World Cruise - Day 74 - Mar 26 - Laem Chabang, Thailand - Part 1

We’ve slept with the balcony door open the last two nights.  Krissie really likes the fresh air and the noises outside.  So up at 5:30a this morning to get ready to go early (7:15a) with our group.  We will be visiting Nong Nooch Garden, Nong Man Market and Sanctuary of Truth.

Here are a couple of pics as we pull into the port in the early morning hours:

Laem Chabang is a port that was completed in 1991 to provide a container port facility outside of Bangkok.  I’m not sure why we’re using this port instead of one closer to Bangkok, but perhaps there is not a large enough pier for a cruise ship in/near Bangkok?

Lots of boats in the harbor area, both small and large.

Off we go on our day of adventure…

Wow, what a day!  A day full of great fun and great color!  I ended up having to split this blog entry into two parts due to all of the great pics.

We went first to Nong Nooch Gardens.  We arrived early, so we had an opportunity to feed the elephants.  They were selling bunches of bananas for 20 baht (about 65 cents), so Krissie was feeding some:

We also watched them wash the elephants, which they thoroughly enjoyed:

There was a baby elephant nursing from its mother:

He got up and did a pose for me—the elephants all seemed to be so happy!

Krissie got her photo taken with a tiger:

…and some parrots nearby:

She fed the deer while a pony looked on:

And also fed the donkey, who was really reaching for her food:

…and the nearby goats:

Krissie got to see a peacock in the aviary:

Loved this bird and its beak, not sure what it is:

And the neck of this bird:

This colorful bird was near the back of the aviary:

I got my pic with one of the bigger tigers in another part of the park:

Then we went to watch the Thai cultural show:

Which included a lot of dance and elaborate costumes.  Our guide told us afterward that half of the women were really “man women” meaning that they were transvestites:

They also had a kick boxing demonstration:

I’m not sure which half of the women weren’t really women:

I’m pretty sure these were all guys doing the drumming:

They did the bang sticks dance routine as well:

…and some creative swordplay:

Then came the elephants and fights from the front of the elephants:

Outside, they had an elephant show.  They were extremely talented, including able to ride a bicycle:

They also did painting.  This guy wasn’t very good:

But look closely at the painting of this one—it’s a tree with a brown trunk, green leaves and green grass.  Krissie bought the shirt that this elephant painted, ask her about it:

The elephants were even able to kick soccer balls:

…and shoot basketballs (quite accurately, they always hit the rim at least):

This one did the hula hoop on his trunk while balancing on its front legs:

They asked for volunteers from the audience to get the elephant walk over you.  The elephant would try to tickle them first:

…then would walk right over them:

Krissie got to be picked up by an elephant by its trunk:

Watch as the elephant wraps her up with its powerful trunk:

…then begins to lift her off the ground…

…and up into the air…

…higher and higher…

…until she is up over its head:

…and then held her there with a pose: