Thailand... the 2nd half

The second part of the trip was in the company of Carol & Chris who had been holidaying on the western side of the mainland. We met up at an elephant sanctuary...
one word - awesome!
We got to wash & feed the elephants. The washing involved a hard scrub with coconut husks, lots of water, mud and hilarity.
Each elephant has its own mahout who were constantly on hand to make sure no one walked where they shouldn’t or otherwise put themselves in a position of getting accidentally injured. Even a swinging tail can pack a punch.
We chopped up food at an open air pavilion that had big steel bars... it turned out the bars were to stop elephants, over excited at getting pineapple for afternoon tea, from tramping us in the rush. 
I loved those elephants, ours was called Numpta, and she was an absolute sweetie.
Her mahout had taught her to say thank you on command which sounded a bit like a dog barking, quite bizarre.

Hey hurry up with that pineapple!

It's somewhat ironic that you spent the least time on the very thing you want to spend the most time on. And that is be with the elephants. But it's all about generating eco tourism funds while caring for the animals and at the same time avoiding tourist fatigue. These  animals have all been rescued from tourist outfits and logging camps.

We spent 4 days and 3 nights at the elephant camp. Each day was filled with activity,  kayaking (well actually we just sat and someone else did the work), speed boating, cruising through a mangrove swamp, a jungle trek (that I couldn't do) and visiting the rain forest camp on a lake/dam. You can stay at the rain forest camp which is a series of tents floating on the dam, each complete with it's own shower/toilet, kayaks & deck chairs.  
All are joined at the back by a jetty.  It was rather surreal to be swimming in a dam over 70 metres deep, in water as warm as a bath.  It took 5 years to fill it apparently.

The rainy season was just beginning and we had several downpours each day.  While the camp was great; the tents beautifully kitted out, endless hot water and wonderful food, everything felt a bit damp.  Your clothes didn’t dry after being soaked during the day and even the bed felt slightly damp.  So an earlier time of year is recommended.

There were elephant sculptures everywhere

On the way down to Phuket we stopped at Phang Nga Bay. Unfortunately it was a very windy day which meant all the tourist boats congregated in the same areas to avoid the wind.  We kayaked (again with someone else doing the work) and as you can see below were required to lie flat to be able to access some of the caves. I found that rather claustrophobic & sitting in the kayak hurt my back so I stayed on the boat for the next 2 kayaks.  We were given a light lunch but the on board dinner was amazing both in volume & variety especially given the limited kitchen facilities.

This was immediately outside our room

Our next major stop was south Phuket at a child free resort. Oh yeah, that’s the way to go, if you can.  We ate, we drank, we relaxed in loungers by the pool as an anecdote to the activity filled days at the elephant camp.
Carol & I succumbed to the lure of a fish spa & stuck our feet into big fish tanks positioned on the pavement to capture tourist traffic.  It was not a big success.
It tickled and I am ticklish.  Shrieks of laughter do not work well with tiny little fish that are easily spooked.  End of story.

And then it was on to Singapore for some retail therapy. The only trouble was I had no interest in shopping (strange but true), no energy (explained further on) and my inability to walk any distance was a problem. Thank goodness taxis are dirt cheap in Singapore.   On arrival were told that we'd had our rooms upgraded. Ok, thank you, that's nice.  But on entry to the room I'm thinking cripes the other room must have been a dive. So at a suitable opportunity the question about the upgrade was ventured... turns out the rooms were the same size… the upgrade was having the view. Oh. Okay. 
Yes it IS a great view you can't argue with that.

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The view from our room

Wannabes

The Art/Science Museum

Sculpture in the Flower Dome

We visited the Gardens by the Bay complex.  An amazing project that Singapore is justifiably proud of.  The Flower Dome has gardens with different themes and the most fantastic carved sculptures. The Cloud Forest dome features a 35m high rain forest mountain complete with waterfall.  I had to swallow my pride and take a wheelchair otherwise there was no way I would have been able to see even a quarter of the complex. It was a very interesting experience to suddenly become invisible. People barged into whoever was pushing me, frequently pushed in front of me & blocking my limited view, so I gained a very real appreciation how tough it can be for the mobility challenged.
You have probably heard about the super trees. They are spectacular. Each is coated with live plants sort of like a hanging garden. They generate solar energy and collect rain water to help with the maintenance of the gardens.  Every evening there is a laser light show.

The Flower & Cloud Forest Domes from the Sky Park, with some of the super trees in the foreground

People silhouetted on the sky walk during the light show

On our last day we went to the Sands Sky Park on top of that building shaped like a boat. The 3 support towers house a 5 star hotel with the rooftop containing at least one pool, gardens, restaurants and an observation deck.  It was 34 degrees at ground level and this was 56 stories up with not a breath of wind. Some days it's tough being a tourist.  
You are not allowed to sit on the observation deck and once you have been to the restaurant/bar you cannot go back to the observation deck.  I'm guessing they wouldn't want anyone doing anything stupid after consuming alcohol.  Even dropping something small would probably kill someone from that height.  From a distance you don't realise the building curves. The 2 shots on the right are looking up inside the towers.

By the time we reached Singapore I had a heavy cold and then the onset of Thai belly (must have been that last dinner in Phuket) just finished me off really.
Kim shared his T shirt with a mozzie; the bites became infected and he started running a fever that needed antibiotics. OMG the medical kit that had never once been opened through 2 trips to India had an extensive workout this time - but despite all that we had a GREAT holiday!

Last pic... I was looking out the window & suddenly a hatch popped open on the Supreme Court building & these 2 guys crawled out. I've kept the skyscrapers in for scale.