Rice Whine: Max's Birthday (as told by Max)

I will never forget my twelfth birthday in Thailand.

The day before my birthday my family and I went on a mountain hike/trek. On the hike, we went more than one kilometer vertically and a distance of eight to nine kilometers. That night we slept in a village at the top of the mountain.

Thomas doing Ninja tricks with his walking stick.

A view from the top.

Morning mountain mist.

This is where we slept.

Inside--note the bug screens.

On my birthday, we climbed down the mountain. We stopped once to cool off in a waterfall and later went whitewater tubing and rafting. Our group got a ride to the rafting place. I had never gone white water tubing before, but it reminded me of white water canoeing except that the waves were bigger and the tube couldn't tip.

Thomas taking a break from our descent to climb a tree.

Perfect waterfall to wade in, get wet and cool off.

Our trekking group.

After the rafting, we ate lunch and the got a ride to an elephant camp. When we got there, a different group was leaving so we were the only ones there that night. After supper, Tom (our guide) brought out some things that I had never seen before. He put out some circular objects that looked like tape onto a large plastic bag. Once he was done making them, he lit the circular object on fire. Then I figured out what it was: it was a floating lantern. The fire would create heat that would get trapped in the bag and it would rise. Not only did it create heat but it would also create light. So as you let go they would rise and they looked very cool.

Greg's note: Mom tipped off our guide that it was Max's bday and Tom surprised us with cake and the delightful lanterns.

Tom preparing the lanterns.

Lighting them.

Cynthia making a wish before releasing a lantern.

A terrible pic that does not capture the magic of lanterns floating into the night sky.

The next morning we met our new group. Then we fed the elephants a small snack of sugar cane and bananas. I thought it was very cool that the elephants would eat bananas with the peel and part of the stock. They would also eat as many as ten small bananas at a time. Some of the elephants preferred it when you put the bananas right in their mouth. Most of them want it in their trunks.

Max handing over some sugar cane.

Check out our lovely uniforms.

Thomas ensured that all the elephants got their share.

After the elephants' snack, we learned our first command when we're on or off the elephant. "Non-long" told the elephants to either lay down or stand up. We practiced getting on and off the elephants and then we learned other commands for forward, turn and stop. Finally, we practiced riding the elephants in a small loop before the elephants took a break and we had lunch.

Each elephant has a personal mahout.

A delighted Max.

That elephant looks good on you, Thomas.

"Non-long!"

After lunch we went on an hour long elephant ride through the forest. My elephant was kind of lazy because it would always stop in the middle of the path and I had to tell it to keep going, but we ended up finishing it.

My favourite part was washing the elephants.