Surin Elephant Round Up 2015
November 20, 2015: Getting there OY VEY!
Chiang Mai is not the best place from which to launch yourself to the Surin Elephant Round Up--and going by plane makes it even worse. The best way would be to charter a van and drive for 12 hours--perhaps stopping somewhere overnight. Friend Mary organized this adventure and she did not really know the lay of the land. One problem is the almost total lack of of information on the internet detailing the "how to dos". In fact AlteCocker researched some as well. Friend Mary almost threw in the towel. She has a full time driver employed and he organized it. Despite coming from the area, he had problems as well.
So, we took plane #1 to Bangkok, hanging around in the lovely (sarcastic) Don Mueng Airport for hours for our connection to Buriram. An attempt to get baht out of the ATM was met by the "call your bank" message. Infuriating. AlteCocker had hoped that she could replenish her cash stash after last night's extensive phone call with the bank via Skype. No luck The plane to Buriram was #2. OK you get to Buriram--a teeny airport and there are no rental cars available there (forget Hertz and Avis). There is nada available. So you take a long taxi ride into the town of Buriram where some private individual rents us a car on a side street. AlteCocker kids you not. Hey, it's Thailand. Thank you Vin but next time (there will probably be no next time, by the way), there is a train station in Surin (information from other Elephant Round Up Show visitors); it would be a van or a train--or a local in a van meeting AlteCocker at the plane (very hard to organize; most tours to the elephant thingy originate in Bangkok and are very expensive).
So then we drive for another hour and arrive at the Hotel Martina. We have two main things we want to see. One is the feeding of the elephants and the parade. Duh. It was the morning of the 19th; we missed it. One down. We should have flown down on THURSDAY not FRIDAY. Hopefully, anyone reading this will not make the same mistake. Well, there is this Elephant Show with a mock battle. We did not miss that. We have tickets to TWO elephant shows and an evening outdoor show at Prasat Sikhoraphum. That will have to suffice.
As a veteran of Angkor Wat, AlteCocker did notice a temple in Surin and immediately recognized it as Khmer. She is learning something. You can see the temple here. The dead give away were the faces on top. You see those all over Khmer temples.
After checking into the hotel (very inexpensive and nice), we eat dinner at the hotel and crash. The restaurant was fine.
So, we took plane #1 to Bangkok, hanging around in the lovely (sarcastic) Don Mueng Airport for hours for our connection to Buriram. An attempt to get baht out of the ATM was met by the "call your bank" message. Infuriating. AlteCocker had hoped that she could replenish her cash stash after last night's extensive phone call with the bank via Skype. No luck The plane to Buriram was #2. OK you get to Buriram--a teeny airport and there are no rental cars available there (forget Hertz and Avis). There is nada available. So you take a long taxi ride into the town of Buriram where some private individual rents us a car on a side street. AlteCocker kids you not. Hey, it's Thailand. Thank you Vin but next time (there will probably be no next time, by the way), there is a train station in Surin (information from other Elephant Round Up Show visitors); it would be a van or a train--or a local in a van meeting AlteCocker at the plane (very hard to organize; most tours to the elephant thingy originate in Bangkok and are very expensive).
So then we drive for another hour and arrive at the Hotel Martina. We have two main things we want to see. One is the feeding of the elephants and the parade. Duh. It was the morning of the 19th; we missed it. One down. We should have flown down on THURSDAY not FRIDAY. Hopefully, anyone reading this will not make the same mistake. Well, there is this Elephant Show with a mock battle. We did not miss that. We have tickets to TWO elephant shows and an evening outdoor show at Prasat Sikhoraphum. That will have to suffice.
As a veteran of Angkor Wat, AlteCocker did notice a temple in Surin and immediately recognized it as Khmer. She is learning something. You can see the temple here. The dead give away were the faces on top. You see those all over Khmer temples.
After checking into the hotel (very inexpensive and nice), we eat dinner at the hotel and crash. The restaurant was fine.
November 21, 2015: The Amazing Round UP
The show lives up to its expectation. We saw the great granddaddy of elephant events. What AlteCocker was told is that the elephant show is an outgrowth from the old market--where elephants were bought and sold. Elephants used to be the tractors of Asia and a boy would grow up with his elephant. Elephants are no longer tractors and the elephant in Surin is an attempt to maintain tradition. Elephants are very controversial among tourists. Lots feel that you should just go to elephant preserves and help bath them and riding them is off limits. AlteCocker has to confess that she rode an elephant last year at the Baan Chang Elephant Camp near Chiang Mai. Done. No need to do it again and, besides, it was terrifically hard on her aged back. She lasted only a short time before she had to get down but she got the photo. Whatever you do are see, go do something with the elephants. The money spent helps keep them alive. It costs a lot to keep them in bananas and sugar cane.
AlteCocker took some wonderful photos of the show and nearly lost them all. More on that fun event later. The trip to Surin was not without stress. Is anything AlteCocker does without stress?
The show includes about 200 elephants. It's just incredible with elephants playing soccer an a tug of war with people vs. elephants. Then there is the final battle scene. The choreography was has to be amazing to make certain no one gets hurt.
Buy the upgraded tickets in the shade (we did). You do not want to be sitting in the sun for this one. It is damn hot in Surin.
Then there was the outdoor show at Prasat Sikhoraphum. That was not without stress either. At 5:00pm AlteCocker gets a call in her room. The bus is leaving. Our driver said we were going in the car at 6:00pm. AlteCocker was told we were leaving at 6:00pm by car--nothing about a bus. She does what she can to communicate that fact to the desk (not much English). She doesn't want to wake up Mary or Vin. OK, just before 6:00pm Vin bangs on her door to tell AlteCocker we have to get on the bus. Bus? Did he say bus? The bus left at 5:00pm. So Vin needs to get directions from the desk and off we go to Prasat Sikhoraphum (with a few calls to the hotel front desk to confirm directions). We make it before the show begins. The ruins used for the show are spectacular and you can see the Khymer influence. The show is locally produced and really well done. The food was just so so--typical when you are feeding hundreds of people simultaneously. The spicy grilled fish was great. The rest, well, was not--and something caused AlteCocker to throw up in the middle of the night after the show. Chalk that one up to travel in East Asia. Scenes in the show recreated scenes from Khmer history and the dance of Shiva with a passel of arms was terrific. The show is locally produced and put on once a year during the elephant round up. Definitely worth it.
AlteCocker took some wonderful photos of the show and nearly lost them all. More on that fun event later. The trip to Surin was not without stress. Is anything AlteCocker does without stress?
The show includes about 200 elephants. It's just incredible with elephants playing soccer an a tug of war with people vs. elephants. Then there is the final battle scene. The choreography was has to be amazing to make certain no one gets hurt.
Buy the upgraded tickets in the shade (we did). You do not want to be sitting in the sun for this one. It is damn hot in Surin.
Then there was the outdoor show at Prasat Sikhoraphum. That was not without stress either. At 5:00pm AlteCocker gets a call in her room. The bus is leaving. Our driver said we were going in the car at 6:00pm. AlteCocker was told we were leaving at 6:00pm by car--nothing about a bus. She does what she can to communicate that fact to the desk (not much English). She doesn't want to wake up Mary or Vin. OK, just before 6:00pm Vin bangs on her door to tell AlteCocker we have to get on the bus. Bus? Did he say bus? The bus left at 5:00pm. So Vin needs to get directions from the desk and off we go to Prasat Sikhoraphum (with a few calls to the hotel front desk to confirm directions). We make it before the show begins. The ruins used for the show are spectacular and you can see the Khymer influence. The show is locally produced and really well done. The food was just so so--typical when you are feeding hundreds of people simultaneously. The spicy grilled fish was great. The rest, well, was not--and something caused AlteCocker to throw up in the middle of the night after the show. Chalk that one up to travel in East Asia. Scenes in the show recreated scenes from Khmer history and the dance of Shiva with a passel of arms was terrific. The show is locally produced and put on once a year during the elephant round up. Definitely worth it.
November 22, 2015: A Visit to Vin's Family
OK, after a night of upset tummy and a colossal allergy headache--just about the worst one AlteCocker has ever experienced--AlteCocker takes a pass at attending the Elephant Show for the second time. We found out it was the same show from the day before so we missed nothing--except that we should have started the whole extravaganza by flying down Thursday to Sunday rather than Friday to Monday. Elephant Round Up amateurs is what we were. You learn by making every mistake in the book.
So, AlteCocker decides to stay out of the dusty environment and try and get some sleep. Turns out Mary didn't want to see the elephant show again either. She and Vin visit a lake while AlteCocker takes every medicine she has with her in an unsuccessful attempt to kill her headache. Happily, a stop was made for some medicine at a pharmacy for some strong medicine later and that finally killed the headache.
At noon we all set out with Vin to visit his mother and some members of his family who are subsistence farmers--meaning no air conditioning or even a flush toilet (there is electricity). Vin grew up terribly poor. He has a university degree from a Thai university. At one time he taught a private university, but that is a very poor paying job in Thailand. So he makes a living driving and helping foreigners (including arranging the logistics for the elephant round up with the crazy rental car). Thailand's economy does not always make sense. In any event, he is light years better off than his mother. She is 71--just 2 years older than AlteCocker. She looks a great deal older.
Mary and Vin have suitcases full of gifts. AlteCocker didn't even know she was going and did not provide, but there is plenty. Of course, she can't buy anything as her ATM card has had problems and she is scraping down to the bottom of the baht barrel. Then the craziest thing happens. Vin has this watch--and AlteCocker notices that it is her watch that she has been looking for. She apparently dropped it on the plane and he picked it up--asking a lot of people on the plane about it (except for AlteCocker) if it belonged to them. It's AlteCocker's travel watch--purchased from amazon.com in one of those warehouse deals. It's the kind of watch you take on vacation because you don't mind losing it. Vin said he was going to give it to his sister if no one claimed it. AlteCocker is not about to upset that applecart. She'll buy another. She gives it to Vin's sister. Vin's sister loves it. Best thing AlteCocker could have done.
We were served a great lunch at Vin's family home--and AlteCocker saw poor living conditions up close. But, Vin's relatives are making it and the children we met certainly looked well cared for. An ice cream vehicle came by and we bought everyone ice cream (or rather Mary did as AlteCocker's ATM card was still ailing).
Then it was time to return to the hotel. Bad news. There are two flights from Buriram to Bangkok on Nok Air each day (and Nok has more flights than anyone else). The flight we were currently on would have left us stranded in Don Mueng Airport overnight. No one wanted that divine experience. So, we have to leave Buriram at 7:30am. Yuk.
So, AlteCocker decides to stay out of the dusty environment and try and get some sleep. Turns out Mary didn't want to see the elephant show again either. She and Vin visit a lake while AlteCocker takes every medicine she has with her in an unsuccessful attempt to kill her headache. Happily, a stop was made for some medicine at a pharmacy for some strong medicine later and that finally killed the headache.
At noon we all set out with Vin to visit his mother and some members of his family who are subsistence farmers--meaning no air conditioning or even a flush toilet (there is electricity). Vin grew up terribly poor. He has a university degree from a Thai university. At one time he taught a private university, but that is a very poor paying job in Thailand. So he makes a living driving and helping foreigners (including arranging the logistics for the elephant round up with the crazy rental car). Thailand's economy does not always make sense. In any event, he is light years better off than his mother. She is 71--just 2 years older than AlteCocker. She looks a great deal older.
Mary and Vin have suitcases full of gifts. AlteCocker didn't even know she was going and did not provide, but there is plenty. Of course, she can't buy anything as her ATM card has had problems and she is scraping down to the bottom of the baht barrel. Then the craziest thing happens. Vin has this watch--and AlteCocker notices that it is her watch that she has been looking for. She apparently dropped it on the plane and he picked it up--asking a lot of people on the plane about it (except for AlteCocker) if it belonged to them. It's AlteCocker's travel watch--purchased from amazon.com in one of those warehouse deals. It's the kind of watch you take on vacation because you don't mind losing it. Vin said he was going to give it to his sister if no one claimed it. AlteCocker is not about to upset that applecart. She'll buy another. She gives it to Vin's sister. Vin's sister loves it. Best thing AlteCocker could have done.
We were served a great lunch at Vin's family home--and AlteCocker saw poor living conditions up close. But, Vin's relatives are making it and the children we met certainly looked well cared for. An ice cream vehicle came by and we bought everyone ice cream (or rather Mary did as AlteCocker's ATM card was still ailing).
Then it was time to return to the hotel. Bad news. There are two flights from Buriram to Bangkok on Nok Air each day (and Nok has more flights than anyone else). The flight we were currently on would have left us stranded in Don Mueng Airport overnight. No one wanted that divine experience. So, we have to leave Buriram at 7:30am. Yuk.
November 23, 2015: Dawn Confusion
So, we were up at 4:00am to start the whole process of driving from Surin to Buriram to return the rental car and switch to the taxi to go to the airport. The long and short of it is that when we switched from the rental car to the taxi at 5:30am or so it is dark out. Duh. AlteCocker leaves her camera in the rental car. Talk about stupid. Yes, AlteCocker is occasionally very stupid. She wonders about people who have perfect vacations. She wishes it would happen to her. It hasn't yet.
An aggravating day was spent until the rental car guy confirmed that the camera was in the rental car. Vin is arranging to have it mailed. It will arrive in a few days and cost AlteCocker mailing and some extra for the rental car guy's inconvenience, but all the vacation photos are on that film card. Glad to have you back, camera, event though her screen already has a crack in it. It's the photos AlteCocker wants. The hell with the camera and its cracked video screen.
So we had to take the two planes and got back to Chiang Mai about 3:00pm. AlteCocker is happy to report that her ATM card finally worked in Bangkok. She is not broke anymore; she can pay Mary for her half of the Surin extravaganza. The ATM mess should never have happened. As she said, she has never had a perfect vacation.
All the laundry was thrown in a bag and taken to the laundry lady next to the hotel. AlteCocker is proud that her Pimsleur Thai has improved to the level where she could tell the laundry lady that tomorrow in the evening would be fine. The laundry lady remembered her room number and even delivers to the hotel. Perfect.
Then she got some bread from the nearby bakery owned by a Japanese woman and ate that for dinner. Too exhausted to go anywhere, AlteCocker dutifully caught up the blog with her three stressful but memorable elephant days in Surin. If you can figure out some sort of logistics, hie thee to the Elephant Round Up even if you miss the parade.
The blog will continue here as she is back "home" again in Chiang Mai. It was a long time until AlteCocker was reunited with her photos--a very long time.
An aggravating day was spent until the rental car guy confirmed that the camera was in the rental car. Vin is arranging to have it mailed. It will arrive in a few days and cost AlteCocker mailing and some extra for the rental car guy's inconvenience, but all the vacation photos are on that film card. Glad to have you back, camera, event though her screen already has a crack in it. It's the photos AlteCocker wants. The hell with the camera and its cracked video screen.
So we had to take the two planes and got back to Chiang Mai about 3:00pm. AlteCocker is happy to report that her ATM card finally worked in Bangkok. She is not broke anymore; she can pay Mary for her half of the Surin extravaganza. The ATM mess should never have happened. As she said, she has never had a perfect vacation.
All the laundry was thrown in a bag and taken to the laundry lady next to the hotel. AlteCocker is proud that her Pimsleur Thai has improved to the level where she could tell the laundry lady that tomorrow in the evening would be fine. The laundry lady remembered her room number and even delivers to the hotel. Perfect.
Then she got some bread from the nearby bakery owned by a Japanese woman and ate that for dinner. Too exhausted to go anywhere, AlteCocker dutifully caught up the blog with her three stressful but memorable elephant days in Surin. If you can figure out some sort of logistics, hie thee to the Elephant Round Up even if you miss the parade.
The blog will continue here as she is back "home" again in Chiang Mai. It was a long time until AlteCocker was reunited with her photos--a very long time.