Elephants in the Midst

The Art of the Language

  One thing I forgot to mention is that if you mispronounce a word or city name, it seems that it creates much confusion, and leads to corrections galore. I mention this as I was at the Mo-Chit bus terminal to catch an 8-10 hour bus ride to Surin. The window I arrive at has 3 destinations, Surin, Muhkdehan, and Buriram. "1 ticket to Surin" I say. The teller looks at me very confused like. I repeat, then just say "Surin". Shakes her head, then I realize the issue "Sooreen" I say. "Ahhh, Sooreen, 400 Bahts, please". This has happened on a few occasions, I think it's just to mess with the Farrangs who have pronunciation issue.

   The ride to Surin was uneventful, just long, and I arrived at midnight, the tuk-tuks were waiting and I asked if they knew where the White Elephant Guesthouse was. Of course he did....or whatever, he knew a better place for me, we show up at a 5 star hotel and my driver looks pretty proud of himself (many drivers get 'finders fees' for bringing people to certain hotels. I tell him not the White Elephant, he now looks confused, I am tired and frustrated by all these Scammy McScams going on here...even when I speak some pretty mean Thai. I say "pang muk-muk" (too expensive), he nods and brings me to another hotel, this place costs 350 Bahts, so I pay for the night and go to bed.

   I wake early and pack my gear, this place is rented by the hour as well, I am sure. I find a moto driver and show him a map to the White Elephant. we arrive and I say "Sawasdee-krub, Sabai deemai-krub" to the owner and she informs me that she charges Farrangs 500B a night, but because I sound Thai she will charge me 400B. I think my French has helped me get the right accent here. The place is immaculate and quite picturesque and in a quiet area.

The White Elephant Guesthouse

    I met some girls that are eager to show me around Surin, they are really sweet and kind, two nurses and an accountant, we go see a few temples around town, go to neighboring cities to see their temples/landmarks. I go to Buriram, Rattanaburi, Prassat, Roi-Et, and Chomp Chom at the border to Cambodia. We go to various markets, the big one in Chomg Chom, has every fake item you can imagine, purses, watches, electronics, clothes, shoes, and other items. This is a huge market, that is off the beaten path, but usually teeming with shoppers. I was there on a rainy day, so relatively quiet. I also went to The Elephant Village, where we were able to interact with the pachyderms, as well as watch their show. The show consisted of 8 elephants and their handlers doing various acts, including dancing, massaging an audience member, soccer, basketball, even some artwork was highlighted here.

'Draw Dumbo' matchbook courses

Pretty awesome stuff

    In Buriram, we go to Khao Kradong, an extinct, now capped with a temple and a large Buddha. The road up the Volcano is car friendly so the ride was smooth. Once at the top, we could see the city below. The temple is all on volcanic rock carved into blocks/bricks...as is many of the structures here.

We also saw a structure at a roundabout, which is a monument to King Rama the 1st. Who served as a political figure in this area before ascending to the throne.

Friends who brought me to Buriram

Monument of King Rama 1st

Massage anyone?

The Chong Chom market was a little damp

I was brought to another town and we found our way to Prasat Si Khoraphum, a centuries old monument/temple that was built around the same time as Angkor Wat. I had an eerie feeling going into this area, one I honestly cannot explain, I think it was the age and the architecture...maybe a little spiritualism, but I am very eager to go to Angkor Wat now...lol.

Prasat Si Khoraphum (look it up)

Proof that the Khmers were in Thailand in the 1200s