We had not expected to see little Austin in the morning as we had said our goodbyes to the family the night before. Unfortunately Austin had other ideas and made his way over to the temple at around 6.30 in the morning closely followed by his mum. He climbed in the camper and pointed to some porridge. We took the hint and served him a portion.
As we started packing up we realised that he thought he was coming with us in the ‘boomboom’ as he called Troopy. We thought this might end in tears ……. and it did!
A little way further down the road we had a chance to stop at one of the many charcoal burners that we had seen.
In this area most people cook with charcoal and make it themselves. Some people don’t re-use the charcoal burner, they simply pile a dome of clay over the wood and rice grass, and then when the burn has finished, they break open the clay case to remove the charcoal. Maybe another project for Graham when he gets home!
When we arrived in Surin we found another temple which was only a short walk from the elephant stadium. We parked the camper in a shady spot and found that there were toilets and showers just a few meters away.
There was supposed to be an elephant buffet somewhere in the town, and although we were not sure where it was, we soon saw signs that we were going in the right direction.
We were almost too late, and only saw the elephants eating the last scraps of food.
The night at the temple was not quite as quiet as we expected as we were camped right between two live bands …. It was also still 30 degrees C at 10.00 pm …… Finally drifted off to sleep wearing only ear plugs!
troopytracks 
