Was invited by the tour operator after I sent them some business (my previous group who went white-water rafting with them). so I took along my trusty and equally funloving colleague, Kaye, and the English teacher, Mr. Wes Baxter. Well, the original plan was that the PR Manager, Gem was supposed to go but she decided to go cycling instead so we thought to invite front office trainee from Germany to go but he has an appointment so we invited Mr. Baxter who is English and therefore stoic but happened to be there at the right time so we asked him. He said yeah and so we arranged to meet at 8.30 a.m. on a Sunday.

I have never been treated like a VIP before. These people greeted me by my name almost all the time. They gave me a private boat just for my group, and a private table for lunch. They had food set for 6 pax but there were only 3 of us, and we finished EVERYTHING on the table.

THe rafting took place at Tone Pariwat Wildlife Nature Sanctuary in Phang Nga. It was about an hour and a half to get there by bus. It was raining the whole day so much so that the roads were flooded along the highway. THank goodness our bus was the coach kind so we were high so we kind just splashed along. It was white water without the rafting. Quite an adventure actually. We arrived at the park entrance and had to change to a four-wheel drive vehicle. I had in my mind, when the guide was briefing us about changing vehicles to climb the steep dirt-road into the camp, those jungle safari jeeps in compulsory military green. I kinda imagined an African guy holding a rifle seated next to the driver, both in camouflage khakis, surveying the land as we explore into the jungle. Unfortunately, or well, it wasn't that unfortunate...I just have a very active imagination, the four-wheel drive turned out to be a pickup. With a shelter and benches along the sides at the back. With the great ISUZU branded into the back. NOw I feel like I'm going to the wet market. But hey, the foreigners loved it. But must say the car was impressive. We had to go up slopes at an impossible angle, the ground crunching with rocks and stones, climbing up up up. The view was gorgeous, with a cloud of mist shrouding the taller mountains and as we climbed higher, we got closer to the mist. We looked down into valley farmland, surrounded by steppe plantations (we learnt those in secondary geog!). It's the kind of scenery you come to expect of the Asian countryside. And somehow there is something rather thrilling about having your expectations met. Like knowing abt the pyramids, seeing the pyramids in pictures, going to Egypt expecting to see the pyramids,and finally seeing the pyramids in all its grandiose wonder. It is a very satisfying experience. One problem abt the ride up though, the seats for the pickup were sideways, so when you go up mountain, you tend to go the way of gravity. I was right in the middle of the bench with nothing to hold onto except these handlebars so high up I'll be exposing my underarm smells to everyone in the pickup and beyond. Thought I'll save them the agony and it's really gonna be a sight to have both your arms straight up for the entire ride. So I did the next best thing which is to grip the floor with my toes. Oh yes, I have some pretty powerful toes. But all the toes do is stop me from falling off the pickup as we go up, but it did not stop me from sliding big time into Mr. Wes Baxter next to me. So I was hanging downwards most of the time and rocking back and forth cos of the rocky road. And then there was so much to see, so I had my head whipped back and forth to the views front and back so much so that i was ready to go home after the whole journey up.

Well, good thing I recover fast cos the white water rafting was worth everything and more. Of course it was worth it since I didn't pay anything for it. so it was more than worth it then. The services by the tour company at the camp was impressive. They have lockers in place for you to keep your stuff, they provide towels to dry yourself in case you forgot yours, and they have free flow coffee, tea, water and coke for the entire day. And they were very very very very very polite to me. I felt a bit weird at their special attention. Of course they are very attentive cos I had given them big business earlier and I might bring them more business next time, but I felt a bit....pai seh at all the fuss. Anyway, we had the pre-rafting briefing abt how to hold the paddle, how to secure yourself to the raft (through a cord in the raft where you slip your feet through) and how to hold on to your dear life to stay with th raft (with a tiny piece of rope in the middle of the raft) and how to distribute your weight to make the best progress (6 pax per raft, 1 paddler in front and 1 at the back, 2 heavier ones in front and the 2 lighter ones at the back). The instructor asked anyone besides the kids who are not strong swimmers. I slipped my hand up immediately cos I needed and wanted the attention of my paddlers (whoever they be) so that in case I fall, they have to come for me immediately. And it turned out I was the only one. Great. WEll, nice to know that I'll be going into the river full of strong swimmers then. THey had to split us up, 4 participants each raft but my group had 3 of us so we had to have 1 or 2 more members to join us, but the guide said no, my group will have the raft all to ourselves. WHich is good and bad. Good in that I won't be that embarrassed yelling my hearts out. Bad in that we have a super light raft (yes, be surprised that I'm not that heavy, at least not by white river rafting standards) so we ended up going in 360 degree circles all down the river cos the currents kept spinning us around. and the rafts behind us kept catching up with us and overtaking us cos they were heavier and faster. I think the winner of the group of us was this German couple (I think it's one guy and one girl, or 2 girls...I don't know...cos one of them was tall and huge and FAT and had a deep manly voice but he/she was ambiguously dressed in a leotard-like outfit and had long blond hair.) They  were behind us once and they rammed into us down river, knocking Wes off his seat and his paddle crashed into my knee. That was PAINFUL. But the ride was so exhilarating. THe 4 km ride was supposed to take 40 minutes long but I think it ended faster cos we were going so fast with a swollen river after a night-long heavy downpour. We crashed into the water, we rode the currents and we even stopped our screaming to posed for the camera for like 20 seconds along the river. My arms are now aching from all the rowing I did, but seriously, with a river that strong, I didn't think I made an ounce of difference with my frantic rowing. THough must say I did rowing for like 5% of the journey down river since I was busy a) gripping the rope in the middle of the raft for my dear life and b) I was screaming too much to remember rowing. It was soooooooooo exhilarating that when it was over and we saw people climbing out the river, Kaye and I whine and whine about going another round. IT.WAS.GREAT.FUN.

Got back on the pickup aka four-wheel drive and headed back to camp to have a drink before heading to the waterfall. THey were always so polite to us. Even when we were the last to go cos we were still making tea, they said please take your time, we have a private car waiting for you so no worries. Even Wes said it was great travelling with me. Bwahahaha. I do like being buttered up like that, treated like a VIP....who am I kidding, I love bring the PRINCESS... So we had a ride up to the waterfall. It was bloody, ass-freezing cold. It was raining so the weather was cold, we were high in the mountain so it was cold air, we were already wet from the rafting so we were cold, and the water in the river was cold, and the spray from the waterfall was colder, so we were shaking like Ricky Martin's bon-bons just standing at the edge of the river. But hey, nothing ventured nothing gained and we've already made it this far so we heck it and decided to go in. THe initial plunge was intense cold but after a while, your body just settles into that vibration mode so you make do with simple shivering. Attempted to get near the waterfall but the currents was so strong and I couldn't anchor myself so I kept getting swept away. Luckily not closed enough to the edge where I could potentially fall over the next tier into the rocks below. After a while it was like enjoying a freezing cold jacuzzi except that you really cannot stay in one spot to enjoy the jets. Made friends with a couple of Aussies guys who really talked a lot. Headed back to lunch still chatting but they separated us as my group got a private table and they had to join another couple at another table. So sad. And as said, we were so hungry by the activities that we ate enough for 6 people. THe guide even came by and asked if we would like more dishes. I think they took some food out of their staff canteen and gave us a dish. So sweet.

again we ate the slowest. Everyone else had cleared off already for the next activity except my group. Once again. THe nice guide kept telling us to take our time cos we have another pickup waiting. Awww.... we headed to elephant trekking next. Since we were the last to arrive, we only had one elephant waiting. THe biggest one. And it just has to be the naughtiest one. But at least we didn't get the one with the bowel trouble. THough not sure if it's a blessing to NOT be on the bowel-troubled elephant since we were behind it so it was even nastier I think. We saw every thing that came out of that elephant in front of us. It must have unloaded 10 litres of acid cos it was still bubbling when we walked by, and it must have unloaded 50 kg worth of poop, as well as ate 50 kg worth of bamboo. Ours was called Pimpa, she was the biggest of them all. We were towering over the rest in our seats. ANd this one has an agenda of her own. She refuses to move according to the track at times, she stops when she wants to and she kept making noises when the mahout talks to her. The mahout (elephant trainer specific to each elephant) kept talking to it, nagging at it. I think elephant and mahout has a very special bond. It's like mother and child. Child is naughty at times and mum keeps nagging at it. ANd Pimpa is a fussy eater, as we found out. She'll stop by a bamboo growth and she'll search through the branches for the perfect bamboo branch. So she was rifling through and mahout turned to us with a deadpanned face and said "she's a fussy eater. sorry." THe trek was amazing. We trek through the jungle and as mentioned, Pimpa was the tallest of them elephants so we were about 5 metres off the ground, legs dangling and the walk wasn't exactly flat. Thank goodness there were 3 of us so we were a snug fit so I didn't slide abt and risk falling. One part when Pimpa was going down slope (like steep downslope) I was literally dangling in mid-air. Kaye and I were so excited by the whole thing we couldn't stop making thrilling noises. As usual our English teacher was his usual stoic self, managing only a chuckle here and there to express how much fun he was having. Pimpa even crossed the raging river. Our brave brave elephant. Wes took over the mahout's job, riding the elephant on the neck. We were going like "Tarzan and Janes"....At the end of the ride we get to buy bananas for our elephant as a treat. I think the elephants like being around people. They get so excited (I mean besides the food) and I think they like being the center of attention. I mean it's ideal that every animal lives in the wild. But we humans are so pervasive in wherever we go that the faster we get this animals assimilated into our world, the better chances of their survival. So for those who are against using elephants for our own selfish pleasure of riding them, think again. No matter what, the land they are on has to become a source of income for people because human population increases exponentially. So if that income can come from offering rides in their natural habitat, if that money can come from tourism that helps protect their habitats, then isn't it better than we chasing them off to make space for farms and plantations? Anyway, elephants are such gentle and happy creatures. I always feel happy near one. Though w the right sense of awe at such a grand and majestic animal. If only elephants were smaller, I'll keep one to love and care for.

Anyway, after the ride we headed back to camp. The photos for the rafting were ready but we were dead broke. But I met the GM of the company who invited me and she so sweetly offered to give me the photos for free, and in such a lovely frame, better than those the tourists bought. It's so nice being treated like VIP, but I'd better not get used to it. Not for now.

And now I'm aching all over.