The Secret Garden

Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden is located about thirty minutes south of Pattaya in Sattahip.  It had received very good ratings on TripAdvisor, and been recommended to me by a few people, so I decided to check it out while Tim was in India.  I asked Mick to pick me up early - around 8:30 a.m. I figured it would be cooler and less crowded in the morning.  Alas, when I woke around 7 a.m., I discovered we were in the middle of a rare downpour.  So I called Mick and asked him to stand by.  By 8:30, the weather seemed to be holding, and after waffling on whether or not to abort all together, I called again and asked him to come at 11.  I slathered on the sunscreen, pulled out my sunhat, grabbed my umbrella and put on my walking shoes.  I was gonna do this!

It took nearly and hour to reach the gardens. I was amazed to see the enormity of the complex, with green patches everywhere and pretty foothills in the distance.  The entrance was somewhat reminiscent of driving into Cedar Point, with a long causeway to the entrance, and tour buses lined up in the parking area.  You buy your ticket as you drive in - 500 THB, which includes the Thai Cultural Show and Elephant Show.  I asked Mick if he wanted to go in, but he took a pass; so I asked him to pick me up around three.  (It's hard to just "play it by ear" when you have someone driving you - you've always got to estimate how long things are going to take).

The gate where Mick let me off led into the small zoo area, and these are the first animals I saw:

Very asian-looking, aren't they?  Since I was unable to read the signs (you know I'm a sign-reader), I surmised from the internet that these are Brahman or Zebu cattle (but don't quote me on this).  

A little further up and I came across some brilliantly-colored birds - macaws, cockatoos, parrots and parakeets.

I was checking out the tigers and the tortoises when I heard drumming and cheering.  I was hoping this was the Chinese New Year celebration and followed the sounds to find it.  I'd originally thought I would go to the Chinese New Year celebration at a park in the evening, but when I heard they were having a celebration here, I thought it might be a little safer for me.  I came upon some dancers, dragon dancers, and Chinese lantern-bearers.  They even had the elephants getting in on the act.  This was my first close-up encounter with elephants since we'd arrived.  (Tim frequently sees elephants on his way to work - I am quite envious).

I was to have my fill of elephant encounters today - there are many, many elephants here; most of them are carrying tourists around the park.  At one point, three elephants with their riders were approaching, so I stepped to the side of the road to let them pass.  One elephant, whose handler was walking ahead, looked like he was going to pass by, then veered directly over to me, and put his trunk out to me, as if he was saying "hello."  (He was probably looking for a handout, as many people feed the elephants bananas here, but I'd prefer to imagine the former scenario!)  I reached out and patted his trunk - so cool!

So cute!  Little one in training

All this excitement, and I haven't even gotten to the "garden" part of the Garden.  The park is divided into many different areas, each dedicated to a different kind of garden.  I realized the zoo was the "animal garden."  Butterfly Hill was a wide-open series of walkways with fountains and huge figures made of corn cobs.  The next area was called Mammoth Garden, with statues of woolly mammoths amid sculpted shrubberies and huge clay pots. 

King Arthur: Did you say shrubberies?Roger the Shrubber: Yes, shrubberies are my trade. I am a shrubber. My name is Roger the Shrubber. I arrange, design, and sell shrubberies.

Some of the fauna felt positively prehistoric, with their giant, fan-shaped leaves spiraling upward toward the tallest palm trees; and brilliantly-red bamboo (?) that stands so tall and sturdy, instantly enclosing you in its shade.  I enjoyed a "zen moment" in the Thai garden with its bamboo and its murals showing their respect for Buddha.

Tucked away in one corner of the park was a little garden with animal sculptures all formed from what I think was bark or chips of wood.  It made for an interesting visual effect, and the craftsmanship was most-impressive.

The agave garden was interesting - some of the plants were huge, and so beautifully-formed.  It had an almost-western feel to it.  And the bonsai garden had some beautiful miniatures amid giant tortoise statues.  There were some really odd-looking plants that I think were cacti?

Next was a classic French garden, right out of Louis XIV's palace at Versailles.  It was huge, and was bordered on one side by a hundred miniature temples, and (what else?) Stonehenge at one end!

After that, it got even more whimsical - hundreds of painted ceramic animals clustered together, each animal with its own territory.  There were a hundred pandas, a hundred flamingos, a hundred ants, you name it.  I took these pictures for a brother of mine who would especially enjoy this garden :-)

A car garden was listed on the map, and I expected that to be the parking lot, but it was a collection of fancy cars - really!  It was a nice, air-conditioned place to cool off.  And the Heart-Shaped Garden was just what you'd expect.  People were crazy for taking their pictures here - a bunch of romantics, I guess.

The English Garden was classic, with pretty fountains on different tiers, and I could have lingered for hours in the Flower Garden - beautiful orchids we'd never see growing outside at home.

I'd circled back to the entertainment "garden" just in time to grab a seat for the Thai Cultural show.  It was inside a covered pavillion, with little relief from the few fans blowing the warm air around - I was dripping and so glad that I'd packed a bottle of water.  It appeared that several tour buses full of people were attending, and they squeezed people into every last little corner.  I was lucky to find a seat next to two nice ladies from Hong Kong.  We had an engaging little chat before the show.  She was amazed that I was not with a tour, but was living here in Pattaya.  She and her sister were on the last leg of a cruise from Hong Kong, and had taken a taxi up from Phuket to visit Pattaya, one of their favorite stops.  She told me about her son, the architect, who lives and works in Chicago.  (Nearly everyone we meet has some family member living in the US).

The program consisted of native Thai dances from the four regions of Thailand, and included a Dragon Dance in honor of Chinese New Year.  Then a ring was quickly erected and a Muay Thai boxing match was staged.  It's an interesting, very ritualized competition, with  dissonant, flute-like music playing throughout the competition.  Next was traditional Thai fighting with weapons, even fighting from the backs of elephants.  It ended with a very cool drumming exhibition.  It was a very well-staged, colorful program.  

By the end of the show, the rains had returned in earnest, and the walkways were quickly turned into streams.  Several people had gotten up in the middle of the program and rushed to the exits.  I think they must have been instructed by their tour guides to leave the show early so they could get seating for the elephant show that followed.  By the time I made my way to the elephant show, the rain was coming down in buckets, and the front rows of seats were drenched.  Most had retreated to the back of the pavillion, and I stood watching the elephants play soccer in the rain from behind my umbrella.  The elephants seemed to know the old adage, "The Show Must Go On."  They went through their paces with their handlers who were thoroughly soaked.  It was a pitiful sight all the way around.

The rain was just letting up as I made my way to the car.  A day that began so spectacularly ended with a fizzle - or more accurately, a drizzle.

WHAT I'M READING:  Just finished The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar, an Indian American journalist and novelist.  The book is a brilliant illustration of the class system in India and the interdependence of those classes.  You're given a taste of the wretchedness of slum life and the dichotomy of the relationship between master and servant.