Hua Hin

As I cycled into Hua Hin there seemed to be a lot of police and miltary lurking about. Turned out it was the opening day of the Kings Elephant Polo Cup, and some bigwigs were out hobnobbing. I had missed the opening ceremonies on that day, but I went along later to catch a bit of the play.

I just jumped on a motorbike taxi as I didn't recall seeing any signs on the way down. I must of cycled straight past it previously. Anyway, there were 32 teams playing in the tournament. First up were the All Blacks who started off with the Haka to frighten the opposition, who responded by signing some French ditty. Then everybody was up on there elephant with their mahouts(drivers) and polo sticks. And then the referees drops the ball and Action. The elephants lumber about while the players weild their sticks with abandon, all the time the commentator is trying to make it seem fast and furious. And then some poor guys get the jobs of pooper-scooper, gives you muscles hefting all that dung! The people and the players seemed a bit hoighty-toighty. I was almost expecting to get asked whether I went to Cambridge or Eton, haha.

The commentator mentioned that Chivas Regal team is apparently the best team in the world. They started against the Australian team at 0-3. However at least one of the Australians had only ever been on an elephant for 30 seconds. By half time it was 4-3 to Chivas Regal. Not much of a match, though.