Animal activities: to do or not do, that´s the question

I wasn´t sure whether to go on an elephant ride or not. I love activities with animals, every time I have done any I feel happy and even empowered by the contact with their wildness, purity and majesty. But it should never part of an activity that implies that those animals are deprived from their freedom, teared apart from their families, working in our crazy system, being profitable for their owners.

I did an elephant trekking, but it was one of those with seats on the animal, and a very organized path. I loved the experience of being in touch with elephants, but hated the fact that they were using seats, which seemed really uncomfortable for the elephants, and that they had such an organized life. That is definitely anti-natural and something I do not want to be a part of.

After some research I found a reservoir that rescued injured wild elephants and cured them, and at least they claimed, that with the money they charge from visitors they kept them and rescued more. The ride was different this time, no seats, and you would go at their bathing time, and the route of the trekking was their way to the river and waterfall, you would bathe them and then go back to the camp. It seemed more respectful, and I thought maybe this time I would not have the bittersweet feeling after, so I decided to try it out.

The trek was beautiful, very natural, nothing between you and the elephant, the bathing time together amazing... But the bitter-sweetness was there anyways. My elephant didn´t seem to want to go for a bath at that particular moment, and even though it seemed like the people there were very nice and really cared for their animals, when the trek finished, the elephants were tied on their foot.

On one side I love the experience, it makes you humble to be in contact with elephants or tigers, or other animals, and at the same time it´s bonding time with nature which is so poor in our daily lives. But we must be very careful which places we choose and support, respecting animal life and not encouraging the use (or abuse) of animals as a profitable activity. 

The trek, my elephant was tired...

Bathing time, really beautiful

After, the elephant tied

Cambodian Music by admirable people

Throughout many places in Cambodia, specially at Angkor and some night markets, you may bump into some really amazing music, played by injured men. It's part of a rehabilitation program. 

In Cambodia there are still mines that explode and injure men, women and children. Cambodians have a huge challenge to help these people after these type of awful accidents.
One of the things they do, is teach them to play instruments, and gather them in groups, and they play together the traditional Kmer music. It's both emotive and very sad, you feel a deep respect and sorrow at the same time for these people who go on, and not only go on, but they bring to the rest of us this beautiful Cambodian sounds, that add such a magical atmosphere to the already mystical Angkor.

Pay attention, give a smile and an applause. Be thankful.

Angkor

Neguev Desert: spots, tips and pics.

I´m more of a beach lover, and I love the water, but for my surprise the desert turned out to be one of my favorite landscapes. The immensity, the silence, the seeming stillness, it is truly majestic. 

I went to the Neguev desert in Israel, which is amazing. Just to drive along the road with the desert surrounding you is pretty amazing. There are some cool places to go to also. The Geological Park with rocks in many colors is really interesting and beautiful. Another cool spot is the Timna National Park where  you can appreciate the erosion of the rocks over the years and some spectacular desert views. There are also touristic Bedouin tents where you can stay and learn about this interesting culture, try their food, ride camels, hang by a fire at night and enjoy the amazing starts in the dark night sky.

Some desert tips: during the day very hot, but at night: cold! So if going to the desert don´t rely on the sunny hot image and take some warm clothing. Also, drink a lot of water. The heat in the desert is dry, so you may not feel as thirsty as in a humid warm climate, but you get as dehydrated or even more. And the most important tip: take your camera with plenty of battery, you will want to take hundreds of pictures ;)

 The camels in the Bedouin Tents

 

Bedouins

The sunset in the desert

Desert views

The Geological Park

The Road

Timna National Park

Beautiful beaches in Koh Tao, Thailand

There are so many beautiful beaches in Thailand. One of my favorite Islands was Koh Tao, for many reasons. It´s chilled out, an awesome place to snorkel and dive, it´s cheap and people is very nice there.

In Koh Tao, I went to the most famous Sairee Beach, but found that the best beaches were others. The most known of the three is Maia Beach, which is next to Sairee. There is great chill out music and awesome floating stuff in the water where you can lay down. Awesome beach to just chill and have a smoothie.

The second is Tanote Bay. Not very known, even by some people living there. I heard about it in a blog, and went to find one of the most quiet places I´ve been in Thailand, and one of the most beautiful spots to snorkel. You can cheaply rent a mask right there in the beach. The only downside is that its quite far from Sairee, but it´s totally worth it to go for a day there. Real relax and a great swim and snorkel. 

The third is Freedom beach. The sunset there is breath-away-taking. You can see some pictures in this post: http://travellerstuff.blogspot.com/2014/06/sunset-freedom-beach.html.

Freedom beach is small and quiet, and has a peculiar decoration. It also has a great place to eat over the sea with an amazing view.

Enjoy!

Maia Beach

Tanote Bay

Tanote Bay - some friends jumped from that

rock.

Freedom Beach entrance

Freedom Beach entrance

Freedom Beach

Freedom Beach 

Sunset @Freedom Beach

Freedom Beach is a beautiful spot to enjoy an awesome, romantic, nature-love sunset.
Here are some pictures:

Thai Cooking Class

In Thailand, it´s a great idea to take a cooking class. The way they cook, without salt and a lot of other flavors, not only taught me how to cook some Thai delights such as Pad Thai and Green Curry, but also to cook my everyday meals in a new different way.

I took a class at Silon, in Bangkok, and it was great, we went to the market to pick up the ingredients, and had a great time with our very cool teacher. We ate better than ever and learned. I´ve been told anyway that the best place in Thailand to take cooking classes is Chiang Mai, due to the better prices and high quality of the courses.

Eat up!

 The ingredients

Everything´s ready to start

Coconut soup

Pad Thai

Green Curry

Mango sticky rice