We started with Wat Arun. The grounds alone are always impressive.
The sky was a perfect, clear blue for photos.
Of course, that meant that the girls were partially blinded every time I tried to get them to pose for a picture.
They were good sports about it though. We got some popsicles afterwards and did a bit of shopping. We even saw some traditional Thai dancers.
The girls got some time to chill in the shade while we looked at another temple on the grounds.
Then we crossed the river to go see Wat Pho. I love that temple, but getting a good photo sometimes involves practically laying down on the ground.
The feet were covered for touch up work, which was sad, but we got to see some touch up work in action, which was interesting.
After the temples, we walked one river taxi stop back, and then retraced our boat and BTS steps. Luckily, there's a Chu's along the way, so we were able to refuel with lunch. Vivian had pancakes even though it wasn't breakfast time anymore, big surprise.
It was a good first adventure, but we had bigger plans for the next day, Kanchanaburi. We had a van pick us up bright and early, and they got to see some of the Thai countryside on the two and a half hour drive.
Kanchanaburi has a lot of WWII history. Part of the Thai-Burma railway went through there. We started our visit at the war cemetery.
Then we went to the Death Railway Museum across the street (no pictures allowed). We finished up with lunch on the river with a view of the famous bridge over the Kwai River.
The restaurant was actually on floating platforms on the river. When the girls were done eating they fed the fish from a bridge between the platforms.
After lunch, we got back in the van and drove for about another hour to the Hintok River Camp, a glamping resort near the Hellfire Pass. Each family got a canvas tent with a bathroom in the back, my kind of "camping" ;-)
The rest of the grounds were beautiful too. The reception area had a great balcony looking out over the river.
The girls had a lot of fun exploring the level camp ground at the top of the hill and the riverside relaxing area at the bottom.
They decided they wanted to try out the natural pool, so the dads took them, while the moms got some drinks at the reception area.
Everyone had a relaxing afternoon waiting for dinner. Dinner was included in the stay, and it was a great, outdoor set up.
It really got going once it got dark.
The girls staked out a table for us, and we took our time enjoying the buffet.
After dinner, there was a fire to gather around, and it was actually chilly enough to be able to enjoy it.
It was a magical evening, with the bonus of the food actually being really good! Eventually we made our way back to our tents.
We were surprised to discover that it was actually COLD at night. We were totally unprepared for genuine cold weather, and it seemed like the camp wasn't prepared either, because there were no extra blankets. We layered on clothes and tried to stay warm. Eventually we were all tired enough to fall asleep.
Breakfast the next morning was fun too. It felt like we were in a tree house.
Vivian chugged her orange juice, which her stomach did not appreciate. It sent it right back up, so breakfast was a bit shortened. She was fine a little while later though, and she and Kaitlyn were running around the camp until the driver camp to pick us up and take us to our next adventure, Elephant World!
It was back towards Kanchanaburi and home, so it took about an hour, but then we had a whole day hanging out with the elephants. We started with feeding them.
Each elephant had its own area where it stood with its own basket of food and a sign telling about it.
After eating, the elephants walked down to the river for a drink, and we followed.
We hung out at a slightly raised area while the elephants wandered around and did their thing.
Then we went to make pumpkin rice mush balls. We started with chopping up the pumpkin and some of the employees got the rice cooking.
While that was happening, the girls got to "hide" watermelon treats for the elephants to find later.
Then we all took turns stirring the pumpkin rice mush. It was hard work!
Finally, it was declared done, and we left it to cool while the guide took us to watch educational videos about elephants. Then it was feeding time for the humans. They had a nice lunch buffet, and we found a little covered table area to enjoy our lunch.
They had an elephant craft for the kids too.
When they were done with that, the girls drifted back to the rail to watch the elephants play in the mud.
The elephants got good and dirty, which meant it was time to go back to the river and give them a scrub. Vivian was ready for the challenge!
She and Jeff had fun in the water while I stayed on dry land and documented.
Then it was time to go back to our cooled off rice mush and make mush balls which we fed to the elephants.
Before the day was done, we had one last food task. We had to fill the elephants' baskets with the foods that were on their list and then give them one last meal.
It was a full, fun day, and we all slept well that night.
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