Phuket, Thailand

G'day,

Here are some pics from my recent trip to Thailand.



















This is where the movie 'The Beach' was filmed. Really beautiful spot.
































Doing some snorkeling.

































































We did a day of kayaking through some caves and found some nice lagoons when we came out the other side.




















































































































Some good thai food.






















Went out to a bar where it was tradition to try to make it to the top of this pole.






















Trying the one-handed approach.


































Hiromi, in a tuk tuk.




We were lucky enough to find out about an elephant rehab centre, where formerly abused elephants are now looked after. Many of the elephants in Thailand are exploited for tourism purposes, so it was great to find a place where the elephants are treated properly. The rehab centre was one of the highlights of the trip, and is not on any tourist brochure. It's also basically free to hang out with elephants, feed them bananas directly into their mouth (with a huge slimy toungue licking ya right up ya arm!), and also play with a couple of wild gibbons which come in from the jungle to hang out.

















Feeding a banana into his mouth.



































Went for a ride on an elephant for about 45 mins.




































Feeding the hungry fella. It started to rain pretty heavily about 10 mins into our ride through the jungle and a banana plantation, but this was great as it added to the experience.


















One of two gibbons that frequently visit the rehab centre. They have a good deal......get fed all kinds of fruit, and have their fur groomed by fascinated tourists whenever they feel like it.

































































































This is Richard who organises visits to the centre. The gibbons are good friends with him.




Well hope ya enjoyed the pics. Shutes.