My ex-wife comes from Surin, the elephant capital of Thailand. I know, I know , it sounds like the beginning of a sad joke but it is true. She is very petite and small so the joke doesn’t work. (and she is surprisingly strong so I am afraid to tell any jokes in this direction anyway…)

The biggest of our non-stop tour of international weddings was there in Surin, and in order to make sure all our friends will take the five hour drive up to Surin, we chose to do the wedding in the elephant festival weekend.

During the annual elephant festival there is a  pachyderm pilgrimage of noble giants pacing their way to their old capital. Well, actually most of them come in huge trucks but the mental vision of hundreds of elephants walking in straight rows in the direction of Surin in the sunset is very romantic. I can already hear Elton john's version of elephant king.

Before I start waxing about the beauty of these grey monsters I just want to advice anyone who plans to have his wedding when there are hundreds of elephants in town, that hundreds of elephants eat a lot, and also, as nature goes, after they eat… well, I don’t need to continue. But maybe it was symbolic. Anyway, back to the elephants.

When you live in Thailand for enough years , seeing an occasional elephant is not very exciting. They are everywhere. But when the city, and in the end of the day Surin is not a small city, is overrun by hoards of elephants, big and small, it is an interesting experience.

First, as expected, you watch where you step. These are not doggies. If you step in it, you really step in it. That’s the last you are going to see that shoe. Second, you feel so small all of a sudden.  Real small. Small and fragile.