tour, as the journey is quicker by road, and the temples are somewhat far apart, so it's convenient to have transport included.

This was one of three tours that we took during our two weeks in Thailand - while we were in Khao Lak the following week, we went on tours to James Bond Island and the Surin Islands. The Ayutthaya tour, which was run by Sun Leisure World, was definitely our favourite, as well as by far the best value. For 32 USD each, it included guided visits to two temple complexes, a sunset cruise with a dance performance, and a meal at a restaurant.

The journey to Ayutthaya in the bus took about 90 minutes, but it passed fairly quickly, as our guide told some good jokes and interesting facts about Thailand. Plus, we could enjoy the landscapes between the two cities.

The first temple we visited was Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, and it was pretty spectacular. It has a huge pagoda you can climb to the top of, which gives you fantastic views across the site.

There's also a big area outside where you can buy gifts and snacks. We bought this elephant shaped ice-cream, which was coconut flavoured, and as delicious as it was adorable!

 

The next temple we visited was Wat Maha That. This is the famous temple that's known for having a head of Buddha in a tree!

To be honest, it was cool to see the head, but there was such a big crowd around it that it wasn't possible to even get a photo of it from front on. We didn't spend much time on it, because the site is big, and there was a lot more to explore. 

Our guide explained that there are two types of pagoda in Buddhism: the Sri Lankan bell shape, like we saw at the previous temple, and the Cambodian corn shape, of which there were many examples at this temple (including one that was leaning like the Tower of Pisa!). 

I enjoyed looking around the site, but unfortunately it wasn't so much fun for Claudio, as he'd accidentally left his phone on the bus, which had then been driven off somewhere else. Luckily, it was there lying on the seat when the bus returned! Interestingly, when waiting for the bus to come back again, we had our first glimpse of Thai elephants going past in a big truck! (We would get to meet several more the following day...)

Next it was time to begin the penultimate part of the tour: the river cruise in a traditional boat. The boat was beautiful, and the cruise was very entertaining. We passed by beautiful temples, fed catfish, and enjoyed a Thai dance performance.

The highlight was passing by Wat Chaiwatthanaram, a temple that was inspired by Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was really exciting to see, as Angkor Wat is a place that was high on my bucket list, and which we'd considered visiting as part of this honeymoon. However, I'd seen in mentioned in a few different articles about overly-crowded tourist sites, and decided to give it a miss and focus on Thailand for this trip. So it was a nice experience to see a sort of smaller version of it and take photos without the crowds, and it was also a really beautiful historic site to admire.

At the end of the cruise, the boat arrived at Krua Phirom Restaurant, where food was waiting for us. Our table was right by the river, looking out over Chedi Sri Suriyothai, a beautiful pagoda.

We were all given a glass of a Thai juice (I think it was pandan leaf juice) that was very sweet and tasty. There wasn't a large amount of food, but everything was perfectly prepared. I had the veggie options, which I found to be very simple and plain, though Claudio had the opposite issue, as he found the meat options much too spicy for his liking! Though given the relatively low cost of the tour, we felt that the meal was pretty good value overall.

The restaurant also had a big garden, which we enjoyed exploring. The place was beautifully decorated, tranquil and full of atmosphere.

Even though Ayutthaya is only an hour or so away from Bangkok, it feels a world away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. I would highly recommend visiting these wonderful, historic temples to anyone taking a holiday in Thailand. Although our two weeks had almost too many highlights to even call them highlights, this day was definitely up there, and we felt it added something special and a bit different to our time staying in Bangkok. 

After taking the coach back to the capital, passing by a beautiful golden palace on the way, it was time for us to pack up our suitcases and prepare to head for the airport early the next morning. Part 2 of our honeymoon was about to begin, and a lot more excitement was heading our way over the next few days...