Puang Phet leads the way (trailblazing time of year)
Writing 'neath a cloudless sky one could be mistaken for wondering why it is called the wet season, some clever marketing folks the other year tried to re-name it the Green Season and the truth is that it is both green and wet. A few cloudless days and you can almost hear the grass growing from the swampy earth, stand still for too long down there and you'll begin to sprout - Mor Pat, the vet who originally treated Plai Tawan after the car hit him (before we knew him) visited the other day and all she could say was 'soong', so tall.
Though, in fairness, I don't think the clement weather can take all the credit for that, a lot of food, love and care have gone into the rapidly soong'ing little big fella.
Across at Four Seasons it is time for one of my favourite activities, trail blazing through the otherwise impenetrable bamboo, clearing safe guest trails on the hill as they soon will have trouble walking through the tall grass without a canoe.
With elephants taking turns as bull dozer at the front, the mahouts clearing the headroom with their knives, we zig-zagged up the hill in the shadow of the thick, green bamboo leaves - in the fanciful mind of a not so young elephant boy it brings alive passages in the explorers' diaries, days hacking through trackless forest on a rough bearing and the vague remembrances of a local hunter (usually with ulterior motives).
Of course we were only going up the hill for half a morning to link to the old logging trail but still a boy's allowed to dream from time to time and the eles love it because they get to show off their old skills and, besides, most of what we're supposed to clear is edible if you have big teeth and an un-fussy stomach.
...the Abbey Road effect beneath the already cleared bit at the bottom of the hill...
...Phet with a particularly springy bit of bamboo...
...but she makes short work of the next one (I always love the way she knows and does her bit, leaving Khun Saeng (her mahout) free to concentrate on his bit of headroom clearing - ele and mahout teamwork)...
...by the time we make it out into last years' grazed area under an impossibly blue (even my fancy new camera gave up and made it white) sky Yuki's in the lead - the height of the bamboo as the hill slopes away from the Yukster...
...the Golden Triangle views from the top of the hill are reward for us and the fresh green grass reward for the girls who, after all, did most of the work - if eating your way through fresh green forest can be called work!
...with our shadows directly beneath us and the Mekong in the back-ground it is home for a cool bath.
Though, in fairness, I don't think the clement weather can take all the credit for that, a lot of food, love and care have gone into the rapidly soong'ing little big fella.
Across at Four Seasons it is time for one of my favourite activities, trail blazing through the otherwise impenetrable bamboo, clearing safe guest trails on the hill as they soon will have trouble walking through the tall grass without a canoe.
With elephants taking turns as bull dozer at the front, the mahouts clearing the headroom with their knives, we zig-zagged up the hill in the shadow of the thick, green bamboo leaves - in the fanciful mind of a not so young elephant boy it brings alive passages in the explorers' diaries, days hacking through trackless forest on a rough bearing and the vague remembrances of a local hunter (usually with ulterior motives).
Of course we were only going up the hill for half a morning to link to the old logging trail but still a boy's allowed to dream from time to time and the eles love it because they get to show off their old skills and, besides, most of what we're supposed to clear is edible if you have big teeth and an un-fussy stomach.
...the Abbey Road effect beneath the already cleared bit at the bottom of the hill...
...Phet with a particularly springy bit of bamboo...
...but she makes short work of the next one (I always love the way she knows and does her bit, leaving Khun Saeng (her mahout) free to concentrate on his bit of headroom clearing - ele and mahout teamwork)...
...by the time we make it out into last years' grazed area under an impossibly blue (even my fancy new camera gave up and made it white) sky Yuki's in the lead - the height of the bamboo as the hill slopes away from the Yukster...
...the Golden Triangle views from the top of the hill are reward for us and the fresh green grass reward for the girls who, after all, did most of the work - if eating your way through fresh green forest can be called work!
...with our shadows directly beneath us and the Mekong in the back-ground it is home for a cool bath.
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