Khao Yai -Day 2

You will notice that I spelled the name of the National Park differently in this post than in the last post. This is intentional. You see, in Thailand there is no official translation of Thai characters to the roman alphabet so there are numerous ways to spell things.

After a sleepless night the alarm finally sounded at 5:30. We dressed in preparation for a day of hiking and were out the door shortly after 6:00, on our way as the sun was rising, into the national park. We shared the road with several monks and a few women. The empty roads were a stark contrast to the backlog of cars on the roads the night before as people were coming from all over to enjoy a nice long weekend out of the city. As we arrived at the entrance we were prepared to pay our entrance fee but found that due to the celebration of the King's birthday the entry was free. Not bad.

We drove in and made our first stop at the salt licks which are supposed to be a favorite place for the local wildlife. We were hoping to find a heard of elephants there but were disappointed when we found nothing. It ended up that we were the attraction! A group of Thais asked if they could have their photo taken with us. We continued our drive to the visitor center and decided to begin our trek from there. As we got out of the car the sky was filled with noises. We didn't know if they were made by birds, monkeys or what but we decided it was a good sign that we would have lots to see on our hike.

We crossed a rickety bridge across a narrow river, holding our breath and trying to make ourselves as light as possible afraid if we stepped wrong we would fall through the rotting, wood planks. Making it safely to the other side the noises lulled us into the jungle on what we hopped would be a day full of wild animals from a safe distance. The vibrotic, high pitched calls were perplexing to me. What was making that noise?! Despite the attempts to look through the trees to find the source the jungle growth was too thick and the attempts were unsuccessful. I even climbed to the top of some scaffolding that had been placed for research purposes but still couldn't get a view of our music maker. We saw a wood pecker and knew he was not the the culprit and we saw a gorgeous, red breasted multi colored bird but nothing that could make such a big noise. So, we continued on our way, found the waterfall...meaning the water was falling off a 3 foot cliff, and then decided to delve a little further into the jungle on a trail indicating it was 8 kilometers. We looked our our map and saw that it lead to an area of 3 waterfalls and began down the path.

The calls continued to fill the air and we continued to be unsuccessful at finding the source. Then I heard movement and we stopped, again looking into the trees. I couldn't see well so I stepped off the path to try and get a better look. I saw something swinging from tree to tree...several somethings. I told my friend to come see the beautiful sight of monkeys swinging through the trees but the noise of the cracking branches under our feet scared them off and they were gone before she could see. My heart leapt with joy! What a beautiful sight!! We finally knew the source of the calls we were hearing.

A few more steps down the path I heard another noise. It was strange, almost like deep breathing...but not quite. I wondered if it was the breath of elephants as it sounded deep and made with great effort. We snuck forward to see what it could be but saw nothing. Then something large swooped among the tree tops. The jungle brush was so thick and I only saw the mysterious creature's shadow. Then I saw something on the ground leap through the bush and then heard a loud barking noise. I remembered that one of the animals advertised as native to the area was the barking deer. That was the only explanation I had for what we had just experienced. But there was still no answer to the swooshing in the tree tops and the heavy breathing. Then the noise came again and looking up we saw 2 huge nests. We realized that the breathing sound was not breathing at all but was the sound of a very large birds wings. Unable to get a clear view of the birds flying over their nest very aware of our presence directly underneath, we finally got a good enough view to see that the bird was a great hornbill, indeed a great bird! What a treat! We stayed around a bit longer to see if we could get a better view but the smell of bird poo was so intense and uncomfortable and the view so obscured by jungle growth that we decided not to hang around any longer.

Back on the path we walked and walked and walked sometimes finding the path obstructed by fallen trees and having to navigate around, through the growth and back to the path. We knew we were headed in the right direction as we followed the red paint occasionally marked on trees along the way. At times we wished we'd had a machete to chop our way through the dense vegetation. We came to a few places where we had to cross the river as well, sometimes it was narrow enough to cross on stones, other times it was walking across a fallen log. It was definitely a jungle experience! There were vines hanging everywhere and the temptation to pretend to be Tarzan was strong but avoided.

At about 10:30 we got to a point where we just couldn't figure out where to go. Trail led to a place where several trees had fallen and we were unable to crawl over so we tried to go around and meet up with the path again, as we had done before but the trail just seemed to end. There was no clear indication of where to go and the vegetation was so thick we really needed a machete to get through it, a clear indication that it wasn't the right direction. We back tracked to see if we had gone a wrong way, as the way was often obscure and overgrown and sometimes it was a guessing game which way to go. It seemed so clear that we were headed in the right direction but just couldn't figure out how to move forward. Again, we backtracked and this time we found signs we hadn't seen before but one had fallen from the tree and it wasn't clear which way the arrow should be pointing. The other sign had an arrow pointing into thick jungle brush that was impassable. It was decided that we should just turn around and go back to find a path to one of the other waterfalls. As we did this we found that, again, the path was obscure and we were unsure where we had come from. Nervous about leaving the path for too long we made short deviations to see where the path would continue but always found dead ends. Finally we decided to head west as that was the direction we eventually needed to go. Quickly we were able to find a trail and we followed it.

Again, we walked and walked and walked and felt confident we were on the right path as we continued to find occasional paint markings on the trees. The trail took us over more fallen logs, through more overgrowth and deeper into the jungle until we reached a cliff. We climbed down the cliff to a narrow river but there were, again, several fallen logs and it was unclear which path to take. We tried several routes but nothing seemed right. Frustrated what could we do but to turn back and try to find our way back to the car. By this time it was after 1 pm. I had packed some snacks for us along with a can of tuna and some crackers. This would be our lunch but we had to eat fast and get on our way if we were going to make it back to the car before nightfall.

I said a quick, heartfelt prayer that we would be able to find our way back safely and quickly but I didn't know how we would possibly be able to make it back before dark. We hadn't seen another living soul on the path other than the monkeys at the beginning. We started thinking that maybe paying the $100 for a guide wasn't such a crazy idea after all. The trail seemed so clearly marked when we begun but since the trails hadn't been kept up real well, it was hard to know where to go.

We started back at a much quicker pace than we had kept prior to this and made our way back through the jungle. You can imagine the relief in our hearts when we spotted a small group of hikers with a guide just in front of us. The guide in his broken English asked where we were going. We told him we were unable to find our way after the cliff so we were headed back. He looked concerned and indicated that we wouldn't make it back before dusk. I asked if we could follow them and they, of course, agreed. It turned out that the hikers were from Mexico and we were so pleased to be able to speak Spanish with them. They were so kind and it was such a relief to be with them...with a guide.

The guide led the way back along the path to the cliff, down the cliff, over the river by way of the fallen logs and up the steep side of the mountain on the other side. My friend and I looked at each other...there was no way we would have found our way!

Finally, we reached the waterfall and enjoyed the cool water and rested our weary feet. I got talking to one of the other trekkers who informed me that he had been told that the waterfall we were headed to originally was unreachable at the moment. I laughed and told him I could confirm that. After about 30 minutes we continued on to the next waterfall. Again, there was no way we would have found it on our own. We felt so lucky to have found this group.

Then we had to face our next obstacle. How to get back to our car. We decided the best option would be to hitchhike. We imagined there would be so many cars in the parking lot at the end of the trail that we could find someone to take us back. When we got to the parking lot we found that it was almost completely empty. It was only 4:00, where was everyone? We spotted a nice Japanese man and approached him. He spoke no Thai or English. Luckily the woman with him spoke Thai so I explained to her that our car was at the visitors center and asked if she could give us a ride. Sweetly she agreed, amazed that we had walked all that way! As we drove we realized how far we had really gone!!! And so thankful we didn't have to walk back to the car.

On our way out of the park we decided that on our next hike we would either take a machete or hire a guide.

I'm grateful for a loving God who listens and answers my prayers so directly and quickly.

Um, Yikes!

Ok, BRING IT ON!!

Kao Yai-Day 1

I know I still have to blog about my wonderful Thanksgiving in Malaysia but I've been so busy at work and my internet isn't working at home and I am not home when the apartment office is open so I haven't gotten to tell them it's not working...sigh. BUT...I'm not writing about Thanksgiving just yet. This weekend is the King's birthday and monday is a holiday so since I never get to go anywhere or see anything cool I decided to take the weekend and go on a little trip a few hours outside Bangkok to enjoy Thailand's oldest national park. I learned today that 18% of Thailand is protected land...impressive! The park I'm at is called Kao Yai. They say it takes 2 hours to drive here but my friend and I have a tendency to get completely lost! :-) We have a GPS and we print out directions but the roads are so unclear...or we are just so unfamiliar, that we always end up taking wrong turns which makes it difficult to then follow the directions we have printed out and then it takes about twice as long to get anywhere! But that's ok...we accept our disability and make the most of our time together. She made cinnamon rolls for the trip and we just laughed, ate cinnamon rolls, practiced recognizing Thai alphabet characters, listened to Christmas music and had a great time.

Eventually, we made it to the park. If you are Thai you get charged 40 Baht each to enter the park ($1.20), if you are a tourist you get charged 400 Baht each ($12) but since we live and

work in Thailand and since she has a Thai driver license somehow we fell in the middle and were charged 130Baht for both of us ($4).

Upon our entrance I announced that the first person to see a monkey wins...not indicating what the winner's prize would be. The drive into and around the park was beautiful! As we had climbed some altitude the weather cooled off and the leaves were actually changing color! We were experiencing fall! It was so wonderful! Leaves falling from trees, crisp air...I loved it! Not too far into the park I spotted several monkeys on the side of the road and declared myself the winner. As we drove by so slowly and stopped the car the monkeys would stand erect outside my window and look to see if I had anything yummy for them. As monkeys are not as kind and snuggly as they look I kept my window closed and enjoyed them from inside. With the exception of their strange red hind ends they were quite cute. Their eye lids looked to be dressed if freshly applied blue eyeshadow accented by red eyeliner. Very modern! I wondered if the look would work for me.

We passed giant salt lick areas where we plan to return tomorrow early morning to see if the wild elephants will visit. I would be so very pleased to see a family of wild elephants!!

We hiked to waterfalls, saw several small deer about the hight of perhaps my shoulder, if that, saw lots more monkeys and then decided to check into the hotel and have an early dinner since we had only eaten cinnamon rolls all day.

Our hotel was a bit further outside the park than we expected. We finally found it and checked in. I'm not really sure how to describe this place. It is set in a "garden" setting. I use quotations as it is called Kao Yai Garden Resort or something like that. But it's not a garden in the sense that there are flowers all around. Unfortunately the grounds look a little unkempt. It has so much potential but there I go using my American eyes again. What I do love about this place is that they have 4 good sized turtles which I almost walked by without noticing. Luckily they caught my eye and we spend several minutes coaching one out of its shell, feeding them and watching them fight over the food (of which there was plenty!). I didn't appreciate, however, the ginormous mosquitoes trying to find their way to my sweet blood.

We went in search of dinner and randomly stopped at a restaurant. Only outdoor seating. A woman approached me and in my best Thai I asked if we could have dinner. She said yes and we sat. We were given a menu which to our humor was only in Thai. :-) In most places I've been to they have had English menus or someone who speaks English...not here! It was a test of our Thai abilities. Oh boy. We looked at the menu...laughed and decided we would order chicken and rice and veggies, and I found a photo of a dish that looked interesting (it was served in a coconut) but I had NO idea what it was. When I've had coconut dishes in the past they have been seafood mixtures so I wondered if this would be the same and decided we would just have to find out. We ordered drinks, pineapple juice, and the woman slipped away to prepare them. Meanwhile, we were ready to order so a gentleman came over to the table (we were the only customers) and my friend and I looked at each other and giggled. Before we could get anything out of our mouths the boy disappeared and never returned! Then the woman came to bring our drinks and also tried to dash away but we immediately asked her about food. I pointed to my picture of the something served in coconut and asked if it was available, she responded that, yes, it was available. I'll take one. Then my friend tried to order grilled chicken and the woman couldn't understand her. We repeated the order and still nothing. So, I repeated chicken, in Thai and she got that. Then she started asking how we wanted it and I thought we finally made ourselves clear. Off she went and we waited for our food. My dish came and we started eating it. It turned out to be quite good. I don't know exactly what it was but it had seafood in it. :-) It's normal in Thailand for dishes to be brought to the table as soon as they are ready even if the other dishes are not ready. We started on my dish and then finished my dish and waited but no chicken came. We decided that the waitress must not have understood our request and so she just ignored it (no uncommon). So, we called the server over and ordered chicken fried rice which he understood right away and 5 minutes later the dish appeared and was eaten. Then we were asked if we wanted another drink and we declined but asked for the bill. It never came. So, I asked again and it came right away. We chuckled over the experience and left...never to return again.

So, that was our day. We will turn in a bit early tonight so we can get an early start tomorrow with hopes high of seeing elephants, great hornbills, barking deer and so much more!!! A tiger maybe?!?! Perhaps that's too much to ask.

I love that this sign informs me that I smell bad to wildlife! :-)

These monkeys sad on the roadside as we drove by. Photo was taken from inside the car...window shut.

Baby monkey eating an apple piece which he decided he didn't want anymore so he threw it on the ground. Cute thing!