Surin,Elephant,Round-Up,Annual travel,insurance Surin's Elephant Round-Up Is An Annual Event In Thailand

Like any American, traveling occasionally is just what I love doing and I bet you share the same stuff with me. But traveling does not mean that you would be safe. Escaping from our job and other stressful activities is just something that w Torres del Paine is among the biggest of Chile’s national parks, occupying almost 600,000 acres (242,000 ha) of land in the south on the border with Argentina. It is also among the most important, receiving a significant proportion of domes

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin-top:0in;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0in;line-height:115%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Cordia New";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}It's round-up time again and the ever-increasing popularityof Surin's elephant extravaganza takes pride of place in November's festivalcalendar in Thailand. Thai elephants are visible all year round in the Surin and Buriramprovinces of southern Isaan, but the round up offers more to the visitor thanelephants and is really a gathering of the khmer clans from the region whichboast up to 70% khmer-speaking individuals. Laotian influence fades away here,giving way to the strong Khmer presence. Not surprisingly really, as Buriramand Surin are a mere 40km from the Cambodian border.Surin itself is a typical Thai country town no morenoticeable than in the local favorite delicacies of frog and maengda (waterbugs). It's still normal practice for townsfolk to walk the streets froghunting in a monsoon downpour as well as frequently generating a battery ofneon lights to attract the tasty bugs. Festival time swamps the town and thenigh on 40 year-old annual show has its centerpiece right downtown at the LakMuang Stadium. Here, over 200 elephants perform sacred rites and rituals,hunting techniques and the more fun pastimes of tug o' war and football. Thereare also folklore plays and a rocket festival similar to that in Yasothon.Local artisans and street entertainers complete the party atmosphere.Everyone trades and the Artist's Pub and the "joke"curry shops are hives of activity as well as the regular markets and Petchkasemand Tharin Hotels. The order of the day is to book early as group bookingsgenerally fill the available properties up to a year in advance. Outlying townssuch as Korat, and Buriram usually have space but it's better to be there inthe thick of the fest.Train tickets should be purchased well in advance for thelate November shindig and expect roads to be jammed enroute to the capital onSunday evening. For all that, it's still a worthwhile trek. This year's round-up is on Saturday/Sunday, November 25-26.Naturally Surin has more to offer than a one weekend a yearparty and if travelling outside of festival time be sure to take the borderroad to Ta Muang where there are 3 well-preserved khmer-style temples on theedge of a plateau. This is deep in khmer country and beyond the cliff edge isCambodia (literally - the dividing line IS the cliff!) and flat jungle land asfar as the eye can see. Beyond Ta Muang on the Thai side is the road to PhanomRung khmer ruins in Buriram Province, now more popular than its Pimaicounterpart.Another worthwhile project to visit in Surin is the ChakneuaPinery Forest reserve enroute to Si Saket, a must for nature lovers. This jointThai-Danish project has a collection of some of the world's best pine species.Sisaket itself, is home to the yellow-leaved lamduan tree and there is anactual lamduan festival in March when the trees are at the height of theirbloom.Off the beaten path and some 58 km north of Surin are thevillages of Taklang and Gapoe, home to the Suay people. These people speak adifferent tongue and migrated from Southern Cambodia around 200 years ago.Their forte is "elephants" and their knowledge and know-how of thebeasts is unsurpassed. A "spiritual" communication, almost a languagerapport, with the pachyderm is almost mystical in its enactment throughout thetraining, capture and rearing of the mighty beasts. Their methods date back tothe Ayutthaya period of the kingdom when members of this community successfullyassisted in seeking out King Suriyaman's lost white elephant. A trip hereshould be a preference if time allows.Sikhorophum also boasts excellent Khmer ruins and these canbe taken in on a combined visit to Surin and Buriram. These ruins apart, thetown also is home to some true cottage industries. Ban Butom boasts excellentbasket-weaving, now very popular with Bangkok afficianados. Ban Choke'ssilverware is rough but has its own style. In either village, locals can beseen working away in their own backyard, as it were. No big showrooms here asyet.On to Buriram and the hilltop sanctuary of Phanom Rung whichwas built at the same time as Angkor Wat. The recently restored temple hasmagnificent Naga (Serpent) bridges like most major Khmer temples and nowsupercedes Phimai for annual visitor figures. One of a line of temples dottedfrom Angkor Wat, including Muang Tam and Si Thep, Phanom Rung is now consideredto be the best khmer architecture on view within the kingdom of Thailand.Buriram is the base for any visit to Phanom Rung and the townitself has a few more offerings.Khao Kradung Hill offers bird's eye views of the surroundingpaddies, for this is the farming heartland of Isaan and the home of somtam(papaya salad). Any wannabee photographer should start here if requiring ricefarming shots. Near to the hill is Soradeg Stone Caring Centre, anotherphotographer's dream. The centre is a sculptural marvel where students andteachers alike carve their pieces across the great lawns of the property. Anafternoon here would be time well spent.Buriram has its share of festivals and a November kite-flyingshow vies with the round-up for attention. Phanom Rung, however, is the mainattraction and the son et lumiere festival is in March/April.Whether taking in the round-up or not, Surin and Buriramprovinces have distinctly different aspects to offer the visitor, partlythrough the khmer heritage and partly through this being the centre ofThailand's Isaan rice bowl. They offer yet another side of Thailand's diversityfor the eyes of the alternative traveller.