Deliverance continued

So I guess Erika's writing cliff-hangers now. Let's see if I can tie up the loose ends in the 3 minutes I have left on this thing.



The bamboo raft hit some rapids, and at one point, the raft did some serious pitching, and I fell off, and so did the Irish dude behind me. I was clinging to one of the baskets as if for dear life just like in the movies before realizing that the water was like 3 feet deep and I could stand. After falling off the thing, and while clinging to the basket, the guide asked me, "do you swim?" I really don't like that guy.



The back of the raft then broke a couple of times, including one time when the Irish dude's foot just went through it. I don't think it was for real dangerous, but it was a little, even according to the Irish dude, and he works in Sudan. The Deliverance-style part came at one point when the raft was broken, and some random guy (at least it seemed that way ) came out of the jungle to help us fix it. He was nice. It got fixed. Anyway, the trip ended and we all got there safe and sound.



There was no way I was going whitewater rafting after that, but Erika did and said it was a blast -- she learned how to steer one of those rafts, there were helmets and life jackets to go around, and the guide knew what he was doing and was really good. I on the other hand napped for about half an hour and then rode down in a pickup truck with the Irish/Kiwi couple to meet Erika and the French couple at the finish. After passing an Italian man wearing a very small swimsuit on one of the rafts, the Irish dude said one of the funniest things I have ever heard (warning -- ethnic slur ahead): "How far into the jungle do you have to get to not see a wop in a Speedo?" I really like that guy.



Then we got back and showering and getting clean felt amazing, as did sleeping on a soft bed. Then we went to sleep at like 9 PM on a Saturday night (apparently the French did the same).



Other notes on the villages -- they were in really beautiful locations, but their life is still really simple and really hard. It was the first time I had been in that type of cultural experience -- I don't know for a fact that it wasn't contrived, but it was far in the jungle and everything seemed pretty real (the only influence of tourism was that each village had a small stand selling drinks). One woman was making food using mortar and pestle (is that what it's called?), there were pigs and chickens everwhere, and a couple things that are just stupid, like an indoor stove that keeps smoke trapped in the hut where people sleep instead of having ventilation. Erika tells me this is a problem that reduces life expectancy in places like this.



One thing I continue to learn and saw in both these villages as well is that little children are basically the same everywhere. They like pretty colors, smiles, and attention. One adorable little kid kept looking at someone in our group's photos and then repeating the words that he was told were the English words for what was showing up on the screen.



I have to stop typing now (I actually got a bonus 10 minutes, I didn't write this in 3), so one note on something Erika left for me: the Night Safari.



In a country where there are lots of beautiful, amazing things, but which are run in a way that we in the United States would sometimes refer to as "bootleg," this one was a shocker. This experience was polished. Like, Disney-style clean and orderly. And it was amazing. First on the program, there was a "Music Fountain." "What's that?" we asked. "It's like a... fountain. With... music." That's actually about as close as you can get, except there was a laser light show involved through the mist of the fountain set to the music. Pretty cool. But the main attraction of course were the animals, which were amazing.



Erika usually gets upset at zoos, expecially when there are big animals in small cages. Erika was not upset at this at all. The animals all have plenty of room to roam, and for most animals there are several of them, so they have some sort of social life. By "room to roam," I mean our tram-type-thing had to stop a couple of times because wildebeests or giraffes were blocking the road. We saw lions, tigers, bears, giraffes (look more graceful than I thought), rhinoceri, hippopotami (look funnier than I thought), a cheetah, all sorts of deer and antelopes, etc. And they were really close and healthy and happy looking. It was amazing.



Also, they had a thing where you could get your photo taken holding a baby white tiger (of which there are not many in the world). In the picture, the tiger is sitting in Erika's lap and I am feeding it from a milk bottle. It is every bit as adorable as it sounds.



OK, time's up! More from the beach! (flight to Bangkok and then to Krabi tomorrow)