Beasts of the Jungle (Part 1)

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Trading the sun and the sea for the jungle clad interior, we set off for Khao Sok National Park by way of Surat Thani. With luck on our side we found ourselves a delightful little bunglow right on the rivers' edge (the River Sok too!) with a hammock-ed balcony overhanging the water. As we awoke we could hear the river rushing past, the birds calling in the dawn, and smell the sweet, brightly coloured flowers that were right outside our windows.

After a lunch in the guesthouse restaurant which overlooked the limestone mountains that the area is famous for (they call it the Guilin of Thailand, it reminded me of the drive out to Ha Long Bay), we hurried back to our room as thunder rolled overhead. The whole sky was lit up like a million camera flashes and not even a split second later the air resonated with the thunder that was louder than I have ever heard before. Then the rain came. We learnt that it was still monsoon season in Khao Sok and this rain wasn't going to prove that wrong. The rain came in huge drops making rivers of the ground all around us, the river raged past more violently than before, and we were very glad of our covered balcony from which to observe it all. But soon as it started it stopped it again, and all the insects and butterflies were out once more, the flowers brighter than they had been in the morning, and the heat abated - for a moment.

Keen to get into the jungle we set off early one morning to walk to a series of waterfalls and swimming holes. Right away the heat and humidity of the jungle hit us unlike anything we had encountered and we were dripping almost immediately. All around us were vines, winding their way up tropical trees, their crazy old roots ensnaring the flowers that grew at their bases. Further up was bamboo, tall and proud, and monkey filled as we watched the tiny little fellas jumping from stalk to stalk in the early morning. On the path as we walked we encountered lizards, tree frogs, bugs and beautiful butterflies that flitted about in the sunlight that fell through the trees upon us. Below us the river raged, and falls fell with a flourish over smooth stones that littered the forest floor. The smells too were astounding. At first the medicinal smell of the plants was nothing too surprising, given the use of plants and herbs in Eastern Medicine. But as the smells changed to caramel and lollies I was intrigued.

The water itself was clear but the waterside muddy due to the previous day's downpour. As we stood closer to the edge we spied fantastically coloured fish swimming about, and then a snake slithered in to join them. We weren't so upset we hadn't brought our things to swim that day.

Further along the track I felt a scratch and though some cheeky mossie had bitten me. Looking down I saw a tiny caterpillar-like creature and brushed him off, without much though. Stopping later for a drink I noticed another, but this time as I brushed him off he left a trail of blood across my ankle - Leeches!! Corb then looked down and found several of the fat suckers attached to his ankles, his socks and shoes stained with blood. They were everywhere!! We struggled to squish the ones that deftly climbed up the fronts of our shoes and swipe at those attached to us as we walked - a tricky manouevre when the path is not clear and you are forever climbing over tree roots and dodging hanging vines.

At the end of it all they didn't really do us much harm, though I'm sure the stain on Corb's shoe will remind us of them for a little while yet. The walk in the jungle was a great experience - though I have to admit we didn't go back the next day, the thought of those dirty little suckers is enough to curdle your blood!!

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