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Published: March 27th 2007
Laura at nodule rock field
Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park A quick look around Phitsanulok had me convinced I was in no particular need of another urban adventure, so I crashed for the night and headed for the hills the next morning.
The hills were in Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park. National parks are numerous in Thailand and some of them are well-equipped with campsites, bungalows and restaurants. At this particular park, one can stay in an odd, basic wooden bungalow with no screens on the openings and no furniture save the 4 mattresses lined up side by side on the floor for about $10 a night. So if I come down with Dengue fever, you'll know what happened: the mozzies had their way with me all night long.
From 1967 to 1982, the area now known as Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park was the strategic headquarters for the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT). This easily-defendable (dense forests, difficult, hilly terrain) site was home to 4000 CPT members at one time. The park contains numerous features such as buildings, grave sites and air-raid shelter caves once used by the CPT.
The park also happens to be home to various species of orchids. A fact I
orchid
Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park never would have known had I not been out hiking with the only other foreigner to be found in the park, the German orchid hunter.
It seems that Phu Hin Rong Kla is the right elevation with the right amount of moisture to support a healthy orchid population. We found many plants, mostly growing on branches of large trees. However, being near the end of a long dry season, most of the flowers were in their dormant state.
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