This was a short visit; we only docked in Phuket
at noon and had to be back on board by 5.30 PM. Nevertheless we had an excursion
booked through the Cruise Line so we had no worries about missing the ship in
case something delayed us in our land travels. The possibility is always there
that a car breaks down or something else will delay us and if that happens and
you are not on an Oceania sanctioned excursion, you are on your own. The ship
will leave without you. It is then up to you to get to the next port to rejoin
the ship again. How you do it is up to you. So taking non-Oceanic outings is
always a bit of a gamble.
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Ganesha, Hindu god with Head of an Elephant, Body of a Man
god of Wisdom, Knowledge and New Beginnings |
The main reason for a Phuket excursion was
the promise of an elephant ride. Sure enough, our first stop on the tour was a camp
with trained Asian elephants. Our beast of burden was a 20 year old female elephant
that was cared for by a young (33 years old) mahout. A father of 2 children, he
makes a living directing, feeding, washing and totally taking care of the
elephant. No, the elephant does not belong to him; he is just the care taker,
the mahout. The elephant listens to him only and his only tools to direct this
huge animal seem to be his feet.
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| Picture of a Picture |
This mahout sits right on top of the elephant’s
head and rubs or kicks his feet behind the elephant’s ears. Amazing to watch
how this large animal listens to her mahout.
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| Riding High |
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| Our Path Through the Bush |
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| Climbing onto the Elephant's Back from a Platform |
We had to climb a platform and from there,
step onto the elephant’s neck and then sit down on a bench that was fastened to
the beast’s back with just ropes. Nothing seemed to bother the animal; it just
stood there and let us climb all over her back. Once she started moving, her
gate was slow and we swayed from side to side but felt secure. We were about 4 meters
above the ground and could see well from our perch while we moved through the
bushes. The young man, our guide, was entertaining. His English was basic but
good enough. For his work with the elephants he gets paid 300 baht per week (U.S.)
$100. - From the owner of the elephant. Plus he receives tips from the
tourists. His family, wife, 2 young children and in-laws, need about 50 baht/
day to eat. He just ekes out a living yet he was all smiles and happy.
Our trip through the bush lasted
approximately 30 minutes and was a memorable event. I am glad we took this
ride.
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| Ox Cart Ride Not Available as we Ran Out of Time |
The next stop after the elephant ride was a
demonstration and talk on the collection of natural rubber from the rubber
trees. The history of natural rubber is a long one. Originally found only in
the jungles of the Amazon and once a main source of income for Brazil, seeds of
the rubber tree were smuggled out of Brazil and then planted in other tropical
areas around the world. The demand for rubber exploded after Henry Ford started
mass-producing cars and each car needed hoses and 5 tires. Rubber was a huge
business and made a lot of people very, very rich. Rubber tree farms were
planted far and wide; everybody wanted a share of this new business. “Rubber barons” was a term used to name the people who had rubber tree plantations. World
War 1 and 2 needed loads of rubber for all kinds of applications.
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| Scored Bark of the Rubber Tree |
Then synthetic rubber was invented. The
synthetic rubber was made from oil, like it still is today. It was not invented
all at once but developed between the years of 1879 to 1940. It took some time to
perfect today's different rubbers. The natural rubber business dwindled. Latex
gloves, certain straps, other products that need natural rubber do not provide
as much business as synthetic rubber does today. There are still rubber barons today,
those who still grow and harvest natural rubber. But they are fewer in numbers than
in the 19th and 20th centuries. Rubber trees are
susceptible to blight and there is a real danger that this blight may wipe out
most of the trees on the globe. To plant trees in various locations is actually
good business practice.
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| Collection of the White Liquid Rubber |
The methods those early rubber pioneers
developed are still used however. The bark of the rubber tree is scored with a
special knife and the whitish juice from the tree is collected in a cup
attached below the cut. The scoring cuts are made in the early hours of the day
(before dawn) and the tree juice (rubber) takes two hours to drip slowly into
the collection cups. After breakfast, the cups are collected and processed. With
the addition of some water and formic acids, the collected rubber is dissolved and
then processed to
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| Rubber Mats Hanging Up to Dry |
form usable rubber matts. Nothing has really changed from the
processes used years ago. Natural rubber has unique properties that synthetic
rubber can not copy. But today, most “rubber” used is the synthetic kind.
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| Part of Chalong Buddhist Temple |
Our next tour stop was the Chalong Buddhist temple, a compound of buildings and very tourist oriented. Small shops within the
buildings sold all kinds of paraphernalia and useless plastic memorabilia
including key chains, prayer beads, plastic flowers, etc. Even fire crackers were
for sale and some believers lit them to celebrate the granting of their
prayers. The noise was tremendous.
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| The Main Temple |
All the statues of Buddha were painted a
golden color. The place was packed with sitting, standing, sleeping, smiling
statues of Buddhas in very ornate and colorful settings. I still think this
kind of Buddhism is a mix of Hinduism and Buddhism combined. The Indian/Chinese
mix is so obvious.
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| Many Lying, Sitting and Standing Buddhas |
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| More Gold Painted Buddhas |
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All the Gold Leaf is Peeling Off
Buddha's Statue |
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Removing Shoes is a Required
Ritual Before Entering the Temple |
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Dragon Motifs Everywhere
|
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| More Dragons |
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Cashew Nut is Inside the Fruit of the Cashew Tree
(Artificially Attached to the Tree to Demonstrate) |
After many photos taken at the temple,
we were driven to a cashew nut factory.
The process of getting to the edible part
of the nut is quite labor intensive. No wonder those nuts cost so much in the
stores. After picking the ripe produce from the trees, the husks have to be
boiled in water to extract the center shell. Those shells have to be cracked
and then the nut has to be poked out of the shell, after which the nut still
has to be peeled and then roasted.
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| Cracking the Fruit Open with a Press |
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| Peeling Each Nut By Hand |
It is a lengthy process with many hands
needed to make this product marketable. Of course I bought some of those
delectable nuts, plain, salted and roasted in honey too. Yum!
The final stop, the jewelry factory, could
have been dropped from the tour if it were up to me. I don't see the need for
diamonds, jades or whatever other stone is made into rings, necklaces, etc. Gold or silver, what grade of purity, what
shine, what color, what cut is of no interest to me whatsoever. I can
appreciate the artful workmanship but that is about it.
We returned to the ship by 5 PM, just in
time to watch the deck hands release the cables from the moorings.
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| Leaving Phuket, Thailand |
The
elephant ride was the best part on this tour. I would have liked to get to know
the animal a little better, not just climb on her back. Feed her a banana or
somehow say hello, not just use her like a car. She was a sweet lady, gentle and
strong. I wanted her to know I appreciated her conveyance. But I liked the ride,
slow and powerful and gentle.
