The people going to surin had to leave on the 2pm bus. I packed after breakfast and left my bags on the veranda for the staff to pick up at 1pm. I didn't want to leave kham pan in the middle to deal with my luggage.
After a long session (we had to wash extra baskets of food for tomorrow because there are no volunteers on Mondays) of morning chores in the elephant kitchen, we visited the elephants at the medical centre. There were three elephants there. Here are three elephant bums for your viewing pleasure.
Mae Kham Geaw, Mae Tee and Mae Jang Peng. Jang Peng's trunk kept sniffing me out. She could smell the bananas I had in my bag. They were for Kham Pan, but I ripped a few off the stalk for each of them.
Curious sniffing trunks. I took this picture at hip level, right where my bag is. (If you were elephant food) This is how it would feel right before their trunk grabbed you!
Dom and his Mae Kham Gaew.
Dom is so proud of his tattoo of Hope! =)
Jang Peng was rescued on the day I had to leave the park in January. I didn't get to see the state she was in when she first came to the park, but I'm glad to see her so happy now. I love seeing Jang Peng with her mahout. They are both old and petite. They seem to be matched well. The mahout is shy, but he always has a nice smile when I see him. You can see how small she is next to Laura.
There was still time before morning feeding time so I went to the gift shop. They act as the receptionist at the park. I paid them 300 baht for my volunteer DVD and handed back the keys for kenji's room and mine.
Kham Pan was waiting for food under the observation deck. She gave me some questioning waves with her trunk. I still had corn and some bananas so I feed her those. Eric brought over a group of day visitors. They all posed close to her head for a wonderful shot. I made a comment to a volunteer on how beautiful the photos were and even I didn't have a shot like that. Eric overheard and offered to shoot some of me and kham pan.
Knowing it was my last feeding time with kham pan for a while, Eric took his group to the babies' shelter so I could have her all to myself! It was so thoughtful of him. I was really grateful. In the past, I always left at 5pm so I had almost forgotten i would not be around in the afternoon. Feeding her is just as amazing now as it was the first time I fed her. She tosses the food into her mouth incredibly fast when she's hungry. Sometimes, I like to watch her eat from the basket or let someone else feed her. You can learn so much about her just by watching her eat. You can learn a lot about elephants in general too.
Elephants that don't get enough food will eat anything you give them. At the park, elephants are fed enough so they don't have to eat food when it is not good for them. At first, I thought Kham Pan left pumpkin in her basket because she didn't like it, but Pon told me it was actually rotten. I think he also knows when food is good for her or not because sometimes he will throw out the food she doesn't eat, but sometimes he will clean off the dirt (because she will pick it up and drop it onto the ground) and put it back in her trunk.
I managed to (barely) catch her foot and mine in the same photo.
When Kham Pan finished her basket, Pon took it back to the kitchen. She followed him there even though he told her to stay. He emerged holding three big fat cucumbers. She knew he was going to get her more food and she couldn't wait. That's why she followed him! I really enjoyed watching her eat those cucumbers. She put the WHOLE thing in her mouth and then probably took more than 5 minutes to chew it. All the time, making these weird noises like squeaking rubber because she has no more teeth.
I don't usually bring my camera around, but it was my last day, so I took tons of pictures. All of them, with the camera held out in one hand, guestimated shots. I already have a lot of regular pictures of her. I really enjoyed these ones from different angles.
Maybe I wouldn’t be able to identify this photo as an elephant..
This shot was SO hard to get! (because her trunk was moving).
I sit/stand on the table so I can be on the same level as her.
I spend a lot of time, just sitting and watching her. Most of the time, I'm really sappy and I look into her eyes. Sometimes, I examine her and focus on different parts that I never pay attention to. I try to notice all the small things about her so I won't ever forget her.
When I was looking at the countless spikey hair on her side, I noticed a flea. It was my first time seeing a flea on an elephant! Pon's showed them to me before. They are SO small, I always wondered how you could spot them on such a large surface as the elephant's skin. Fleas can make an elephant itch so bad that they will break their skin scratching at them. I told Pon and he killed it between his fingernails. I was so happy that I could help her find one and get rid of it.
An up + down shot.
Pon got her two pumpkins when she started getting restless again.
They work so well together =)
The mahouts trying out someone’s new camera.
I had lunch while she went off to eat some grass. After I ate, I found Michelle and Ken to give them their elephant cards. Then, I went up to the observation deck to wait for her to come back for bath time.
(If I was the bench) This is how it would feel before the dogs jumped up to sit on me.
Catching a breeze and also keeping an eye on things. At night, the two of them will sit on the bench with me. During the day, sometimes it’s too hot for them to lie on the bench. They also need to be able to see everything that’s going on with all the visitors down by the water.
My favourite bench was taken over by some overnighters. I walked to the end but stopped midstep when I realized there were three mahouts lying down on the benches. The dogs following me walked into my legs. I turned around and went to sit across from the overnighters. It felt a little bit like invasion of privacy, but I soon saw Kham Pan's high forehead and deep temples turn the corner of the feeding platform.
I went down the stairs to join her by the river. I waited by the cows. The dogs bark and chase at them. They usually don’t come so close to the river when it’s so busy with people (and dogs).
Here she comes!
Elephants belong in nice weather.
I watched her take a bath. The river is running very high because of all the rain from rainy season. Kham Pan stays at the edge of the river to avoid the fast current. 
I enjoyed the water droplets she sent flying at me when she lifted her trunk and sprayed her back. I probably won't be so lucky to see this when I come back in December because the water is too cold. I pretend it's raining and it makes me laugh every time she sprays over her head. 
I love when I see mahout-elephant symmetry.
After the bath, I thought I would have to say goodbye to her because she usually heads to the field at this time. However, she walked back under the observation deck to get a few scratches in. I was so happy to spend a bit more time with her. Pon got some bananas from Kat to keep Kham Pan there a bit longer too.
Then, another pleasant surprise came to me. Kham Pan decided to hang out with Mae Geaw in their shelter. Jarunee (Mae Geaw's bestfriend) doesn't like Kham Pan but she wasn't around, so the two of them could hang out. Their shelter is beside the feeding platform, so I could walk back with her.
When I came in May, I always walked side by side with Kham Pan. It was very sunny and a big elephant provides a lot of shade. It's a good thing I can do without her shade now because the old lady has picked up her pace. Now, I often see Pon half jogging behind her to keep up because she's gotten so robust. It makes me really happy and less worried that my time with her will be short.
Though she stayed around the shelter, she walked around a far bit and we kept having to follow her. I was ready for a quick goodbye any moment she felt like heading out into the field. Maybe she knew I wasn't going to be here for much longer so she stuck around. Who knows? I got to see her until I had to leave to put my luggage in the van and say goodbye to everyone that wasn't going to surin with me. When the van finally pulled of the park, I didn't see her by the shelters anymore.
I slept on the ride back to chiang mai. I always do. I wake up once we get to the city because the car movement changes. We dropped off people one by one to their respective hotels and guesthouses. Meg and I were dropped off at the office. When Chris and Eleni got there, we left our bags and went with Donna and Dino to go run some errands.
First, we went to the seven-eleven to get some drinks. I had a black sesame soy milk. I waited all week for it! I don't know why the shop by the park entrance didn't carry it this time I was here. I also got a lychee jelly drink for the overnight bus ride. Then, we went to the market by Tai Pei road.
We all wanted to get a long sleeve t-shirt for Surin. We were told it's better to have one. However, it was so difficult to find one we liked and frustrating to bargain at the day market. I remembered someone told me I could just get arm sleeves to protect myself. I asked a lady at a stall but she told me the closest place I could get them were a ways away. Fortunately, she actually had a pair she bought yesterday and never used before. I don't know how much they normally are, but I bought a plain white pair from her for 50 baht.
Solution found, we went to McDonald's across the street. I got a Spicy Chicken set and a pineapple pie. We sat upstairs. It was so stuffy and hot, I lost my appetite. I only had the fries and coke.
Last stop before going to the office was the pharmacy. I showed the cashier the photos I took of the products I wanted. I picked up systrol cream (for itchy bites) and banocin (for open wounds), both recommendations from Michelle. It was 145 baht. I paid with a big bill and almost got scammed 300 baht. Good thing I paid attention to how much it cost.
Back at the office, I met Adam, a repeat park visitor who would be joining our group. Everyone was loaded into the van. The two volunteer coordinators: Dino and Chet. The six volunteers: Chris, Eleni, Meg, Kenji, Adam and me. We got dropped off at the bus station at 5:40pm. The bus didn't leave till 6:15pm. We had time, so we all went to get some snacks at the nearby seven-eleven. Chris, Eleni and I paid 3 baht each to use the washrooms. They gave us a box of three tissues, so I guess you can say I paid 1 baht a tissue.
At 6:00pm, we brought our luggage to the bus platform. It had to go through a giant (xray?) machine. We got into our respective seats. Chet explained all the buttons on the chair for us.
There were three channels and you could pump up the volume and lean back to hear from your own personal speakers. There was a massage button, a tab to pop up the foot rest and a lever to lean back your seat. On the arm rest was a light switch and a red button to call an attendant. A safety video played on two tv screens at the front of the bus. An attendant came around to pass out a water bottle, a bag of chips and a package of cookies. felt like I was riding on a plane.
I've been writing out this blog post ever since I got on the bus. It's 8:00pm now. They are playing Titans on the tv screen right now but it's in Thai, so I don't have my speakers on. Everyone's getting some sleep. It's a 14 bus ride to Surin. Maybe I'll sleep for the next 12 hours! Good night :)
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