DO Pocazine and Tourism Authority of Thailand - 'Drive through the rains'

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Before this weekend i had never been further north than Bangkok (when i'd spent a few months travelling Thailand i had opted for beaches over forests), so when the chance came to head off road and spend a weekend in the national parks of Isaan I thought I would have to be a fool to turn it down.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect of the trip but didn't expect that I would get to the meeting site to be greeted by camera crews and a speech by someone who I assumed must have been the Thailand tourism minister. Even less expected was the police escort with lights and sirens who cleared the road abd escorted us all the way to Isaan.

Our convoy of cars arrived in the early afternoon and we headed straight to the first national park for some lunch and sight seeing. After tucking into a BBQ fish lunch it was onto the back of a truck to head to the top of the mountain via a little bit of off road river riding. Once we got there we were given time to go explore and get some photos. WOW was the view from up there impressive, there were mountains and forests touching the clouds everywhere you looked. At the very top there was a rock sticking out over the cliff drop which was oddly shaped like a penis and balls, if you were brave enough you could go get a photo on it. It took me two trips to grow a pair and get on, heights have never been my strong point. I felt even more pathetic when there were people doing karate kid stances and playing the lying down game on it.

The rest of the park was cool, lots of wildlife and and nature with beautiful views. When it was time to head back to the truck the 5am start began to show as the legs started to tire. After a quick stop to watch the sun finally break through the clouds we made it back to the trucks just in time as it started to drizzle on our way back down the mountain. I felt sorry for the poor souls setting up campsites up there who were in for a cold wet torrential night. Being stuck on a mountain in a Thai thunder storm is a bit to extreme for me.

After a few wrong turns on the way we arrived at our resort after the sun head gone down, we had some dinner and then they had some professional photographers give a little talk on the best ways to take photos. I am sure it would of been interesting if I had of been able to understand any of it, there was no English translation as I was probably the only farang within a 100km radius. The photographers then judged a photo contest but I was out of luck and got gazumped by the runner up who had submitted a near enough identical photo as my best but before me, my photo of our police escort doing an 'I'm a little teapot' pose at the top of the mountain got a few laughs at least. It had been a long day by now so it was time to hit the sack as it was another early start tomorrow.

The next morning I woke up early and went outside to inhale some fresh air (sarcasm), as it had been dark the night before I hadn't properly realised our bungalow was right at the edge of a lake, what a beautiful sight at 6am in the morning, after our photography pep talk from the night before I tried to snap a few of where we were staying. A doughnut and coffee breakfast later and we were back on the bus heading for the next national park.

This park seemed a lot bigger and more commercial then yesterdays as it had a market for shopping and big buses to take you around. Again the views were awsome from the peak, you can see for what looks like eternity. I tried to go away from the crowds to try and find some unique views and photos this time. The walk back down the mountain took you right through the middle of some fields of pink flowers, rolling hills and tiny villages in the distance. The fresh air and views definately make a nice change from the concrete jungle of Bangkok. The bus next whisked us off to another part of the park which had lots of weird rock formations, after exchanging pleasentries with some IPhone equipped monks it was time to go rock climbing. My favourites I found were the rock shaped like a chicken and of course the massive erect penis which is rumoured to give you either potent sperm or a growth spurt if you rub it. I don't really think I considered the risks properly as I was getting my photo with it. We had a little browse of the market when we got back before heading back to the resort.

In the afternoon it has been arranged that the local school children would be coming to the resort to have a lunch and then recieve some donations for the school, it was nice to see so many children smiling as they were stuffing their pockets with sweets and snacks. I went and played with them for a little bit even though I think they were scared by the big farang talking to them in bad Thai, especially when I realised they would be speaking the Isaan dialect themselves anyway.

On the journey back to Bangkok we stopped at a dairy farm to get some fresh ice cream which was tasty, I don't think you can ever not enjoy some mint choc chip ice cream. We stopped just on the outskirts of Bangkok to have some dinner at a cool restaurant that was overlooking a lake and with bats and even a huge crane bird flying around. It was nice to finally sit down and relax a little and have a chat and was the perfect way to end the weekend.

Thank you DO Pocazine.

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