Almost Paradise Part 8

With almost two days wasted with me in the hospital, and only one day left of our vacation, I was worried we wouldn't get to go elephant trekking. My hands and feet were still a bit swollen and tingly, and I twitched every once and a while as if I suffered from Tourette's. Come hell or high water, though, I was getting on an elephant. While I lounged by the pool with Katie in a lingering drug-induced stupor Sunday evening, Larry and the twins went to town in search of an elephant-trekking trip. They came back with more sundresses and an early morning pachyderm ride.
The next morning, we loaded up at the breakfast buffet and headed up the hills. Even though Larry questioned his choice of the earliest tour,

we were all glad as the sun was out in full force. The facilities at the site were less than attractive, but the natural surroundings made up for them. The girls squealed when they saw the elephants. It's one thing to see them at the zoo, but quite another to see them roaming the hillside. At first, the elepants looked huge. I just imagined the poor little Thai boys trying to lift me onto one of them. Good thing there was a platform built especially for loading us all aboard the beasts. Sarah and Syd rode with Larry. Katie and I once again found ourselves together. The lumbering giants took us through the forest, past hundreds of rubber trees, and a lone little monkey, and up the side of the mountain to a clearing where we could see the west side of Phuket. The morning haze was burning off and the view was gorgeous. As with many things in Asian countries, some of the less than desirable aspects had to be overlooked. The scary hooked prod, the elephant guide used to keep the elephant moving, was atrociously inhumane looking. Our elephant got 'prodded' once. Katie and I thought we were going to get thrown from the guy. From then on, we called him our angry giant. The little monkey we'd seen, upon closer inspection, had a chain around his foot that was attached the tree. Feeding the baby elephant was an experience, which ended with him giving us a disgusting, slobbering, snotty 'kiss' right on the front of our shirts, which we were planning on wearing for the next eighteen hours (we'd already packed our bags back at the hotel). I must say, I am still thrilled we went. Rode an elephant. Check.

We rode another tuk-tuk, the crazy open-air taxis, to find lunch. We stumbled into a seemingly cheesy tourist trap, but ended up having a marvelous meal. Larry had a fried seafood dish and the rest of us grilled our meats right at the table. Larry was also able to finally get his drink in a coconut. After having a couple of those, he was ready to take the girls miniature golfing. I soaked up the rays and a couple more cocktails, wishing I could get back those two lost days, but thankful I didn't miss any more.

With two hours before we had to leave for the airport, we all changed into our swimsuits for one last dip in the pool. We made the most of the time lounging, splashing, diving, and floating. Changing back in to our elephant-snotted shirts wasn't what we wanted to do, but our ride to the airport was nearing. Our hair was still wet when we left the resort and the girls were running out of steam. We all were fading. We'd done three days worth of activities in one day. I was sure we'd all be asleep before the plane was airborn. Wrong. Those girls stayed awake all night, after having gotten their second wind in Bangkok.

Thai Airways gave us each a beautiful orchid corsage, but even those couldn't keep the brisk cold winds of Shanghai from bringing us back to reality. The sun was just coming up as we drove through the city and as pretty as that was, I closed my eyes and dreamed of paradise...almost.