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Published: January 5th 2008
2 Million Bats
An awesome sight at sunset as they leave the Bat Cave 2 Jan
2 Million Bats - Wildlife and Bird Watching at Khao Yai National Park
I caught the Skytrain to BTS Mo Chit station and then another exciting motorcyle taxi ride with my backpack on and another large bag on my lap hanging on with one hand as the driver went full speed around the corner 3 km to the Mo Chit Bus station for 40 baht. The bus station is huge and all the signs are in Thai but everyone was helpful and I found a numbered window where I could buy a ticket for 144 baht to get me to Pak Chong. The trip took 2.5 hours and I got off in the main street - I then asked two guys which baht truck to catch to the Greenleaf Guesthouse - one of them sent me accross the road and when I got there the next guy even rang the guesthouse (I had their number on a piece of paper - always pays to have the address of your Hotel written in Thai and a contact phone number) on his mobile and made sure I got on the correct truck. It cost 20 baht for a 7km
Birdman Nine
A legend of bird watching and a nice guy trip to the guesthouse which is about half way to Khoa Yai National Park.
The guesthouse is a family run affair owned by Mr Birdman Nine who is also the local bird watching expert and runs the full day tours and specialist bird watching tours. The other guides at Greenleaf run the tours, work in the restaurant and generally help out the tourists and seem to work at least 12 hours per day, probably more - the Thais have an amazing work ethic and always keep smiling even when they are obviously weary. On arrival I was greeted by Joe who runs the half day tours at Greenleaf - we found Joe was a great guy and made the half day tour a lot of fun - he explained the available tours and organised some food and settled me into the guesthouse.
I was sitting alone at the open air retaurant and I noticed a couple sitting at another table and decided to say hello on the way back to my room. I have been very fortunate on this trip so far and met some wonderful people and this has continued when I met Caroline and Ryan from
Caroline and Ryan
Wonderful new friends from USA the USA - they were great friends to me during my stay at the Greenleaf Guesthouse and on the tours and I am sure our friendship will continue as we have exchanged emails and hopefully will keep in contact. There was also a nice family from France who joined us for our half day tour on day 1.
About 1500 pm we took off in our truck with Joe and another guide and visited a spring with crystal clear waters for a refreshing swim. I got changed behind a rock so I hope I didn't scare some of the locals who were singing and drinking a few Leo beers. We then visited a large cave, home to "Jimmy" the bat and some baby bats. We got to within 150 mm of Jimmy by torchlight and the cave also had some interesting formations plus some Buddha images as it is also used by the local monks.
Joe had some fun with us with some plants that popped in your mouth on contact with moisture and also showed us some local bush tucker. We had a brief stop to check out a white bushy tailed squirel in a tree and
Mo Chit Bus Terminal
Er - which way to Pak Chong and Khao Yai? then it was then off to the bat cave to wait for the bats to emerge for feeding at sunset - not just a few bats but at least 2 million. It was an incredible sight as the bats flew overhead -they made a lot of noise with their wings flapping and diverting their flight plan when Joe made some noises to show how sensitive the bat's hearing can be. It is probably worth visiting this area just to see the bats flying in such large numbers, especially at sunset - it was a brilliant sight to behold.
On the way back to Greenleaf Guesthouse we stopped to look at some lizards and Joe had some more fun with us by displaying some of the quirky behavour of a small gekho. It was actually quite cool at Khao Yai and I wore a pullover for the first time in Thailand. We got back to the guesthouse about 1915 and then had a delicious Thai meal - the menu is limited but the food at the Greenleaf is highly recommended. Caroline, Ryan and myself continued chatting well after everyone else had gone to bed and consumed quite a few Leos
Greenleaf Guesthouse
7.5 k from Pak Chong towards Khao Yai and Chang big bottles of beers. It was a great night with new friends and about 2300 it was time for some sleep as we would be going on our full day tour with the 'Birdman" at 800 am. The rooms at Greenleaf are very basic but clean with a cold shower for 200 baht per night. If you want more luxury there are plenty of resorts in this area but I don't think you will find the expertise or the local knowledge of the Greenleaf guides, or the guesthouse atmosphere where you can sit around and chat with so many travellers from all parts of the world at the one table.
You don't seem to have to worry about sleeping in at the Thai guesthouses as there always seems to be someone up around 6 am doing some work or making noise near your room. After breakfast on day 2 we met Mr Birdman Nine for our full day tour. Before we even arrived at the national park entrance the Birdman had his telescope focussed on some unusual birds in the trees near the main road. His enthusiasm is infectious and he is always happy to grab your
Room 4
Clean - oooh!!! - cold shower - 200 baht per night - I slept OK camera and take some pictures through the telescope. We then stopped at a lookout over the park, Khao Yai has been devastated by development and had been saved in the nick of time to become Thailand's first national park in 1962. We stopped to observe some monkeys, plenty of them around the main roads and also some Gibbons in the trees. The Gibbons make a very unusual sound when they call eachother and you could sit here for hours just watching and listening to them frollicking in the trees. We also found a pair of "Great Hornbills" and their nest which got Mr Birdman very excited as these are one of his favourite birds. They can have a wing span of over a metre wide and are a very impressive sight in the trees and when flying.
We then went for about a 6 km walk through the Jungle which provided some good exercise and a few scratches but little in the way of wildlife. They give you long socks to wear as especially during the rainy season there are many leeches in the jungle. It is probably better to wear long trousers and a long sleeved shirt or
pullover for more protection. Every other tourist in the area seemed to also be here and any animals or birds were keeping well away from this spot. There are some huge strangling fig trees which are worth a look and lots of vines and hazards for the tourist - "beware: the jungle will eat you" is very true.
We emerged from the Jungle and followed the Birdman to a wildlife observation hut next to a lake where we had a nice Thai meal for lunch. We had plenty of water available through both tours and fruit was made available at various times. Most of us were tired after the walk but there was a litlle more walking to do before we found some more monkeys on the road and went to our next stop at the Haeo Suwat Waterfall. The waterfall was nothing really special at this time of year but a nice spot to dangle your feet in the water and too cold for a swim - except for a very brave French man from our tour. One of our guides found a Viper in the bushes and took some pics for me. Really impressed with this as
Our guide Joe and the gang
Having some fun with some bush popping plants he went out of his way to make sure I saw the Viper as everyone else had already left the area. The snake was well camouflaged and the same colour as the bush it was entwined in and I could not see it until it was about 100 mm from my nose and within biting distance, although it seemed more interested in relaxing near the waterfall.
After 40 minutes at the waterfall it was time to find some elephants which often wander the roads - but first the Birdman wanted to stop and check on a tree where we might see a baby woodpecker emerge from its nest. We waited about 45 minutes to see a beak and then went for a drive up and down the road looking for some very evasive elephants. I didn't really expect to see any but it would have been good as we had not really seen that much wildlife during the day so far - I reckon the elephants are hiding deep into the park away from the tourists - who can blame them for that? You may have better luck if you visit Khao Yai but if you want to really
get a close look at some elephants you can always book yourself into the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai as described in my previous blog.
We gave up on the elephants and had a nice stop at sunset to view some more woodpeckers - this time they put on a good show for us with at least four on view near their nests. I have never been into this type of bird watching but I must say I was getting excited about seeing some of the exotic looking birds because of the enthusiasm and genuine love of the birds shown by Mr Birdman Nine. It was another great sunset, we took some more pics, had a nice snack of watermelon and headed back to the Greenleaf for dinner and some well deserved beers. There were some more new guests that had arrived and about ten of us sat around exchanging stories of our travels - most of us were tired after a big day on tour and it was off to sleep about 2230.
My stay at Greenleaf Guesthouse cost 2440 baht which included 1500 baht for both tours, 400 accomodation and many meals and beers -
a bargain. It may not be for everyone - if you have no interest in looking at birds you would find the full day tour a bit tedious as the Birdman is more interested in looking at birds than anything else. I found it interesting and really enjoyed the half day tour as well, especially when we viewed such a large number of bats flying at sunset. Also meeting Caroline and Ryan, the Swedish and French families and all the others at the guest house made it a memorable two days. The guides and staff at the Greenleaf were excellent and very considerate - a nice touch when I was waiting for the baht bus back to Pak Chong and the lady who runs the restaurant gave me 20 baht to pay fror my fare. I got some big hugs from Caroline and Ryan when I said goodbye as they were leaving a bit later - thanks to both of you for making my last two days very special with our chats, many beers at the dinner table and friendship on the tours.
If I was doing this trip again I reckon I would catch the train back as
I had to wait for about 90 minutes for a bus back to Bangkok. My own fault as I didn't find the Pak Chong Bus Station where the buses run more regularly and purchased a ticket in the street from a tour bus operator - same cost and looks like a government bus operator but not running as many buses to the capital - turns out the bus station was only 800 metres away down the street. Just shows that I got a bit slack with my research of schedules and locations of key places - seems to bite you on the bum here if you don't do your homework. I arrived back in Bangkok about 1315 pm at Mo Chit - they have a metered taxi stand here like they have at the airport which means the driver gets a voucher and they have to put on their meter - think I annoyed my driver as I had a 40 baht trip to the BTS Mo Chit Skytrain station - I wasn't going to risk another motorcycle taxi with two carry bags - this will be probably my last blog till after Cambodia in a week or so, depends
on whether I find time to get to a Net Cafe. It has been so handy having a notebook and free internet at my Hotel in Bangkok to keep working on this blog and sort of relaxing when recovering between tours.
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Tanya
non-member comment
Bet you wish you were at work !!??!!
Hi Leon Happy New Year!!!! Sounds like you are having an absolute ball. I am enjoying reading your travel journal, even though it is making me extremely jealous. Keep the entries coming. Kind Regards Tanya