Nellie.

Ollie was still suffering from jet lag so it was difficult to motivate him yesterday! Thus, another gentle day although by the evening he had woken up enough to enjoy a few beers directly on the beach

where we made a plan of action for the rest of our time here. Top of his ‘wish list’ was elephant trekking. I’m not sure how morally comfortable I am with this ‘sport’ but, once again, Dr Google came to the rescue as there’s a lot of information to be found about the pros and cons of this activity with a list of the good guys and the bad guys here in Phuket. Luckily, one of the preferred trekking companies was in the hills almost directly behind our hotel.

So, off we went,passing a Ninja Turtle on the way.

We declined swimming and washing with these magnificent animals (I’m not that fussy but the water did seem to be an interesting colour)

and opted for a wander up into the hills instead. Our Nellie was a very serene 23 years old

whose minder seemed content to let his charge just get on with it.

Elephant trekking is not exactly the most comfortable of pastimes

as we wobbled up and down the narrow paths. Nevertheless, it’s a pretty popular pastime, especially as an alternative wedding photo setting to the usual beach scene!

As an aside, I must say that this particular bridegroom looked as though he would have preferred the beach. He was terrified!

In a way, I can understand the endless wedding photo sessions we have seen, especially around Valentine’s Day time. But what I can’t get my head around is why so many couples want to dress up (in non wedding clothes) and have their photos taken by professional photographers either at elephant trekking camps