Elephants & The Cheap (Good) Life

Day 10:

Sheraton Breakfast

Elephant tour

Thai massage in Thailand

Travel back to KL 

Billionaire party

After breakfast at the resort, it was time for the much anticipated Elephant riding tour. We took a short 10-15 minutes van ride to the sanctuary and boarded our elephants. The elephants' skin was so rough it would make the nastiest and roughest of feet seem as soft as a baby's butt. Riding an elephant has a way of reminding of how small you really are. You can definitely feel their power. Halfway through, my guide jumped off and let me get on his neck/head and "drive" him solo for a bit... Then my guide took my seat in the back and let me drive him all the way back for a good 20-30 minutes. I had a blast. When we finished the ride, we fed them bananas and squash from our hands directly into their trunks. It was quite the experience. 

When we got back to the resort, we had about 90 minutes before we had to leave for the airport, so I grabbed a quick shower, packed real quick and headed to the beach for one more massage, this time a traditional Thai massage as I just couldn't leave Thailand without getting a Thai massage. Cost... 250 baht, about $8 U.S. for 60 minutes. I'm really going to miss this unbelievably cheap pampering. I absolutely loved my time in Thailand. I will remember it for its delicious food and hot muggy weather... but more than anything, for the picturesque landscape. All of which I wish my wife could have been here to enjoy with me! 

We headed back to Kuala Lumpur in the early afternoon and had a big birthday party to attend for a billionaire family friend of Groovy's. Needless to say, I anticipated an interesting evening of observing how this side of the economic spectrum throws a birthday party. We ended up with our first major travel delay when our plane had mechanical problems, and we sat on the runway for over 3 hours before taking off. The delay caused us to miss a lot of the party, but we still managed to get there. The property is difficult to explain, but basically these people have about a 20 acre compound in KL with a huge lake in the middle and multiple houses, garages, entertainment buildings, a par 3 golf hole, beach volleyball courts, and probably much more that I didn't see since it was nighttime. The party was a grand production complete with a band and the whole nine yards. I will say the people were very nice (especially Groovy's close friends) and we had a great time. 

Hi Cate! You would have LOVED this!

Awesome massage!