by Loti | Jan 31, 2013 | Thailand
Thailand. We are on a long boat in the Golden Triangle which is an area where the Mekong and Ruak rivers cross. From the middle of the river you can see Laos to the east in the background mountains, Myanmar(Burma) to the north and Thailand to the west. You can also see this very big Buddha which was sadly built as a tourist attraction in 2006. We passed on the tour of the Buddha. What is remarkable about this area, is the amount of opium production. Most of the heroin in the world was produced here until recently when Afganistan took over as the leading heroin producer. Burma is still the second largest producer of opium today. We went through numerous police checkpoints on the roads in Thailand where the police are looking for drugs. The day we flew out, we read about 4 Burma drug smugglers being killed by Thai police trying to cross the border. It was then Mom remembered she heard gun shots the night before. No wonder the security was so high at the resort! Lions and tigers and bears, oh...
by Loti | Jan 27, 2013 | Animals, Thailand
I am feeling really cocky about an hour into our elephant ride until the elephant grabbed a big branch and brought it down crashing toward me. An average elephant eats 600 pounds of food a day so they are constantly reaching out for leaves, branches, and grasses since they are vegetarian. The elephant I am riding, Bounma, was originally used in the logging industry to transport teak. Logging was banned in Thailand in 1989 because of the deforestation occurring through out the country. She was savagely beaten and still has scars on her head and ears (her ear was actually broken). When the timber ban went into effect all the elephants lost their jobs. Many of the owners resorted to taking them to big cities like Bangkok where they would perform for food. And as we already know, they eat a lot of food a day so this was not a good situation for anyone. Bounma was rescued along with her mahout, her trainer, and lives at The Four Seasons elephant camp today where she gets lots of love and treats including cucumbers, bananas and sugar cane. I am so privileged to have ridden this beautiful animal. She helped me fall in love, with...
by Loti | Jan 23, 2013 | Landscapes, Singapore
So we are back in Singapore gazing at what has to be one of the coolest trees I have ever seen. This is a solar powered super tree, one of 18 just recently opened to the public in June, 2012. They have been described as walking thru Alice in Wonderland. (with such a description I might even go back and read the book). The trees are vertical gardens, generating solar power, collecting rainwater and acting as air vent ducts for nearby conservatories. The trees vary in heights from 82 to 164 feet. Ultimately they will be completely covered with tropical plants and ferns providing shade for those walking beneath them. One even has a bistro on top (which we did not visit because of my height thing). They are also lit up at night in all different colors. Part of a 250 acre landscaping project, Gardens By the Bay, they are so incredible I wonder why the Supertrees concept is not used all over the world. In fact, I am thinking of building one in my back yard if I can figure out how to get around the Palm Beach Architectural Review Board who would probably frown on such a grand...
by Loti | Jan 6, 2013 | Animals, Thailand
You really get a sense how big these beautiful creatures are from the photo. Asian elephants average 3-4 tons and are very tall, at least from my perch sitting on my elephant’s head. What to me, is truly amazing, is the current research being done with elephants. We don’t really know much about them since they are difficult to study in the wild and with a dwindling population (it is estimated there are about 40,000 elephants in the wild in SE Asia), it is all the more challenging. And Asian elephants are smarter than African elephants attributed to their larger brains. But elephants are among a very elite group of animals who possess self awareness. Meaning they recognize themselves in a mirror. They join humans/apes (one can argue a lot of humans never progressed past the ape stage), dolphins and orcas, and are you ready? Magpies. The same family of bird as the crow and bluejay. Kinda of a weird group but all recognize themselves. I was sorry we weren’t able to participate in the research at the elephant camp, as we only learned the last night you could do a half day helping the researchers. Next...
