Sukhothai sabai sabai
After eight hour of constant driving, we finally arrive in Sukhothai. The reason why it takes such a long drive to our destination is because we have been following the truck all day. This way, we are able to keep a close eye on what is happening inside. Sri Nuan has serious diarrhea, and we start questioning ourselves of why this is possible. The last time when she had it, Duang said that it might be because she had been eating too many pineapples, but this time that isn’t true. Duang has kept a close eye on the elephants and has been standing a lot to do so. He is worn out when we arrive, but says not to worry. Pa Ko and Monkon have been sleeping on our laps all the way, having dog food from time to time.
When we arrive at the temple the head monk is already waiting for us. He has arranged his clothing for the photo shoot. Lee warns me not to take any picture of the head monk, until he is properly dressed. During the day, the elephants are allowed to graze on a piece of privately owned land across the road. It’s a bare rice field with high grass all around it. The first thing the elephants do is walk to a big green tree and start pulling down the branches. It seems alright with the owner because the mahouts allow them to do so.
We watch them feeding on the juicy leaves for a while, before returning to the temple.
There, we arrange our kitchen, in the public hall made entirely out of wood. The enormous wooden hall stands on massive tree trunks, used as pillars. Large pieces of wooden planks serve as floor tiles. The extensive use of wood for this massive architecture leads us to an assumption that this must be an extremely old building, perhaps over hundred years as Lee estimates. We love the building, but the kitchen crew isn’t too happy with it. In Lopburi, they had everything close by, we could lock up the kitchen, and it even had a toilet inside. Furthermore, we had a very good time in Lopburi and we found it hard to say goodbye to the friendly nuns in particular. “Sukhothai sabai sabai = relaxed, relaxed”, we sing joyfully despite the fact that we still miss Lopburi dearly, because it’s going to be fine here as well!
When we are setting up our camp, which is opposite to the kitchen, lots of curious kids come to take a look. They pick up Pa Ko and Monkon and start cuddling with them and after a while, they walk off with the puppies back to the village. We don’t like the idea of them being “kidnapped”. But, not to worry, we have brought them back to the temples safe and sound. At night, Pa Ko’s body feels warmer than usual, and she seems to be lacking energy. Could she be sick? We clean up two unused toilets, normally used by the monks, and turn them into men and ladies bathrooms. The camp starts to look cozy, and looks even better when the elephants join in at night. The only thing we worry about is the small road between the village and the main road, which happens to run through our camp. Therefore, disturbance from people passing by at night is almost unavoidable. However, we do hope that the elephants are able to sleep despite the noise.
