Cold? wha'dya mean it's cold? In my day...
...actually, as we steam through the Christmas and New Year period, as the night-time temperature drops it is the oldest elephant - retired Pang Yom - who is feeling it the most. The babies have all sorts of youthful enthusiasm, the adults are all working steadily and so don't have a problem.
At 62 Yom is getting to that age where Christmas should be mince pies and a warm fire. Well, the elephant equivalent of mincie pies are always available but a fire at night is not really practical but a couple of concessions have been made to the chill.
Firstly the Laundry and Housekeeping department have mysteriously found a couple of blankets - we suspect perhaps chilled guests? - which when sewn together and tied in a bow serve to make an elephant blanket.
...and secondly for the long term, Shirley Baker has sponsored a solar powered warm water system for the eles, giving us hot water in the evening but more importantly water-with-the-chill-taken-out in the cooler misty mornings even before the sun hits the black concrete (not a good picture, sorry)...
So we will have warm water for years to come as long as we can persuade Lynchee not to break any more taps!
PS. Don't believe all you read though the Thai newspapers have described us as the "Almost Frozen North" the lowest minimum temperature recorded at Chiang Rai International Airport has been 9C (my thermometer is broken) but it is always a couple of degrees warmer under some shelter and out of the mist. We are also making 27 degrees in the afternoon, bring a sweater but don't panic!
At 62 Yom is getting to that age where Christmas should be mince pies and a warm fire. Well, the elephant equivalent of mincie pies are always available but a fire at night is not really practical but a couple of concessions have been made to the chill.
Firstly the Laundry and Housekeeping department have mysteriously found a couple of blankets - we suspect perhaps chilled guests? - which when sewn together and tied in a bow serve to make an elephant blanket.
...and secondly for the long term, Shirley Baker has sponsored a solar powered warm water system for the eles, giving us hot water in the evening but more importantly water-with-the-chill-taken-out in the cooler misty mornings even before the sun hits the black concrete (not a good picture, sorry)...
So we will have warm water for years to come as long as we can persuade Lynchee not to break any more taps!
PS. Don't believe all you read though the Thai newspapers have described us as the "Almost Frozen North" the lowest minimum temperature recorded at Chiang Rai International Airport has been 9C (my thermometer is broken) but it is always a couple of degrees warmer under some shelter and out of the mist. We are also making 27 degrees in the afternoon, bring a sweater but don't panic!
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