Well, I'd like to know why not. I spent the day doing exactly that. After sleeping in to a very late 7am, we caught our tuk tuks at 10am or so. It was an hour ride out to the park and as usual it was an enjoyable one. The rides are a time to see the countryside, talk with our friends and ponder why there is a police car following us with his lights on.

Bobby was excited when we arrived at the park and saw no large double decker tour buses. Cross or fingers, this may mean less tourists to dodge inside. By the time everyone had grabbed snacks, gone to the bathroom and debriefed it was close to noon. We started a tad late from the hotel. Bobby explained there were seven tiers of falls. Some had good swimming while others had rock slides and jumping. I'm sure to no ones surprise josh and I were determined to reach level seven in our allotted seven hours.

Level two is where most of our group first jumped in. I asked Hank if he had ever done an ice plunge pool at a spa. He said no and I told him this is what it felt like. It took me a while to jump in. I wasn't as afraid of the temperature as I was the foot long fish that had to fear of humans. They would swim right into you which was unnerving. A group of us swam for awhile and Josh scampered around the shore getting stuck with his equipment. I found it amusing to watch.

Level three was a huge waterfall that was the most normal or stereotypical. Anna saw a great opportunity for a photo when the light was shining down on a boulder out in the middle of the water. She convinced Bobby to brave to cold water just as several European men dove in behind him and photo bombed every picture. It was priceless.

Level 4 was definitely my favorite. It was a series of natural rock slides. Josh and I made it there first and waited for a few others to catch up. The folks already at this level seemed highly confused on how to slide. They were climbing up the boulders, then back down. Standing at that top unsure of what to do. It's a slide people. My 2 year old had it mastered.

The funniest part was the local Thai boy who not only loved the slides but loved going down with the tourists. We got a kick out of him. Josh and I stayed there for a who,e and then decided to keep hiking. We knew not everyone was hiking and we could come catch back up.

Level 5 was a series of small mystic pools. The only way I know to describe it. We took a look and then kept walking. We knew everyone was ending up there. After level 5 the hike started getting a bit intense. There was a lot more climbing, not just walking.

Level 6 was a huge shear wall of waterfall. We were told we could physically climb the waterfall from level 6 to 7 even though it didn't look possible. The minerals had turned the rock surface to a full traction surface. Although we were told it was possible we got worried being by ourselves tha we were going the wrong path and would come crashing down. Josh still got halfway up for an amazing view.

Level 7 was the top of the waterfalls where the springs emerge from the mountain. The lead breathtaking of the 7 but we loved the hike. The best part of the level was the monkeys. On the way down Josh stopped to take photos. I was growing impatient and told him people were waiting behind us. He said "ok, just turn around slowly and smile right now" What? Why? Has he been drinking the river water? "So I can get you and the monkey in the same picture!" Monkey? What monkey? I had no clue what he was talking about. Sure enough two monkeys were right behind me. Like 5 feet right behind me on a rock. We stayed and watched them for a bit. The coolest part was when one started drinking from tg waterfall. I mean really. A lot of people have seen monkeys. A lot of people have seen waterfalls. How many people get to see a monkey drink from a waterfall?

After the monkey encounter we headed back down, much quicker. At level 6 we found our group we had left. Some of them were playing in the water. I watched what I'm convinced was a photo shoot for a Thai album cover. Then Bobby tells me he has an idea for a photo and asks me to get Josh in the water with me. I'm not sure what Josh was thinking but he decides to push me into the water, from the rocks. In the midst of doing this he himself slips knocking out my feet and causing me to take him onto the rocks. Somehow I got blamed for this even though I had no clue what was happening. His punishment wa we made him go into the waterfalls and take lovey dovey pictures while fish bit him. I got a kick out of that.

It was almost 4 now and we heard the staff starting to close up the park. Our group started the trek down and out. Another tuk tuk ride back. Josh and I got dropped off at the market down by the big bridge. We had let the other group but found Anna and Lotta. I quickly found a cheap pair of Thai pants like I had wanted. The market wasn't big and they were closing up shop. The four of us walked back to the hotel and checked out some of the street life on our way.

We enjoyed our last dinner in Thailand, settled our bill and called it an early night. We leave for Cambodia at 5:30. I'm so excited!

For those who are wondering, I'm really enjoying traveling with a group. (I won't make any generalizations for Josh since he is sound asleep) I think a couple are reading this so I won't say anything bad :) Our friends know that Josh and I are pretty private people socially. The challenge with the two of us traveling together is not only are we naturally shy, but we are also a couple. That can be a disadvantage. I am finding it fascinating to gradually get to know these new people. We are definitely making some friendships that will last past this trip. I feel very lucky to met such neat people to experience this with.

A migraine and a long van ride sure will help me get a good night's sleep. I must have slept a good 10 hours and woke up ready to ride some elephants. Of course I ordered the banana pancakes I had heard so much about. Super fluffy with banana pieces throughout. Yum. Josh was happy to finally have some ham/bacon.

Our tuk tuks were set to leave at 9:30. Our drive out was interrupted briefly when we saw a jaguar cub in front of a furniture store. Not normal, but being a group of photographers, everyone jumped out to take some pictures.

Most of the time when we've gone on excursions on vacation we have spent the first half an hour getting directions, safety talks, etc. not here. Love it. Within minutes Josh and I were sitting on the back of an elephant. I'm fairly certain that when Josh got on the guys said "here's a big one". Our driver/guide claimed to not speak English, but as soon as I said something about the elephant eating, he said "don't worry, I get him".

We rode around on a seat on the elephant a bit. We were the first in line so when he asked if we wanted to ride on his head, we had to ask a few times to make sure we weren't having a language problem. We weren't. Josh climbed down and on we went with him riding on an elephant's head. We switched a ways through and continued on.

While riding an elephant like that was cool, nothing compares to riding an elephant rodeo style in a river. Elephant #1 was having none of this blowing what on me crap. I was on a full on rodeo trying to stay on this gigantic animal while she went forwards, backwards, up, down. Just when I was about exhausted they had me climb on the other elephant where I proceeded to get blasted in the face with water. Over and over over. I kept telling my guy I was done. After I told him tge fourth time, and he didn't understand, he declares Rodeo! No, no rodeo! The elephant swings her head side to side and I swiftly fall off. My leg muscles were gone.

I tried my best to get Josh out there in the river but it was to no avail. He was happy taking pictures. There are some of those experiences you just can't believe you get to be a part of. This was one of those. I've touched elephants. But never experienced up close.

We had a super quick lunch back at VN Guesthouse and all the girls figured out what to wear that would cover their shoulders and knees for the Tiger Temple. It's run by monks. I wasn't sure what to expect when we got to the Tiger Temple. Heck, what IS a tiger temple. Bobby stayed back so Hank led us to the Tiger Canyon. There were basically two options. Option 1 hand your camera to a volunteer and be handheld around to visit the tigers while volunteer takes a photo. For free. Option 2 was to pay $30 for a group to do the same thing and one person to take a pictur with a tiger lying his head in your lap. We went the free route. Being led around in this maze of lines with tigers that could easily kill us at any time was a rather odd feeling. They are beautiful and docile creatures up close.

After we finished that part the temple was closing. Each day 20 tickets are sold to stay and watch the tigers get exercised. Apparently no one knew other than is and one couple. After everyone else cleared we filed into a "cage" about 4 feet high. Lets be honest. If a 300 lb cat wants to kill me I don't think 4 feet is going to stop him. We spent half an hour watching, very up close I might add, as these large cats played, jumped and rolled. One said cat appeared to want me for dinner and kept locking in on me. We almost had a national geographic moment when a temple deer tried to come down into the canyon. Not a smart deer. And one tiger decided to make a run for it and climbed the waterfall. The very brave tiger handlers addressed the issue by whipping out a camera and slingshot. Again, if the tiger really wanted to escape?

When we got back to our tuk tuks we found one of them with hood propped up and the driver hunched over it. Not the view you want. Thirteen of us managed to cram into one tuk tuk and we became even better friends.

Another night on the porch chilling, editing and just plain enjoying Thailand.

Twelve hours in a van. 12 has stops. It may have been longer. We were supposed to take a train to Kanchanabri but there had been some sort of dangerous incident recently. Instead we took an overnight van ride. I actually did sleep most the way. We only had 5 people per van so it wasn't horrible with spacing. The worst part was two hours in when we stopped for gas and our drivers woke me up to make me get out. I kept saying no but they made me. I probably misunderstood but I'm not a happy person when you wake me up. We arrived at our next spot about 11:30 the next day and other than a few spurts, I slept most of the way.

My body was obviously completely confused because immediately upon walking onto the restaurant porch my migraine aura started. Luckily Josh grabbed my injection quickly and I was able to catch it early enough that it didn't ruin the whole day. We only had gotten three rooms so far. I'm sure the group thought I was nuts when I just crashed on the first bed I saw. They ended up giving me that room after all.

After a nap I thought my body needed some food balance. I hadn't seen where we were at all. While I was sleeping I thought I was imagining swaying. When I got up I realized our room was on a floating dock. Bobby best described it. Kind of like floating trailers. It sounds yucky but thy are pretty cool. Great breezes and tons of wildlife sounds. Über peaceful.

The restaurant is up the hill a tad and has a porch looking out over the water. The space closest to the water is filled with low tables and mats to lounge on. All the food is made here by the staff. It's good homecooked food. I told the staff my stomach hurt so they me a rice and broth soup not on the menu. A little salty and exactly what I needed. That's why I love places like this.

Normally the group doesn't arrive until 5 so we had the rest of the day to ourselves. Josh wanted a massage so we ventured up the road towards town. It is nothing like the past places we came from. Other than a handful of people our group were the only tourists I saw. There were several little inns along the river like ours. My guess is that everyone staying around here is doing so for the excursions like us.

The heat was pretty intense. It probably wasn't the smartest idea for me to be walking in it with my fever. We saw some interesting stuff. A roadside bar to get drunk for 10 baht (30 cents), a dreadlock repair man, a pretty rad rice shop and a used bookstore with the new book on my list - selling for new price, smart business woman.

There were massage parlors everywhere. How would we decide. Rap rap rap! Linda and Brie were sitting right inside the massage studio we were walking by and saw us. They knew we had been wanting to do one so they grabbed us. Linda has been having at least one massage a day so if she says it is a good place I will take her word for it.

After a wee bit of confusion over what we wanted they led us to the back room here four mattresses, the thickness of cheap cribs, were on the floor in a row. They put a waterproof cover over each one and then a sheet and then ordered we undress. I explained I only wanted my upper body and kept my shorts on. Josh did the same and hen they drew some curtains back in front me so no one could see us. It was surprisingly cool and breezy back there.

I'm not a massage expert but I've had quite a few. These ladies were the strongest masseuses I've ever experienced. They spoke no English so josh and I had to get creative with how to tell them when it hurt. (We looked it up with Bobby later). They climbed all over us. Dug their elbows into us. The best part was the head massage part. I may be sore but there can't possibly be any of that migraine tension left. $7. That's how much our best ever, albeit strong and terrifying, cost us. Next we are trying a foot massage.

We came back to the hotel relaxed and vegged out on the porch. This seemed to be what everyone did. We ate early. Watched an amazing sunset right over the river (the trees make it look like Africa to me) and just socialized. Everyone was exhausted and we called it a super early night. Tomorrow is elephants and tigers!