As Slow as Life
The past two days have been very slow, and for good measure: I wanted to relax and enjoy the sun as much as possible.
Today in particular, I don’t even think I did anything remarkable, apart from enjoying this delicious coconut.
Yesterday was a tad more eventful. After noticing how Phuket FantaSea treated its elephants, I wanted to see the other side of the coin and visit a more humane elephant sanctuary (link here). The park was founded by a Swiss who’d been living in Thailand for years and had seen how mistreated the elephants were in other places. A year ago, he built the Green Elephant Sanctuary, a place where elephants all over Thailand are rescued, brought and cared for without chains, whips, hooks, or any form of riding. The mahouts (lifelong elephant caretakers) are brought in as well, and they teach them only through food and positive reinforcement. Basically, all carrot and no stick.
For several hours, we got to feed them, bathe them, and wash alongside them, and it was an amazing experience! These elephants definitely seemed much happier than the ones in chains. And they were adorable! They lumbered around lazily, and you can tell that they loved meeting people and taking multiple baths a day.
In the evening, I decided to go out on the town and look at some brights lights.
And OH MY GOD!
Imagine if Vegas had partied too hard at Vegas, and you’ll get Patong. With every step you take you’re offered massages, shots, cheap beer, tattoos, kebabs, ping pong shows, strippers, dancers, and whole plethora of diseases.
Being a tall, white, young male here is a BAD idea. I couldn’t even look at stuff in fear of catching someone’s attention and getting offered a pack of smokes or a “Bro! Come see women!”
It was a bit of shame, because I genuinely saw some live DJs and open-air nightclubs that looked like fun. But not by myself in a foreign land. I like waking up with both my kidneys inside my body, thank you very much.
Tomorrow, islands and snorkeling!