Author: Bonnie & George

Portugal

Lagos, Portugal

Portugal is one of the places that was on our list of possible countries to settle in. After a whirlwind three weeks in the States we arrived in Lagos a bit rundown and it took us a bit longer to bounce back from jet lag than usual. But after a couple of days, we finally emerged to begin exploring Lagos. Our timing was good, as we arrived before the majority of tourist and we were able to explore the city and beaches without the crowds.

Lagos is a quaint town in the Algarve region of Portugal. The “old town” is surrounded by the Lagos Castle which was built by the Moors in the 8th century. The town itself if divided by a large shipping canal that cuts the area diagonally. Most the residential area, old town, city hall and grotto beaches on are the Northwest side, while the major marina, ship yards and the largest public beach is on the  Southeast side.

Like many sun soaked areas in Europe, the buildings are almost all painted bright white with blue or green accents. The local language is Portuguese, and while almost no one speaks Spanish, many can muddle along in English. The distinction between Spanish and Portuguese is important since both Bonnie and I are pretty comfortable in Spanish, but we had each forgotten the Portuguese we learned while living in Brazil. One certainly wants to try and speak the local language, and since they sound similar the inclination is to ‘fake it’ by speaking Spanish. However, with all the similarities, they are different enough to be difficult. Orange juice, for instance in Spanish to jugo de naranja and in Portuguese it is suco a laranja.

All roads in Lagos lead downhill to the shopping/entertainment district that is nestled by the sea. This means there can be some pretty steep walks back up the hills to return from town or the beaches. The town in the old city is what you would expect to find in a European tourist area, jammed with small bars, coffee shops and trinket vendors. Kiosks line the boardwalk along the canal and small restaurants fight for space on the waterfront.

One delightful thing we have found is the quality of the live music presented by buskers in the street. Unlike many areas that shun traveling bards, Lagos encourages it and has it organized. Buskers are required to present their address and a photo once a year, they are also required to go in on Fridays and get a permit for performances the following week.  We are told that the enforcement of these requirements for newcomers is pretty loose, and a first time cry of “gosh I didn’t know” will get you a slap on the hand and an explanation of the rules.

We previously mentioned the beaches, on the other side of the canal is the the largest and longest which is called Meia Praia (Praia = beach). This white sandy beach runs for miles and is a favorite of the Brits who flock to Lagos in the summer. Along the beach, are several restaurants that offer a cool glass of Vinho Verde (a local style of white wine), excellent food and shade from the sun.

But the real jewels of Lagos are the grotto beaches just down the road from the old town. These beaches, starting with Batata do Praia (Potato beach) are harder to get to, smaller and surrounded by sheer walls of ancient rock. The waterline of the beach has more shells, stones and rocks than Meia Praia, but the views are amazing, Many of grotto beaches are interconnected by small passage through the stone cliffs.

 

 

 

 

USA

Art’s Chicken Wings and the Orion Cooker

We spent a few days in the beautiful North Georgia community of Big Canoe.We picked up our buddy Jim St Leger at the airport and headed north. Our friends Art and Jaqueline hosted us in grand style, and their daughter Nicole did her wizardry in the kitchen throughout our visit.

But when it came time for outside cooking, Art whipped out a new invention I had not seen before, the Orion Cooker. 

Suffice it to say the wings were amazing, and I vowed to make a blog post about them and the new cooker. Hearing this, and knowing that Art, Jim and I love to make music together, Art suggested that we record some music, which we did. Art had written a piece inspired by the midnight grumblings of their dog Sophie. So the day after the amazing wing adventure, we headed into the studio to record “Sophie’s Reel”.

Recipe and cooking video are below, you can see more about the recording session at the end of the video:

Dry Rub Mix

  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper more for hotter wings
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

Preparation

  1. Rinse wings (about 10 per person) and load into a shallow bowl
  2. Cover the wings in buttermilk and refrigerate overnight
  3. Rinse wings and pat dry
  4. Sprinkle spice rub over wings and toss to coat
  5. Arrange in a single layer (per rack) in the smoker
  6. Smoke for about 45 minutes
  7. Enjoy with celery, carrots and ranch, or blue cheese, dressing

USA

Back in the USA

So we’ve been back in the states for 2 weeks now. The trip from Thailand was way too long – about 35 hours from there to ATL. In hindsight, given that we weren’t on a fixed schedule, we should have broken the trip somewhere in the middle. By the time we finally arrived, we collected our bags, got to the hotel, showered and crashed. The splurge to use points on the Westin Peachtree Plaza for our first night was almost wasted given how dog tired we were when we arrived – but only almost.  We spent our first week back recovering from jet lag and catching up with family and friends. Our next step was to head South to complete our “move” to Florida.

We got our new Driver’s licenses and library cards. We’re staying with dear friends in Pass-A-Grille Florida (just outside St. Petersburg). Although we both grew up in Florida (George in the panhandle and Bonnie in So. Fl.) neither of us have spent any time in Tampa/St. Pete. Pass-A-Grille is a very cute tourist town with some great neighborhoods.

One of the fun things in this neighborhood is the clever mailboxes, here are a few examples:

Thailand

Thai Cooking Lesson: Green Curry Chicken

We were big fans of America style Thai food before we traveled to Thailand, but now that we have been here for a couple of months, we have grown to appreciate the subtly of flavors that fresh ingredients and a skilled hand in the kitchen can make. In this article will explore the ingredients and walk through the preparation of one of the stapes of any Thai menu, Green Curry Chicken.

First about the ingredients:

  • Coconut Cream and Coconut Milk: while we were at the open market this morning we watched a lady preparing coconut cream.
    • Large chucks of fresh coconut were fed into a machine that looked like a miniature wood chipper. Chunks of coconut in the top, shredded coconut into a collection pan at the bottom.
    • The shredded coconut was then spooned into a cloth bag and placed into a press. The resulting thick liquid, rich coconut crème, was collected in a bucket under the press.
    • This was then bagged up and presented to us to take home. 400 mls of coconut crème (about 13 ounces) costs us $0.60 USD

      • Some notes:
        • To get coconut milk, just add some water to the shredded coconut and run it through the press again.
        • You can get about the same results at home by running fresh coconut through the food processor and then squeezing the results through a clean dish towel or cheesecloth.
        • Don’t try to use store bought products such as Crème de Coco as this has added sweetners and will throw off the taste of your curry. Save the Coco Lopez for making Pina Coladas.
  • Chicken: breast meat, the fresher the better! The chicken we buy at the outdoor markets today was probably running around the yard this morning.
  • Green Curry Paste: given the extremely limited kitchen and the availability of so many fresh curry paste options, we have opted to purchase our curry paste.
      • At home we would probably have made it from scratch using dry
        ingredients (coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, salt) and fresh ingredients (garlic, Thai ginger, turmeric, kaffir lime peel, lemongrass, shallots, coriander root, sweet basil leaves and green “birds eye” chilis).
  • Eggplant: unlike many ingredients that are just used for flavor while cooking and then discarded, eggplant adds not just flavor but also texture and substance to the curry. There are many different kinds of Thai eggplant, some look like small cucumbers, while others are the size of large marbles and still others are about the size of large green peas. Mix them up and have fun.
  • Kaffir Lime Leaves: the kaffir fruit is from the citrus family, but unlike lemons or limes it has a tough bumpy skin which is used in making curry paste. The leaves are used for flavor (the hard center stalk is removed the edges of the leaves are added). Much like bay leaves in Italian cooking, the leaves are removed after cooking. The inside fruit has a very bitter orange taste and is not commonly used for cooking.
  • Red Chili: in the case of green curry, sliced red chilis are used mainly as garnish. The green curry paste has several small green “birds eye” chilis added during its preparation, the more chilis the spicier the paste.
    • Since we’ve been here we have learned that chilis are used to compliment the flavor of Thai food. Food that is too spicy is not properly balanced. The addition of chili should not be used as a test of manhood or as a punishment for eating Thai food.
  • Palm Sugar: we were actually a bit surprised to learn how often sugar is used in Thai cooking. Thick creamy Palm Sugar (called coconut sugar locally) is almost the consistency of peanut butter and is used to sweeten curry, salads and desserts. If you cannot get palm sugar you can substitute brown sugar or raw honey.
  • Sweet Basil Leaves: basil leaves come in any different forms such as honey basil, lemon basil or even Holy Basil “Holy Basil batman!”.
  • Green Beans: these are optional, but we like them in our curry. Thai green beans tend to be much longer than American style green beans, but either kind will work.
  • Fish Sauce: fish sauce is a staple of much of Thai cooking and can easily be found in grocery stores around the world. Fish sauce is best when fresh and unlike wines, it does not get better with age. If you have a open jar of fish sauce that has been in your cabinet for years, get rid of it and buy a fresh one!

The Recipe: (serves two):
• ½ cup coconut cream
• ½ cup coconut milk
• 1/3 to ½ cup chicken breast chopped into small cubes
• 1 tablespoon green curry paste
• Eggplant (1 large and 3 or 4 small, stemmed and cut up)
(If you have them you can throw in a small handful of the pea sized as well)
• 1 Kaffir Lime Leaf: fold in half and strip out the hard center stem
• ½ tablespoon of palm sugar
• 2 or 3 green beans cut into 2 inch sections
• 1 large red chili, cut into thin strips
• 1 tablespoon full of fish sauce
• 1 cup of jasmine rice, cooked.

Preparation is shown in the video below.

Serving suggestion: place half of the cooked rice into a plate and half of the curry into a small bowl for each person. Garnish the curry with the strips of red pepper. Service with an icy cold Thai beer such as Leo or Singha. Enjoy!

Thailand

American Touristers

It did not seem right to spend two months on the island of Koh Samui without hitting at least a few of the more popular tourist destinations.

A bit of background, the island has a ring road that is 51 kilometers (about 31 miles) around. The most common mode of transportation is a little motor scooter which rents for about $2.50 USD per day. You can easily ride two per scooter, we have seen families of 5 all on the same scooter. Without traffic and on decent road surfaces, you can average about 40km per hour on the scooter. So if your rear end can last that long on the bumpy roads, you could ride all the way around the Island in about an hour and a half. So, if you are brave (or crazy) enough, the scooter is your low cost ticket to almost all of the tourist attractions around the island.

Chewang Beach
Chewang beach is the most famous of the many beaches on the Island. It also the home to the most active nightlife, beach clubs and the party scene. There is a large Muay Thai fighting arena in the area, so on a regular basis you see panels vans with giant speakers blasting advertisements for the fights “TOMORROW NIGHT, TOMORRRROW NIGHT! The best Muay Thai fighters on the island compete….”

Fisherman’s Village
A much more laid back area. You can read more about this area in our post about it 

The Big Buddha
It is hard to go anywhere in the primarily Buddhist country without seeing alters to and images of the scared Buddha. As it’s name suggests, the one we went to see was big, we mean really big. It is located at the center of a Buddhist temple and it is quite amazing to see.

A note about the temples and the people of Thailand in general, unlike Rio or Miami, this is not the place to wander around the markets in short shorts and skimpy little bikinis. When you visit a temple you need to make sure you wear long pants (or a long skirt) and a top that covers your shoulders and chest. If you arrive at a temple like the Big Buddha without dressing respectfully you will be turned away, sometimes as with this one you can borrow a robe or wrap that is provided for you at no charge. Not sure how often these get washed and Thailand is quite warm, so you are wearing the same old sweaty clothes at the last several tourist before you wore….

Na Mueng Falls 1 & 2
There are actually two sets of waterfalls in Na Mueng, creatively named 1 and 2. Both sets of falls were actually really pretty but number 2 is much more interesting to get to. Regardless of how you get up the hill (either a 20 minute walk up some pretty steep hills or a paid 4 wheel drive truck ride), everyone has to hike to the top of the falls and that includes a really interesting (scary) Indiana Jones style suspended bridge that was made from scrap lumber and old rope.

 

 

The Reefs of Koh Tal
No trip to Samui would be complete without a boat trip out to snorkel or scuba dive the reefs off of the many surrounding small islands. You can read all about our scuba adventure to Koh Tao in a previous post.

The two things we have not done are:
• The Sacred Gardens:
o From what we have seen on the web, this actually looks like a pretty cool place, alas everyone says that you simply cannot get up the steep mountain roads on a scooter. Based on some of the places where we have been that were “scooter approved” we are inclined to follow their advice. So unless we want to pay a tour operator to drive us to the far side of the island and up the mountain we will not be seeing this….

• Hin Ta Hin Yai:
o A giant rock garden that features a big rock that looks like a penis.
 Ummmmm, yeah…. pass

Thailand

Bonnie and George Return to the Ocean

In 1986, when the world was sill young, we got certified as open water scuba divers by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI for short).  Not long after we got certified we dove (among other places) in the Florida keys, The Turks and Caicos, on Bonaire and eventually on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

But then we got busy and our attention got taken up by other things like playing music or running a little neighborhood bar and we just didn’t get back around to doing any diving. More than 20 years slipped by without us strapping on a scuba tank.

Since we are in the Islands of Thailand for almost two months it seemed like to perfect opportunity to try it again.

Recognizing that it has been many moons since we were trained, and while a lot of it is like riding a bicycle (you remember again as soon as you jump on), there are a lot of important details that we knew we had forgotten. So, “being charitable and cautious” we decided to take a refresher course before we headed back out into the deep.

There are a LOT of dive operations in Koh Samui, when we sat down to research them. What we found, in one recommendation after another, is that one outfit stood out among the rest. It is called 100 Degrees East

Since it was not far away, Bonnie and I jumped on the scooter and visited with the folks at 100 Degrees East at their dive shop and were quite impressed. We signed up for our refresher course and also for a day of diving on Koh Tao.

The story would not be complete if we did not talk a little but about pricing for dive trips. You can go cheap for long full day trip on packed older boat (around 40 people) where the ratio of guest to staff is about 10 to 1. As you can imagine there is little personalized service with this option. You bring your own beach towels, pay extra for soft drinks and the included lunch is quite limited. As an example, snorkeling gear with many of these operators include mask and snorkel but not fins.

Or you can pay about twice as much and go on a new boat with a typical limit of 12 guest. Everything is included and the guest to staff ratio is 4 to 1. Your fee includes pickup and drop off from your hotel, boat trip, full gear, water, fresh fruit, fluffy towels, a nice lunch and an amazingly attentive crew. This would be the 100 Degrees East trip. We saw “the other guys” while we out diving and were very thankful we had chosen to go the more pampered route.

On the day of our refresher we arrived at the dive shop to meet our instructor, a master diver named Kurt from New Zealand. We spent the first 45 minutes doing paperwork and then talking through how the refresher was going to work. We also reviewed all of the classroom stuff we learned so many years ago.

From there it was off to the pool, where we assembled our gear, did our buddy checks and demonstrated most of the basic dive skills. We were a bit rusty, but it all came back. We also spent quite a bit of time just swimming around the pool, getting re-acclimated, reviewing hand signals and working on neutral buoyancy.

We were back at our hotel in time for a late lunch and an amazing tasty Leo beer – the air in the tanks have no humidity and tends to make your throat quite dry, which makes that first cold beer taste awesome!

The next morning our driver was waiting for us in the parking lot of our hotel with a big smile on his face. He drove us to the scuba shop where we had one of the most complete dive briefings ever. Every little detail of the trip was covered. That would typically be the time that any other dive shop would have had you assemble your gear and carry it and the extra tank down to the boat, but not at 100 Degrees East – our gear was all set up and waiting for us on the boat. They even remembered to swap out Bonnie’s regulator mouthpiece to a kids size to make it more comfortable for her.

There were about a dozen guests on the boat which could have easily held twice that many. We dropped our flip flops in a dry box and climbed onboard a fresh clean new boat with cold water, soft drinks and even a marine toilet. From there it was about an hours ride out to the dive sites.

Kurt, our instructor from the day before was there with us and ended up being our private guide for our dives. What luxury to have someone with you who knew all the best spots. Gear on with lots of help from the boat crew, buddy checks done and then it was into the ocean, which was a balmy 27 degrees C. (about 80 degrees F).

While the water was delightfully warm, and most of the coral was alive and vibrant, it was a bit cloudy from a recent algae bloom, so visibility did not compare to what we remembered from dives in the Bahamas. However, the number, types of fish, marine life and coral was amazing.

As soon as we came back on board the boat the crew took our gear for us and set it up for the next dive. Meanwhile we were immediately offered cold water and fresh watermelon.

In between dives we had a freshwater shower, toweled off and headed over the the amazing beautiful Mango Bay. It is easy to see what so many movies are filmed in this part of the world. Lunch was served on the boat: white rice, massaman curry, fried chicken, egg rolls and soft drinks. It was delicious.

Our second dive was clearer that the first, and we had a great time with almost an hour of downtime on relatively shallow (20 to 30 feet) reefs. Schools of fish, rays, and lovely live coral beds.

On the boat ride back we were treated to a pod of pink dolphins, a rarity in the Islands of Thailand, the crew redirected and then stopped the boat so we could watch these lovely creatures breach and play.

Two thumbs up for the pampered service we got from Kurt and the team at 100 Degrees East. Hopefully we will be back out with them for another dive before we leave Koh Samui.

Thailand

Hangin’ Out in Bophut

The island of Koh Samui is all about the beaches, but like anywhere else, the key is finding the neighborhood that suits your personal taste. After a couple of nights in Chewang Beach, the most famous of the island beach areas, we decided it was just not for us.

We opted to trade in the full moon beach parties, and the Thai fighting arena for something a little more our speed. So we made our way up to the top of the Island to an area called Bophut, and more specifically the Fisherman’s Village. This area is centered around a central street that runs along the ocean, and is packed with excellent restaurants, bars, and of course Thai message centers.

When planning a visit, your first task will be to find someplace to stay. As far as housing costs go, you can get a nice boutique hotel on the water, in the middle of fisherman’s village with an  amazing ocean view for about $75 (USD). Mountianview view rooms in the same hotel costs about about $45. If you move to the other side of the street, you can get a nice room facing a pool for about 2,063 BHT ($66 USD).

For those who are planning a longer stay and are willing to live a five minute walk to the beach; you can get a serviced mini apartment for around $10 USD a day when you commit to a month.

Here are some good examples, each has air conditioning, free Wi-FI and wonderful staff. We have either visited or stayed in each one and can recommend them all:

Beach Front Rooms:
• The Hacienda: run by a very nice French couple, they go out of their way to make you feel at home, in rooms with a very Mediterranean feel. The hotel in on the beach but also sports a rooftop pool. Book in advance, this one fills up quick….
• The Lodge: closer to most of the the restaurants and bars; this is a more traditional, but lovely, Thai style hotel with lots of dark woodwork. The long rooms front on the walking street and back on the beach.

On The Other Side Of The Street
• The Elysia Boutique Resort: each room is surrounded by beautiful gardens reminiscent of a tropical rain forest, and they all look out over a amazing pool. Just as importantly, the delightful lady that runs this hotel is determined to make sure each guest is treated like royalty, and the rooms, the hotel grounds and the small bar are all immaculate.

For Longer Stays:
• Rak Samui Residence: amazing value for the price when you book for a month or more. This residence hotel has the feel of a nice college dorm, but with large airy rooms, kitchen facilities etc. It’s not the ritz, but it is clean and bright and about 10 steps above a youth hostel.

Once you get your housing sorted out, then you will have a whole other set of choices, such as where to have sundown cocktails, which restaurant to have dinner and what type of live music do you want to listen to after dinner. Then of course there are the street markets on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights at the wharf. On Friday afternoons when the whole waterfront from village turns into one giant “walking street” market. But more about these later…

Thailand

Home Away From Home

Let us say right up front, we love Chiang Mai, the people are so friendly and helpful, the food is wonderful and the cost of living is crazy low. But there is also another side to most of this town, it needs work. The sidewalks are cracked, most of the buildings are crying out for a paint job and the electrical and telecommunications above ground cabling is enough to send an old phone company guy like George into hiding.

In the midst of all this deferred maintenance there is an oasis called the Wualai Sabaidee Boutique Hotel which is located very close to the Saturday walking street. At just 1,200 BHT per night (about USD $38) we were treated like family and shown to a large beautiful room that would have made any luxury chain in America proud.

 

The check list of things we loved about this hotel included:
• Fast, Free WiFi
• Plenty of hot water and excellent pressure in a large tiled shower
• Safe, refrigerator and cable TV in room
• Bottled water at no charge
• High thread count luxury sheets on excellent bedding with comfy pillows
• Well kept gardens with plenty of shady seating areas
• A laundry service right across the street – 1 weeks worth of  laundry washed, dried and folded for BHT 75 (about USD $2.40)

The hotel is managed by two delightful gentlemen one named Thep and the other his cousin Poo (along with a myriad of other cousins). Together they great guest, help with baggage and keep the hotel polished and shining. We were really surprised to hear that the place has been open for 5 years, because everyting looks so brand new.

“Where will you go today?” cousin Poo asked us each day of our one week stay, and each day Poo or Thep would suggest a festival a market or some other interesting activity. We followed their advice and had a wonderful time.

We never got a chance to take the bicycles offered to use at no charge out, but every morning we enjoyed the fresh juice, fresh ground coffee fruit and toast offered just off the lobby while worked away chronicling our adventures for the travel blog. 

To be sure if we ever get back to Chiang Mai the Wualai Sabaidee Boutique Hotel will be the our home away from home.

Thailand

Thai Food: 101

We are starting to get the hang of this half day tour thing. Yesterday we headed out for Thai cooking classes. Again there were a LOT of options, so after some web research we chose The Best Thai Cooking School. The price was well worth the 850 BHT (about USD $30) we paid.

As with the elephants, we were picked up at our hotel (this time about 7:30am). After a few stops for more students, we arrived at an open air market for a very informative talk on fresh ingredients. After the talk, we were given 15 minutes to wander around the markets and then it was back into the van for ride to the farm and school.

Our first stop at the farm was to a rice paddy and large set of gardens. Who knew there was so much to learn about rice? Suffice to to say if we ever get stuck in the wild we can now harvest, separate and cook our own. We also know how to identify several different types and which rice of best for dinner versus dessert.

After a tour of the garden we were led into the main school where we were each assigned our own cooking station compete with utensils, a burner, chopping block and several different types of pans and woks.

The first demonstration was on making curry paste, pounding a variety of chilis, spices and seeds into the consistency of ice cream. Throughout the class the instructors (both men) kept up an informative and surprisingly funny banter. We were advised that we would get cookbooks with the ingredients and instructions spelled out “if” we passed the class. On several occasions the instructors would see us doing something incorrectly and joking yell out “you fail, come back tomorrow”. The Gordon Ramsey of Chiang Mai.

We were invited to select from several dishes to make up each course of five course meal:
• Soup – George made coconut milk soup; Bonnie made rice soup
• Salad – made with green unripened mangos
• Curry – George made red and Bonnie made green
• Stir Fry –  George made Chicken and Cashew Nuts; Bonnie made holy basil with pork
• Pad Thai – made in a work, and cleverly served in a thin omelette
• Mango Sticky Rice – unlike the salad the dessert is made with yellow ripened fruit.

With our courses selected and technique demonstrations complete we set to work preparing our dishes. Everyone chopped, fried and stirred happily away, with only the occasional shout of “You fail, come back tomorrow!”. Both of the chefs and their support team were extremely friendly and genuinely seemed to enjoy what they do.

As each dish was completed it went under our bench while we worked on the next. During our first snack break we got to enjoy our soup. At one point in the prep, we were shown how to inject a bit of flair with a flaming presentation of the stir fry.

After the cooking was done we took our finished dishes out to the dining area and enjoyed them with ice cold beer and some great conversation. So good, so fresh and so much food.

I am sure that it will not surprise anyone who knows us to hear that that ride back to your hotel was followed by a nice long nap…

Thailand

An Elephant We’ll Never Forget

Any itinerary in Chiang Mai must include a visit to one of the many elephant sanctuaries on the outskirts of the city.

Nothing can prepare you for the experience of spending time with these gentle giants, but we will endeavor to provide some detail about the experience. As a tourist you must be aware that there are two types of elephant experiences available, one involves riding the elephants on a jungle trek of sorts and the other is visiting a sanctuary to interact with them in a more caring way. We will not lecture on either path, but suffice it to say we chose to visit a sanctuary.

With that decision made, the next big question was which one, there are so many. After quite a bit of web research and review we chose the Kanta Elephant Sanctuary. and we were extremely happy with our choice. There are several full or half day options available – we chose the Kanta tour that cost us 1,500 BHT each (about $48 USD) We both agreed afterwards, we could have paid three times that much and still feel like we got value for our money!

A van picked us up at our hotel around 6:30am (we chose the morning excursion as opposed to the afternoon). The ride to the sanctuary in a newer air conditioned van took about an hour and it was our first chance to experience the mountains outside the walls of the city. We chatted with people on the bus from Brazil, Canada, Russia, China and New Zealand during the ride.

Upon arrival, we were given very colorful clothes to change into and provided lockers to secure our stuff. Once outfitted the group of about 15 of us looked like rodeo clowns ready to hit the circuit. Our guide then spent some time explaining to us that the elephants we were going to be interacting with were domesticated and were used to being around humans. They also advised that they were very curious and nimble with their trunks, so we needed to hang on to our phones lest the elephants grabbed them from us to take a selfie. Other simple rules: don’t run away from the elephants because they may see you running and chase you. Stay out from under their feet, and try and stay in their field of vision so they can be aware of you and where you are.

With that, we were each provided with a sack full of sugar cane sections about a foot long each and we walked down into a large field to meet our new friends. The elephants were very friendly and approached us right away, of course the sugar cane treats helped to cement the bond. Before you know it we were feeding them, rubbing their trunks, faces and baggy cheeks and in general just having fun with these playful and very hungry pachyderms. They ate sugar cane and grass and every thing else we fed them….

After our “getting to know you” period in the fields, we retired to a small pagoda for a lesson on elephant eating habits and differences between wild and domesticated diets. We learned that domesticated elephants do not get the robust diet that wild elephants do and as such require supplements. We then where taught how to create large meatball sized lumps of supplements that included bananas, tamarind, vitamins and more. With our tray full of “meatballs” we headed out again to feed the elephants, but unlike before when they took the snacks from us with their trunk, we placed the vitamin balls directly into their mouths. You have never lived until you have stuck your hand into an elephants mouth and placed a meatball near the back of her tongue. A shout of “Bom-Bom” would cause the elephant to open wide to accept the sticky treats….

With their bellies full it was time for a bath so we all headed down to the lagoon where the elephants plopped down and rolled over and gleefully lounged as we poured buckets full of water over them and scrubbed their hides with soft bristle brushes. Occasionally one of them would trumpet and shoot a spray of water through their trunks giving everyone in the area a nice cool shower.

After about three hours it was time to say goodbye to our new friends and head up to the camp again. There we were provided with showers and a place to change back into our street clothes. After that we had a snack of fresh fruit, coffee and tea and a chance to exchange photos with the people in our group.

We were driven back to the city and dropped off at our hotels with a phone full of photos and memories that will be with us forever…