Making Elephant Poo Paper

As expected, I managed to get bitten a further two times last night whilst sitting outside at night and I ended up going back to my room fairly early as I could tell that being bitten was only going to frustrate me further. I fell asleep more or less straight away although I was very hot, but tiredness must have taken over. I woke up in the middle of the night sweating and I looked over to the fan and the cheeky 3 had aimed the fan at them and completely missed me out so I just sweltered, although equally I could not be bothered to move to readjust the fan, so it is partly my fault I was so hot. I was the first one up this morning out of my group and headed over to breakfast which was continental, so I grabbed some toast and fruit which was a pleasant sensation after yesterday’s dreadful breakfast.

At 9.00, we got into the back of the truck along with a bucket of elephant dung and drove to the local paper mill. When we arrived, the man started off by showing us the process to make the paper which was:-

1. Stomp on the poo with bare feet and water to clean it off for 30 minutes
2. The poo water goes into a storage unit to be able to steam for 8 hours
3. The poo water then gets boiled with baking soda for 5 to 6 hours
4. It is then stomped on for a further 30 minutes to clean it
5. Place the poo water into a net and place it in a spin machine for 3 to 4 hours
6. Clean with your feet again for 20 minutes
7. Add a chemical colour and boil for a further 20 minutes
8. Spin in the net for 5 minutes
9. Scoop the mixture into water and mix in
10. Place the sieve in the water and push back and forth 4 times before allowing it to float to the top
11. Allow paper to dry

The process is then complete; I was surprised at how long it was to make the paper. Obviously, we could not do the whole process, so we only done the poo cleaning and the sieving. The thought of poo cleaning was a lot more disturbing than doing it, it was a bit like just stepping on soggy hay; well at least that was what I kept telling myself. The poo was so squelchy beneath your feet, the splash from it kept going up my legs. The next thing we done was to be shown how to sieve the prepared paper to give it its shape. We first scooped some of the prepared mixture into a bucket of water and mixed it around with a stick then we got the sieve and lowered it carefully to the bottom of the bucket so that the paper could fall on to the sieve. As we lifted it out, all the water fell through just leaving the wet paper so that we could leave it to dry.

Once everyone had had a go and bought some finished products, we drove round to the elephant graveyard. It was not what I

expected like in the Lion King but more majestic than that with a large temple which was decorated with elephants and a Buddha; there was also a cave underneath that was decorated with different religious symbols and statues in the chambers. Where the elephants were actually buried, were large gravestones that were shaped like mini temples with each one having the elephants name and when it died on it; not that I could read it as it was in Thai. Just behind the graveyard was a tiny baby elephant with its mum, the baby kept trying to steal our water bottles and grabbing our hand; the elephant made my arm so dirty where his trunk had been on the floor prior to wrapping it round my arm.

After we got back to the homestay, there was about an hour’s free time before lunch so a few of us had a quick nap as the heat is zapping all our energy. Lunch today was spring rolls with some rice and sweet ‘n’ sour chicken which was divine and I couldn’t help

myself but go up for seconds. The afternoon session came around really quick and we walked down to the river with the elephants again, as well as taking some tubes and kayaks down to relax for the whole of the afternoon in the river. Today the poo on the riverbed did not seem to matter after this morning, so most of us just ran right into the river embracing the dirt and cold feeling of the water. The elephants once again were so pleased to be in the river and kept spraying all of us with water; although the tubes and kayaks were fun, they were nothing compared to the elephants but once the elephants had gone back, I must admit the tube felt amazing to sit in whilst catching some rays. To get back to the camp, the truck came to pick us up, but the driver was having so many issues winding it up to start the engine that it probably would have been quicker to walk back in all fairness, although eventually, he did manage to get it started.

Once again, the body wash felt so good, as we all really smelled today, although equally we are all so excited to head back to our hotel in Surin tomorrow for a proper shower. I ended up sharing my wash with a lizard today which was a bit odd; I don’t know how the Thai people don’t smell more when they don’t have proper showers. Dinner tonight was incredible, there was a chicken pasta with some pumpkin fries which tasted like sweet potato fries and chicken wings. The only issue I had was the flies, they were everywhere tonight and they were putting me off my food and putting me really on edge; even though I had sprayed myself with insect repellent, they kept landing on me. After dinner, I managed to stay for about half hour before I decided it was time to relocate to my bedroom as I could feel myself getting eaten alive even down my top and they were irritating me to the point I was feeling angry. I cannot wait to get back to a less bug infested place tomorrow.

So that is my day; I am now sitting on my mat in the room trying to apply after bite to all my bites so that I don’t end up scratching half of my skin off in the night. Hopefully, tomorrow will be less insect infested back in Surin.