Today we went on a tour of the waterfalls and a cave, and did an elephant ride and a bamboo raft ride. It was OK, but I don't think I'll do any more organized tours. A funny moment in the mini-van on the way was when a cop was up ahead, and the driver and the guide quickly clasped together their seat belts. The cop, who had seen them do this, pointed at them and laughed. The police here can be funny. Sitting in a bar in Bangkok the other night about 2:30 am, a cop on a bike sailed down the street, and did nothing even though the bar was supposed to close at one. Another story I heard: the Dutch guy I met in Chiang Mai was going to be fined 2000 for throwing his cigarette butt on the ground. His quick-thinking wife started punching numbers into her cellphone. When the copper asked who she is calling, she just said, "a Thai friend". This frightened him enough to allow them off.
The Erawen waterfalls are situated in a large park. Monkeys were swinging in the trees, and little newts scurried across the path. The jungle is not a quiet place like BC forests. There is a continual din of bugs, birds and monkeys, and who knows what? I had a little swim in the river below one of the seven waterfalls. The water is crystal clear and you can see large schools of fish swimming about. These nibble at your feet when you are in the water which is a little disconcerting at first. That must be where they got the idea of the fish massage that you see around town: stick your feet in an aquarium for half an hour and let fish bite the dead skin off.
The elephant ride was fine. It only lasted about half an hour. Some Japanese tourists went after us. When the one woman wanted to give the driver a tip, the elephant took the bank note from her and handed it to him. The tour ended with a short train ride and a few photos at the Bridge over River Kwai which I saw yesterday. But I liked being on the train. It reminded me of the ride from Bangkok to Ayutthaya a week ago.
Later on, we had dinner at the same place as last night. We met an old woman there from Yorkshire. She said she was from Yorkshire anyway, and she had the accent to prove it, but she left in 1957 to learn French abroad and never went back. She had all kinds of interesting stories since she has been traveling around on a budget for decades sometimes teaching English along the way.
