By David Smee

We had decided that we would spend the next day in and around Pia -- after all Caroline was very excited to see someone special! Yes today was the day we got to meet our first elephant... Oh, and Caroline's cousin unexpectedly joined us for the day as well.

Having picked up Rachel from the circus school she was staying at*, our first stop was Thom's Elephant Home. While it felt slightly forced, we did enjoy meeting, feeding and being hugged by the Elephants here**.

Just up the road was Tha Pai hot-springs. A very organic experience: the fully natural springs had just been diverted and combined into a steam that fed a series of tiered ponds -- the further down the hill from the springs, the cooler they became. This was no Spa, it was instead a national park. This only added to the experience; sitting on rocks in the hot ponds under the shade of the forest and enjoying the refreshingly cold rain***.

Feeling suitably relaxed, we were then primed to tackle Pai's evening market. A odd mix of food and stuff for tourists; with a near endless variety of mugs, hats, t-shirts etc, all with the words "Pia" or "Love" on them, or my favourite "Love Pia"****

* And dragging Caroline away from the three resident puppies.

** Caroline enjoyed it so much that it led to further Elephant adventures. More on that to come...

*** It was raining again, but it was really quite nice this time.

**** Yes it is the same joke two blogs in a row. Just imagine how many times Caroline has had to suffer though it in the last 48 hours.