Don wasn't interested in doing elephant trekking, so I went on this tour alone.
Our first stop was the Klong Thom Hot Springs. At first I was thinking there was NO way I was gonna get into 35-40 degree water with Thailand being so hot, but I did, and it was nice. It's a cascade of naturally hollowed out "tubs" where you can sit to enjoy a natural hot tub. The water flows into a cool pool at the bottom. (sorry, no good picture - but lots on the net if you're interested) I managed to stay in the hot water for about 5 minutes before I slid down into the cool water for a refreshing swim.
Next we went to the Emerald Pool or Sra Morakot. They call it Emerald pool because of the colour of the water (look at the photo!). It's exremely slippery getting in our out, but once in the water is a tempid treat and the minerals in the water are supposed to be great for your skin - don't drink it though!After lunch we went elephant trekking. Because I was alone I had the elephant to myself, but because they gave me such a big elephant I couldn't sit on the neck like some of the other tourists, or at least that's what I understood from their explanation when I asked. So instead I sat on a seat strapped to its back. They did let me sit on the neck of a smaller elephant just to take some photos though.
The trek was just okay. I couldn't see the elephant from where I was sitting and I was at the front, so it was basically a glorified and bumpy tour of the forest. My guides didn't speak any English whatsoever so I had a conversation with myself - I would say something then start bursting out laughing. They probably thought I was nuts!
I was only nervous at two points. The first when the elephant abruptly stopped and started backing up towards a steep cliff. What I soon realized was that he was going off the trail to do his business, so everyone had to wait while my elephant took a crap. The other moment was when the elepant entered a small lake. At first I wasn't sure if the elephant was disobeying the orders of the driver and simply wanted to take a swim or if he was being lead into the lake. The water kept rising and rising and I was wondering if I wasn't about to drown strapped to my elephant chair. The elephant splashed himself (and us!) with some water from his trunk, and then turned around where one of the English speaking guides took my photo - whew!!Unfortunately the tour stopped there for me and I didn't get to go to the last stop - the Tiger Cave Temple. I was most excited about the Temple and the elephant trekking. When I booked the tour I asked them if we would be doing the Tiger Cave first and they assured me they would, and they even explained that it was only logical to do the Temple first and the Emerald Pool and hot springs afterwards in order to cool down and relax after such an exhausting climb, but in fact it was last. You see, the temple is 1, 237 steps (some very steep) up a mountain and I knew that if I didn't do it first I wouldn't have the energy to do it, or because of my bad hip I wouldn't be able to, but it made sense doing it first when I had the best chance. So in the morning I popped my ibuprofen and prepared myself mentally to make it to the top. Out of all the people that did go to the Temple only two climbed to the top - the rest were too tired to make the effort. But the reason I didn't see the temple is because I went to the hospital instead. The night before I woke up with something in my eye. I made an effort to wash it out but I couldn't get it out. I went back to bed and every time I would fall asleep as soon as I moved my eye I would wake up. That morning when I woke up it was no better. When we stopped for lunch (before elephant trekking) I filled a bowl with water and tried again to wash whatever it was out of my eye, but again it didn't help. During elephant trekking my eye swelled right up and it started tearing out of control, so when I got back to the stables I looked in a mirror and my eye looked horrible! So, anyway, I went to the hospital while the rest of the people when to the Temple. Long story short - the doctor found something in my eye, removed it, washed out my eye, and put me on antibiotics and eye drops. The whole trip to the hospital only cost roughly €30 thankfully, and now my eye is all better.
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