I hadn’t heard about Erawan Falls before researching this trip to Thailand. Then it became one of my “must go to” places when finding the right trip. We had three hours to spend at the Falls today and it was worth it. We arrived around 9:00am, and after buying a towel, we started our trek to the Falls. We were fortunate that the rainy season just ended, so the Falls were open and the water was really flowing. The emerald green ponds, were named after the three-headed white elephant of Hindu mythology. They appear green because the stream dissolves the limestones calcium carbonate turning it an emerald green.

The top tier of the falls is said to resemble the elephant’s head. Gary was the only one from our group who made it to the top. It’s an impressive series of 7 waterfalls. Erika and Matt walked up to the fifth tier, Bowman and I hung around tiers 1&2. At the first tier we put our feet in the water and these relatively big fish would come up and eat the dead skin. It was a natural fish spa. Though a little startlingly at first, you kind of got used to it. They were really breath taking, with so many ponds and places to explore, sit and meditate, sit on a bamboo bed, or walk or swim through the cool water. Bowman and I hung out with Brenda today from Canada (retired police officer). She was a pleasure to just chill with and no pressure. I wasn’t sure what kind of wild life we’d see, then Bowman and I saw a monitor lizard in the same place where we were sitting earlier. It was big. No monkeys today though. Fortunately not a lot of tourists either. Then Bowman also saw a big ass boar in the parking lot after lunch. She saw a woman peel,a banana and give it to the boar. Just like a stray dog.

The drive to Ayutthaya was 3 hours and this time, Bowman and I got in the “disco”van. It was completely different than our other van from yesterday. The van is all souped up with a disco ball, lights and a tap for a stick shift. We asked him to turn it on for us, and it was a hoot. We started dancing in our seats, rocking the van, and the laughing. During our drive, we saw acres of rice paddy fields, but no rice. It is just past harvest time, so we just missed the season. We are seeing all aspects of Thailand – less populated areas, less prosperous and thousands of motorcycles, street vendors and marigolds. When driving down the road, it’s normal for bikes to swerve in and out of traffic, and at a light, they all go in front of the cars to get a head start. Uncle Mikey said it best, “Thai people are wonderful, kind spirited people, except on the road.” We stopped at a stand, and Amy got so excited. We walked up and saw eggs, fruit, cooked small birds and what I thought was squirrel. But it was RAT. Now Amy described it as not your average street rat, but rice paddy rats, so like free range. She bought four and yes, many of us tasted it at dinner tonight, and it tasted like beef jerky. (Erika chickened out).

Dinner tonight was on a rice barge in Ayutthaya at 7pm. It was a rough start and a surreal experience. We went to a restaurant to get on the boat. We’ll lined up to cue, when we heard a crash. Brenda had fallen and we asked Laurie (our doctor) to check her out. Fortunately she was fine. But how it happened was bizarre. Because the tide was so high, due to rainy season flooding, and the typical pier we would use was under water. So they set up a plank on the top of a table for us to walk across. One of the boards broke and she fell off the table and into the water. After the calamity, they sent us to another pier to board the boat, but when we got there it didn’t look safe either. Fortunately Amy asked the drivers to pick us up and take us over to another pier. Dinner was cold, and most of it was fried foods. We were expecting a light show, but what that really meant was that two of the temples and one church were lit up. Not quite what you’d see at either boat house row or Budapest. As we were getting close to the dock, Amy asked if anyone wanted to do karaoke. Let’s just say she didn’t get any takers.