Sunday began rather early with a 7 a.m. departure on a package tour of three days and two nights in Khao Sok National Park. The driver made a few stops along the way which I wasn’t too thrilled about since it wasn’t part of the advertised itinerary, but the end result (the lake) more than outweighed the overly lengthy process of getting there.
We stopped at a market (there was no pressure for us to buy so it wasn’t a scam), the official Tsunami memorial (not where I was the other night), a field where two medium-sized fishing boats washed up after the 2004 Tsunami (1.3 kilometers from the shore), the Khao Sok National Park visitor centre (we didn’t actually visit the Park on the whole trip) and somewhere for lunch.In short, I bought some amazing cashews and pistachio nuts at the market, I appreciated seeing the memorial wall, I wasn’t that bothered with walking on the now-decrepit ships, I still question why we visited the Visitor Centre if we had no plans to visit that part of the Park and I enjoyed my lunch until my stomach developed a mind of its own. For the first time in I don’t know how many years, I threw up. I remember thinking the shrimps were a bit undercooked – perhaps that was why? Luckily I made it to a toilet but the only luck was that I saved embarrassment. The toilet was Thai-style – a hole in the floor with no toilet paper and an unpleasant odor which made an unpleasant experience even more so. Fortunately, after a few moments, I was fully recovered and well enough to get on the long-tail boat for the 90 minute trip to the over-water bungalows.
As soon as I saw the chance to stay in a hut over the water, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. It is my hope/wish/dream to stay in an over-water bungalow in the South Pacific with either a see-through floor or a hole in the floor which can be opened to reveal the fish swimming underneath; maybe when I hit the big four-oh.
There were a dozen or so small huts – about ten feet by ten feet – tucked away in a far corner of the lake where the water was perfectly still. The interior of the hut included a mattress on the floor and a mosquito net hanging from the ceiling. That was it. No flat-screen TV, no toilet or shower, no ceiling fan, no electricity. I was in group of seven people, six of whom were German (and only one of them spoke English). It wasn’t long before I was speaking German to each of them, albeit in small, broken sentences.
We swam in the lake and took canoes out in search of wildlife. I found a small inlet in the lake and parked my canoe to listen for monkeys in the trees. Sitting perfectly still, I was startled by a huge tree monitor (lizard) which slid down a nearby tree, causing me to look overhead in a panic for snakes. The bamboo leaves started rustling and the monkeys (or perhaps they were gibbons, chimpanzees or macaques) were “monkeying around”. It was a lot of fun to watch them fly through the air. Enlarge this photo to see the monkey in the treetop.It took me a while to relax enough in order to fall asleep. Between the noise of the animals in the trees and the thought of what kind of creatures were probably in the hut with me, along with the fact that the hut was constantly moving, even if only slightly (although more so when someone was walking to/from their hut) there was a lot to occupy my mind. It turned out that I slept better than the rest of my group who had similar concerns (as I learned at breakfast the next morning). Breakfast, by the way, consisted of a runny-sunny-side up egg, a pancake in the shape of a heart and some toast. I don’t eat any of those things (I gave up bread at Thanksgiving for the rest of the year) but having little choice, I ate the runny egg and the pancake which was delicious. It was Thai-style – probably made with oyster sauce as is just about everything here. I was afraid to ask in case it was fried in pork fat or made with curry.
We went on a boat-safari to look for wildlife – the hornbill in particular. We saw some but they were so far away it was hard to tell what I was looking at. After another quick swim, we walked through the forest for two hours, seeing termite mounds, cicada nests, limestone caves, giant mushrooms and of course lots of trees. Lunch followed and then I was dropped at the Rainforest Jungle Resort while the rest of the group left the region having finished their part of the package tour. Not everyone knew about the option to do one night in each of the two locations.
I had written last week that I had a massage in the jungle and I was staying in hotel in the jungle. Well last night I REALLY stayed in the jungle. I think the photo says enough. The interior was far more advanced than the hut on the lake (I had a toilet, a fan and some lights) but it also had way more creatures living rent-free such as frogs, geckos and several insects I am hoping weren’t roaches.
I was fused into another tour group for today (four more Germans, surprise-surprise). We went river rafting in the morning, monkey feeding before lunch and elephant trekking in the afternoon. The rafting was good – I had a guide to do all the rowing so I was able to sit and enjoy the ninety minute ride. He pointed out a couple of snake curled up in trees and some strange birds along the way. I didn’t like the elephant riding as much as the last time (three years ago) because the elephants didn’t look like they were treated well. I felt sorry for the animals actually. We trekked through the river, passing rubber trees being sapped, so I learnt. I also learned that each elephant has only one trainer and answers only to the trainer’s voice. Elephants are highly regarded in the Kingdom of Thailand and may not be owned by anyone other than the King. All elephants are rented from the King, other than, of course, those in the wild, of which there aren’t enough as there should be.Well, the day is over and so is my trip to Thailand. Tomorrow I will make the 26-hour journey home, starting with a 4 a.m. wake-up call. If you see me on Thursday and I am crankier than usual, I’ll be using jet-lag as an excuse.
No comments:
Post a Comment