Southeast Asia Travel -11/12 – Day Fourteen: Was it really necessary for us to be up and ready to go at 7:15 AM? (We’d be glad later.) With a limited serving schedule, breakfast was a rush. At least we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise to start the day.

Sunrise off the coast of Koh Samui, Thailand.

Koh Samui is an island belonging to Thailand. There is not a port or large enough dock to accommodate our ship so we were tendered in to shore.

Of the excursion choices we had, we decided to take the Jeep & Elephant Experience. We soon learned that ‘jeep’ meant a small Toyota pickup truck with two benches and a plastic tarp for a top.

Shopping village at Namuang.

Maybe I expected too much but I really thought we’d be exploring some rural terrain in an actual jeep. I thought the jeep ride was part of the experience. In fact, it was just the vehicle that transported us from location to location.

Most of the tour was spent at Namuang Safari Park. First we visited a waterfall, hidden largely by too many trees. We then had a few minutes to wander a little shopping village. Instead, Michael and I watched an elephant bathing in the water downstream of the waterfall.

An adorable baby elephant at the safari park.

From there we went to the elephant camp. I have to say, riding an elephant is a pretty incredible experience. We got on from tall loading platforms. Our guide rode on our elephant’s shoulders while we sat on a bench seat on his back. He encouraged our elephant to walk by rubbing his ears with his feet. At one point, our guide got down and let me ride on our elephant’s shoulders.

Michael & I riding our elephant as he shows off for the camera.

After that we watched a short elephant trick show in the same park. This was followed by a monkey show… or, as we renamed it a ‘coconut show’. There was only one monkey– they made him spin coconuts before climbing a tree and dropping prop coconuts. Then he was gone. The rest of the ‘show’ was spent watching a guy open and shred a coconut. If that wasn’t enough, we then had to move to a different pavilion to watch a cooking class. By cooking class, I mean they made a salad. One of the ship’s photographers was with our group and laid down and took a nap.

By this point, it had started raining. As we were leaving we saw others holding umbrellas, riding the elephants. We were so glad we had our rides before the rain started.

The Mummified Monk of Koh Samui.

The ‘jeep’ took us to the temple, Wat Khunaram to see the mummified monk, Loung Pordaeng. The monk died in 1973 at the age of 79. His body is displayed in a glass case at the temple. Sunglasses were put on him to hide his deteriorated eyes. No one can explain why his body has not decomposed with the humidity and high heat. Many Thai people believe it is a miracle.

I was sitting in the very back of the pick up… er, I mean jeep; and got completely drenched with rain on the way back to the dock. I couldn’t wait to get back to the ship and dry out.

Before dinner, we attended a reception for past BOTHS cruisers and the stars. It was just a nice way to thank us for supporting and traveling with Playbill Travel.

Our only Broadway performance today was Seth Rudetsky’s Deconstructing Broadway. It wasn’t until nearly halfway through the cruise that Seth became a more active part of the daily entertainment, aside from accompanying the performers. So we were ready for some Seth-time. He is a total showman—super funny; and knows more about Broadway than anyone else alive.

Our last sea day is tomorrow and there are four big Broadway events scheduled. Can’t believe how fast the time is flying!