The bonus adventure

A young mahout at the camp

The minibus starts the journey at nine in the morning (hotel pick-ups are a bit earlier) from a gas station in Phuket Town. The Phuket-to-Phang Nga trip is only 90 minutes, but the wise make use of the convenience store to stock up on munchies, water, and maybe a coffee for the road. Don’t do java? No worries, the drive is a scenic, all-natural stimulant; you’re guaranteed to be wide awake on arrival.

And what an arrival it is. The sea a distant memory, the minibus turns off the cliff-lined highway and makes its way down the narrow road, winding around green hills, over rivers, and past grazing cattle before finally arriving at base camp. All events start and end here. Coffee, tea, soda and water (complimentary, of course) are always available in the open air, riverside dining hall; lockers are provided so you can safely ditch the gear you don’t need before each activity.

When elephants hike, the grass suffers

A thirsty elephant

My group – guests are divided up for the sake of crowd management – starts the day with the pachyderms. Elephants are a big deal in Thailand, but somehow I’d never seen the world from atop one of these lumbering beasts. The mahout, casually sitting side-saddle on the elephant’s head with guests riding on a seat behind him, chatted softly – it wasn’t clear to whom – while we rumbled along the trail, worn to a deep trench. The mahouts aren’t there to say “Take a left at the next pine tree, Dumbo.” The elephants know where they’re going. Rather, their job is to keep the animals on task. Elephants require food, lots of it, and the jungle is a feast for these easily-distracted eating machines. And, while the ride was interesting, feeding them bananas afterwards was even better.

The humour before the war

Whitewater rafting

Back at headquarters, all the groups meet up for our trip downstream. The peak tourist season is also the peak dry season, and faced with a river full of too-dry boulders, it’s hard to imagine anything larger than a leaf being able to float these waters. Luckily, the tin mining operations of the past left reservoirs; open the dam and the well-behaved river shows a different side. The helmets, life vests, and thorough (while funny) safety briefing are starting to make sense. “If you fall in the water, remain calm, raise your hand like this, and wave goodbye to your friends.”

Each raft shuttles four passengers and two guides down the river. Today’s flotilla consists of at least ten dinghies; in the calm stretches it’s an all out water war. Guides instigate the splashing, and in doing so, tease the playful side out of otherwise docile tourists. Nobody stays dry for long. When the rapids come, all oars get to work. During the monsoons, every set of rapids is a chance to be thrown into the water. The dry season removes their fangs, but they’re a rush nonetheless. Forty-five minutes later the guides are heaving the rafts into a gravity-defying tower on the back of trailer and we’re being shuttled back to camp. It’s time to eat.

Intermission

Lunch at the camp: chicken cashew nut

The massive teak picnic tables are already set when we return. With a salad bar for starters, loads of tasty Thai food – soup, omelettes, cashew nut chicken, deep fried fish, vegetables, rice – as the main course, and a bounty of fresh pineapple and watermelon for desert, nobody leaves hungry.

The staff is attentive and quick to supply chillies or refill the rice bowl.

The final act

Bathing near the waterfall

Refuelled and rested, six of us pile in the back of a truck for the five-minute drive, followed by a five-minute mini-hike, to the waterfall. The water is cold and invigorating – a far cry from the warm waves of the Andaman Sea. Guests wade in the shallow pool, stand under nature’s shower like actors in a shampoo commercial, and cheer the guide who executes a back flip into belly deep water from the cliff above.

Just like a stroll through Old Phuket Town, this trip offers a glimpse of Thailand that can’t be purchased in glossy postcard form. In distance, it’s not too far away. But in experience, it’s a whole new world.

How to get there

Whitewater Rafting & Elephant Trekking Daytrip - Price from 1,900 Baht
	This tour, in Southern Thailand's lush Phang Nga province, takes you on an action packed ride along mountain rivers fringed with forest. Be prepared to get wet! Also included is a visit to the Phang Nga Breeding Centre and the Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary. An unforgettable day out!!! Read more...

Photos of the daytrip