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Published: November 15th 2006
Millions of Bats!!!
Yes there along the side of the mountain those are all bats!Hello there everyone!!!
This email is going to jump around a bit....SO pay attention-wink!
Our first night in Ayutthaya we were laying on our mattresses on the floor and reading through someone elses Thailand book....Top 39 things to do...one of them listed was a tour through the Khao Yai national park in the city of Pak Chong (which happened to be not too far from Auytthaya) so we looked into it- the cost was right and the promise of seeing wild animals -BOOK IT! We were however a little concerned after Ashley googled the park and read someones travel blog that outlined on his trip a king cobra and python were seen on the street and that they got charged at by a wild elephant!!!??? oh and the night part takes us to see millions of bats....an email went out to the rents to inform them of our location and say we will contact them as soon as we get back to Ayutthaya (hopefully, if we dont die)! So Saturday we get onto the train and off the Pak Chong. Obviously not an area with a lot of tourists around cause children on the train would simply stop and
a googled pic of the great hornbill
we tried but just couldnt get a good one! stare at us...white people, huh?! was going through their head i swear! Love the nerves searching for the sign at every stop to make sure its not the one we want. The green leaf tours ppl pick us up and take us to the guesthouse where we chill for the afternoon until 330 when we begin our first tour! 10 of us jump into two songthaews (pickup with caged in seat in the back) and off we went to the natural hot spring, the locals were having a great time, we just looked...then to the bat cave - Ash opted out and it was a good thing! hundreds of bats were chillin in this cave that the local monks use for meditation spots. Got a pretty close look at some wrinkle nosed insect bats ( thats a weird wiggle/twitch thing they have going on there?), including the babies that fly around the cave for flying practice...drip, drip...watch out for the pee/poop that was dropping from the ceiling! There were more buddhas down there but unfortunately not scorpion spider today! aww too bad!!!!! From there we checked out a beautiful sunset, ate some pineapple (its just sooooo good here!) and then
to the most exciting part of the evening... sunset bat extravaganza! We set up in cornfield wiht the telescope to look at the cave where they would come from (they were far away so Ash was there with me) and our guide says when we hear them start we run over there ...."WHAT run ? no he's kidding right??!!" nope he's not we heard them come and off we all went camera in hand running through the corn fields -laughing, this is hilarious!!but it was an amazing sight/sound...millions of bats flew out of that cave down the side of the moutain and into the park searching...hawks circled for hopes of an easy dinner...they flew together weaving and swirling and you could hear a buzz likes bees as they passed us in the dark....this continues for an hour or so...remember mouths closed cause 75% of the guano falls as they fly...
Day two (a 12 hour day searching for wildlife!) Us, a couple from US/Vietnam, nine (our guide) and his two buddies jump into the songthaew and up to the park. We're all chatting away in the back when... the truck veers and slows to the side of the road!
the guys jump out cameras and binoculars saying quick quick...here look! BIRDS?? I have never seen people so excited to see birds (and they do this every day!)..this time it was a green parakeet then an eagle with a weird thing on its head. car and then again off to the side (it became a normal part of the day) to see a monitor lizard. Mecaque monkeys lined the roads and usually made the cars move around them! we got a first hand look at monkey love by a lookout and later in the evening our guides thought it would be funny to wave food on the inside of the truck so we all feared flying hungry monkey in the back! Our main goal of the day was to spot the great hornbill -a beautiful, huge, yellow and black bird- we saw prob about 12 of them! the sound of their wings flapping is hard to describe but could be heard even over talking...k all suited up, leech socks and camera! and we head into the jungle. Somehow I got convinced to hold a horned spider (thougth he was kidding when he said it was alive), saw some gibbons in
the trees and hornbills. Not too many leeches today, phew, too dry. sorry this is getting long ill skim a bit more... now the big walk 3-4 hours in the jungle we saw: lime green viper snake, gorgeous colourful butterflies, birds..thought we heard a tiger roar!!!!????(thump, thump) or wild pig grunt, elephant salt licks, bugs, spiders and more! We swam in the waterfall from the beach movie and went to a lookout at the top of the park -WOW! Next was the funniest part to me...the sun was going down and so our 3 hour elephant/snake search began from our songthaew. Success we saw a king cobra -yikes! and a wild elephant! and a big dear and a barking dear and porcupines...by 8 it was freezing and having bugs slam into my face or slaping the bugs away from my face is always fun...Dan was laying on the bed of the truck and Ash on the seat -all of us shaking! It was a fantastic time...Love the rush of seeing/hearing and rushing to get a look! just enough scare with great scenery!
Now back to our time exploring the ruins of Ayutthaya...Friday was rented some bicycles (wow its been
the "ch" temple ruin
that was how we referred to them..the names are just to long and hard! a while..."I think I'd feel safer on a scooter right now?!") and headed out to look at the beautiful brick and plaster ruins...also the resting spots of many a headless buddha -why dress it when it doesnt have a head?! Although my butt hurt by the end of the day it was tons of fun. Ah yes and while riding along I saw a decent sized crocodile run out of the grass about 4m away from me and into the water...ok! that got the heart beating! Lets hope mine and Ashleys bike driving does not reflect the way our driving will be when we get home...Bali did rub off...hehehehe....got some looks at Thailand life and housing... back near the hotel we ran into Darren Spears and his girlfriend Kim (friend from high school) IT"S SOOO WEIRD to run into people you know...the four of us went on a night tour of the ruins-kool and then had some ice cream!!! (there was a dairy queen there!)
So now we are here up in northern Thailand...Chiang Rai to be exact and the city has a cool vibe. Not quite the number of tourists that we saw in Bangkok or Ayutthaya, so
A main attraction in Ayutthaya
the tree roots actually grew around the stone face. I guess a little bit more like a "normal" city. Yesterday included the bus rides that never ended and NEVER got more comfortable!! From Ayutthaya we caught the VIP bus at 830pm (air con -that eventually froze everyone to death- and reclining seats) for the 11 hour ride to Chiang Mai and then we hopped onto a cheap (fans and cramped seating) 3-4 hour bus to Chiang Rai...Lets just say there was a well needed nap taken yesterday afternoon after some crappy food and an aimless wander through the huge market..."Ash, where are we?" "Have we already been through this part?" and "MOVE quick....the smell!!!...." Markets in Thailand are like any old department store- theres the clothing section, shoes section , bags, underwear/socks, toilettries, dried stuff and seafood and eating area - you can just barter on the prices!! Went to the night bizzare last night for dinner and some shopping!! I like the night market way better! GOOD food and lots to look at....there were a number of people from the hill tribes around the area at the market selling there arts and crafts, as well as all the trad thai sells! A couple of stages in the area had thai dancers performing and some music, a very nice way to spend the evening! Oh! and our room this time (we splurged) has air con, hot shower and tv! after checking out the ridiculous thai music videos we got to watch a movie from our beds!....ahhh I miss that!
Sorry all that was a long one! Love you all and we are excited thinking about seeing all of you so soon! Hope you are all behaving yourselves and not feeling too soggy! yep we heard the rain is still going 😞 Talk to you soon!
Love jen and ashley xoxoxox
*** happy birthday De, Raj, Shawna (and congrats on being a married woman), Marcia, Jer and anyone else i missed!!!****
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Norm
non-member comment
So Brave!!!
Wow!! are you two trying to give us heart attacks back here. What a journey something I assume you will never forget. Bat's yuk I do not blame Ashley for missing the cave I would be there with her, you have no fear it sounds like Jen. Well I can not wait for your next fantastic pictures and stories to come. Love yah Uncle Norm