More Phun in Phuket

Our second full day in Thailand we went "caving". I have to say, it was really cool! We drove to the mainland to Elephant Hill: legend says that this guy came to the region, stayed there, but a herd of wild elephants came and trampled his crops. He was pretty pissed so he grabbed his spear and ran after the herd. He came across one lone elephant, which wasn't one of the wild ones and was actually quite innocent, and he speared it to death, gutted it and ate its innards. Well, they say that the hill is the remains of the elephant. It actually does look like an elephant. (Sorry, I didn't take any pictures!)

Anyways, inside the hill are caves with interesting stalactites (sp?) and such. We took a rubber canoe through the narrow water filled channel, then transferred to bamboo rafts (which weren't necessary, just for tourist fun) and then we trekked through thigh high water to wander around. I did have a moment when I thought the flashlights would go out and some gigantic prehistoric amphibian who was really hungry and angry would pop out and eat us, but it was only for a second. However, there were lots of bats there. Which makes me wonder, since people always say it's good luck if a bird poops on you, does that apply to bat guano too? More likely I will get rabies, right? (DOH people, please confirm that I have nothing to be worried about since I wasn't asleep in a cave with bats.)

After the caving, we went to an "Island Safari", or as I like to call it "Exploit Animals for Tourism!" We rode elephants (here I will confess that I took my sandal off so I could touch the elephant with my foot. It was much softer than I had expected. Very comforting to touch, actually.), watched a poor monkey on a leash toss a few free-throws and shake hands, and then there was the ox-cart ride. FUN!











































Now we are in Phuket City. It is not as touristy here and definitely pretty run down looking. I think we might do some shopping today.

Okay, I'm out of time. Next time I will have to tell you about our fellow tourists and about spirit houses.