Where the wild things are …..

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After all that lazing around on beaches and struggling to walk the few feet from our wooden beach bungalow to the beach we decided it was time to do something different and took off for Khao Yai National Park, 120 km northeast of Bangkok. The National Park covers some 2168 sq km of the Phanom Dangkrek limestone mountain range and was the first one to be established in Thailand in 1962. Apparently the forest is host to over 300 different bird types and 20 species of land mammals as well as beautiful lush forest scenery and a few waterfalls – good prospects then that we might see something ‘wild’.

We decided to make our way to the National Park by bus and on turning up at the bus station we were directed to a stand quite clearly indicating Pak Chong – the nearest town. After being told there were no other buses to Pak Chong we bought a ticket and began waiting for our bus which was due to leave in about 50 minutes – wrong on both accounts. The bus was actually waiting for us already and, although it technically did leave 50 minutes later, locals were already getting on. As the buses are normally overcrowded we decided this was very good idea and staked our claim to our seats. We were really glad that we caught this bus at the start of the journey because by the end it was standing room only, which made the last part of the 3 12 hour journey a bit hot and uncomfortable. After being dropped off by the side of the road in Pak Chong, and a quick phone call to our guesthouse, we were rescued and taken to our accommodation for the few nights; Greenleaf Guesthouse. On our arrival our hosts asked us why we had taken that particularly bus and not the first class one which would have got us to our destination quicker and more comfortably – doh – mental note for the return journey!

The guesthouse was inexpensive, basic and clean, the staff really friendly and helpful, and the food cheap but good, but the reason we had chosen this one was because the tours had been recommended by Rough Guide and, after all, it was animals we were here to see. At breakfast on our first full day I was approached by the owner’s wife and, after ascertaining my age, was drawn into a long conversation about the various symptoms of the menopause and how I was coping with it. Wasn’t sure whether to be offended or not, but maybe I was looking particularly tired that morning, because as we all know I am far too young for that kind of thing!!! Chris found it very amusing that someone was brave enough to openly acknowledge I was old enough to have menopausal problems and then have a lengthy discussion on it – that’s Thailand for you! I would obviously have to take more care of myself now as I don’t want any of those pesky menopausal symptoms, which I obviously have, spoiling the rest of the trip.

We had decided to do two tours whilst we were here and on the first afternoon we headed out on the half day tour which would take us to a natural spring, where we could have a cool dip, then an underground cave which was the home to hundreds of bats and then at sunset to another cave to watch some more bats exiting for their night’s feed. Well, it was a Sunday and Rough Guide had warned us that the weekends could be busy but we hadn’t really taken that on board until we reached the natural spring. It was jam packed full of locals enjoying the refreshing water. There were so many that we decided to just sit and watch the fun, although our travelling companions decided that a dip was for them. The two young German men promptly set about getting undressed and ready for a dip, much to the amazement and awe of the local people who could not take their eyes off them; men and women alike. The water at the mouth of the spring was unbelievably clear, probably the clearest we have ever seen, but got a bit cloudier where everyone was swimming – not sure why but probably best not to think about it! However, swimming wasn’t allowed right at the start of the spring because there were some live electric cables dangling in – that’s Thailand for you. After a good half hour we moved off to our next destination.

The first cave we went into was under the site of a relatively newly constructed Wat, and apparently used to be the home of the monks who now lived in relative luxury above ground. On our way down the steep steps into the mouth of the cave our guide stopped us to point out a tarantula lurking in a cleft in the rock holding her giant egg in front of her. Never seen one out of a zoo before and quite happy not to see another but lovely nonetheless, especially at a distance! The cave was home to hundreds of Horseshoe Bats and had that particular smell associated with lots of bats ‘eau de bat poo’. We were reliably informed by our guide that we were relatively safe because, as far as he knew, there were no vampire bats there – what a joker. As we made our way into the cave the chattering noise became louder and our torches gave us glimpses of what seemed to be a moving ceiling, but was obviously hundreds of these lovely little creatures hanging upside down, clinging sometimes with only one foot. Every now and again our torches would disturb their slumber and a few would fly overhead, narrowly missing us – was our guide sure there were no vampire bats we wondered! Absolutely lovely and we have never seen so many bats in one place before. As well as bats we found a few other cave dwelling inhabitants, which were unfortunately not quite so cuddly, and could definitely be described as creepy crawlies or something out of a horror movie. On our way to the exit we also found another cave dweller – a monk meditating: who would apparently spend the whole day down there probably contemplating how to ignore us annoying holidaymakers.

As sunset was getting close we jumped into our transport and took off for the next cave, which was home to millions of Wrinkle-lipped Bats. We were not allowed into this cave but stood near the mouth to watch what was going to be a spectacular show according to our guide – him of the vampire bat joke. Well he wasn’t joking this time, at the exact time he said out they came, first circling a little bit in the mouth of the cave and then, with a whoosh, a frenzied line of black came pouring out into the red sky as they set off to forage for the night. Not sure what to expect we thought the sky might be covered by bats everywhere, but instead they all followed an orderly albeit winding line into the wind bringing the much needed insects. The black moving mass resembled a long thin writhing snake in the sky which went on as far as the eye could see, with no beginning and no end. Its only interruption occurred when a bird of prey swooped in to snatch its dinner creating a bulge in the snake as the bats swerved to avoid its deadly claws; the thin writhing line to be resumed on its departure. We stood there for almost half an hour, during which time the cave never stopped disgorging its inhabitants, until the whispy head of the snake was far into the distance resembling a puff of smoke. It was such a spectacular vision from Mother Nature that I half expected David Attenborough to turn up.

The following day we headed off into the National Park with our guide, Mr Nine, who is apparently a bit well known in bird watching circles. Our first stop in the park was the viewpoint where we immediately spotted a huge and very impressive Hornbill as well as a number of smaller, but still lovely coloured, specimens. Out came Mr Nine’s very impressive telescope so we could all have a really good look at these delightful birds. Great start. After some more driving and spotting some more Hornbill, deer and Macaques we pulled in to start our trek into the forest, which would take about 3 hours. The trek itself wasn’t difficult at all, the only aches we would have would be our neck muscles from all that looking up in the hope of spotting different species of forest dweller. It never ceases to surprise me how noisy the forest is, far noisier than most cities I have been to it is almost deafening, and above all the cacophony of the insects and birds the whumph, whumph of the Hornbill’s wings can be heard as it soars overhead heading towards its hole in the tree where his mate patiently waits with their chick. Apparently she sits in this hole for 3 months until baby is old enough to be left alone – a mother’s love.

Mr Nine is a dedicated and passionate bird watcher, so that is what he mainly searches for but he also found us a variety of other flora and fauna to keep us all interested. Poking around under a tree root had us all interested but it was not until a rather large and angry scorpion emerged that we knew what he was looking for. Apparently having it on our arms and shirts would be okay because it wasn’t angry enough to sting any of us – we wondered if a man poking you repeatedly with a stick didn’t make you angry then what on earth would! Other little floor dwellers we spotted included millipedes, spiders and leaches everywhere you looked. Although we didn’t have to look too closely to find leaches as they apparently had a bit of a thing for Chris. Even though we had all donned leach repelling socks Chris managed to attract a few – mental note to stand near him in a leach infested area as they will ignore me and make straight for him. Mr Nine spotted numerous species of birds with an unbelievably keen eye but even we, with our limited trekking skills, managed to hear and then see Gibbons. What we had really come to see, but didn’t want to upset Mr Nine by telling him. High up in a tree, whooping and swinging was a little family of three, including a black one and white one and a little baby. If we saw nothing else we were now happy, of course seeing a tiger would be really good. All in all the trek gave us sightings of more animals and birds than we could have hoped for and this was down to the expertise and passion of our guide – highly recommended.

After lunch by the roadside we headed off to one of the park’s waterfalls, only to have to stop and go to another instead to escape the unbelievable thunderstorm and rain which had decided to soak us all – probably why it is called a rainforest! A nice waterfall with a rather large number of steps to negotiate and then in the truck and off to the original waterfall as the weather had passed on. As we drove we noticed, well you couldn’t help it really as they were everywhere, large piles of Elephant poo. If there was this much poo then maybe we would be lucky enough to see one later in the day – fingers crossed. According to Mr Nine there were a few hundred ranging all over the park, so our odds weren’t great.

We stopped at a favourite Macaque haunt – obvious by the large number of them idling away in the trees. As we stopped to do some happy snapping they came to ground and casually made their way down the road, maybe off to bed for the night. Very casual and with no hurry they would sporadically stop and have a bit of a groom of each other and make any cars and bikes wait until the personal grooming was complete. A very bizarre sight a troop of thirty or more monkeys just aimlessly wandering down the road but we made sure we were back in the trunk before daddy macaque sauntered by as apparently he has a very nasty temper and sharp teeth.

The rest of the tour would be elephant hunting, but as we were driving up and down the roads we came to a sharp stop and Mr Nine got out and grabbed an orange thing from the tree which turned out to be an extremely angry Whippet Snake. This was one creature that was going to try and bite him, much to his amusement. It was a beautiful yellow/orange colour with patterned back and managed not to bite our guide so we could take some great photos.

The finale and the elephant – did we see one? Well some of us were lucky enough to see a bit of a backside and leg as it meandered through the forest, downing small trees and ripping off branches, others of us would have to be happy with hearing it and knowing we were that close.

All in all a great decision to spend a few days here and recommended to anyone interested.

So the return to Bangkok was taken on a 1st class bus on the advice of the locals, unfortunately despite the promise of a bus every half hour, we got a 3hr wait in the scorching sun, followed by a mad scramble to ensure seats when the bus finally turned up. Thai buses are fine, as long as you don’t want to board somewhere other than the start, then you’re in trouble. Another night in Bangkok then we’d booked a ‘luxury’ overnight bus to take us back to our temporary Thai home in lovely Chiang Mai.

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Photos

Trust me it's safe
says an expert ..... in birds

Not Nora
but very batty

Bonking Bugs
doing the dirty dance

Terrifying Tranny
and not in Bangkok

Legs Eleven
or more like 50

The Batcave
and no sign of Robin

don't look behind
there's about a billion starving bats

Horny Bird
and this one keeps the bill

Flower/Fungus/Flower/Fungus
Actually it's a very pretty jungle ginger

Shy Swingers
lovely but camera shy

Thanks Canon
for a great zoom lens

Teds Travel Buddies
2 German 'friends' and a Swiss chick keep our leader company

Finally getting the hang
of the cameras features

March of the monkeys
or maybe the Macaque motorway!

Sorry Nine
I'm sure you told us what this lovely creature was but it wasn't a gibbon so we forgot

Comments

[Chris and Nikki]

This has got to be the coolest picture on TravelBlog!