Krabi, Thailand - Day 3

Day 3 was a day of variety. We went out on a land tour which took us to three locations. The first being the Hot Springs, which if anyone has ever been to one, it always leaves you thinking how nature works. The pools of hot water at the top of the Springs were quite amazing and emptied into a large cool body of water. When we arrived we were the only tour group there (there were 6 of us total) and had a private bath of sorts. The water was so hot that you really did need to go and cool off!

We next ventured to the Emerald Pool located in a National Park in the jungle. The "pool" was quite warm and comfortable and the kids ( and Jim too!) dove off the dock and slid off the sides. It was quite fun!

The finale of the day was elephant trekking which was very enlightening. The elephants are trained starting at the age of 8. It is a very controversial practice as there is much concern as to how the elephants are treated. Our elephants appeared to be treated well by their trainers and were never hit but rather expected to respond to commands. However they did have the elephants chained by the ankle to a tree in between rides (we didn't actually witness that but you could see the tree and the chains). At night they presumably take the elephants into the hills and allow them more freedom although they are still captive but have a wider area in which to roam. The ride was slow and clunky ( I don't know how else to describe it). Kristin and I had a novice and he was slightly misbehaved!! He veered off the path to eat and headed towards the water - we thought at that point that the three of us were going for a swim!! Fortunately he only bent down to take a drink and didn't spray us!! He definitely made our adventure interesting! We had mixed feelings after riding the elephants as it was an experience to ride such a large animal but it left you a little disheartened that their captivity became their existence.