HAND FOOT AND MOUTH STRIKES AGAIN!
A visit to Khao Sok National Park

Due to another outbreak of hand-foot-mouth at ASB, school was closed for a week. Emily, Jenny, Paula, Tyler, Sunaree, and I hopped on the overnight train down to Khao Sok National Park.

On our first day, we found some nice bungalows just outside of the park hanging precariously over the river.

We rented scooters to get around the park…only to realize the park had no roads, only trails.


We went for a long hike to some waterfalls. It is the rainy season in Thailand now (it rained for about 10 minutes every hour), so the hike was very muddy and we encountered lots of terrestrial leeches. Paula got a few good bites! On the plus side, we didn’t see another soul and the air was nice and cool.

Paula's leech attack

The rainforest was thick with rattan and liana vines, lots of tall dipterocarps, and cool bamboo stands. We saw some long tailed macaque monkeys fighting in the trees. Forded some streams semi-successfully and found that the water levels were so high the waterfalls were flooded out.
paula in the bamboo forest

The following morning we went to see the monkeys at the local wat (temple). The wat is partially built into a cave and there is a peculiar barred section (much like a jail cell) where some of the monks stay. A limestone cliff reaches far above the cave (this is karst topography country) and we watched as groups of monkeys climbed down the vegetation growing up the side of the cliff (some of them were free climbing the rock).

A few monkeys came down to the wat and hung out on the roofs of buildings and in the tops of the trees. We stood watching the monkeys and the monks stood watching us.

Tyler gives an apple to long-tail macaque






We negotiated a guided trip to Chiaw Lan Lake, one of the largest lakes in Thailand and part of Khao Sok. The lake was formed when a dam was built to produce electricity 20 years ago. Now a maze of limestone spires stick out of the water.


On a whim we decided to stay in floating bungalows deep inside the park. We loaded into a longtail boat with our two guides A and A (I have never used a guide before and thought it was kind of superfluous, but it turned out to be more like exploring the forest with a couple of rambunctious local boys than a stuffy guided tour).

A and A and I


After an hours ride we came upon the deserted-looking bungalows.




We were the only guests there and after a brief swim we hesitantly sat down to lunch (pork fat and rice?) – but they served up the hugest spread of the tastiest Thai food I have ever had. We feasted!



Sunaree serving up some rice


Went on a long trek through the rainforest, forded a river about 10 times, and swam in some falls, before ending up at a cave. A river ran through the cave – the water very high – and we swam, climbed, tumbled up the river deep into the cave.



A, A, Sunaree, Jenny, Emily, Tyler, and Paula at the mouth of the cave. The opening is between Sunaree and the A's.

That night we had another huge feast – this time including a giant deep fried groupiea caught from the lake that day. Served head-on, teeth grinning. Since we were the only travelers at the floating bungalows - maybe on the whole lake – we partied down with our guides and the people running the place – taught them how to play spoons and went out for a late night longtail boat ride to see the stars and listen for wildlife.

The following day we did a lot of wildlife watching from the boat and very-unsteerable canoes, paula and I did some exploring on our own and swam in another waterall, and watched a lot of monkeys. We saw many dusky langurs eating leaves and hanging out at the edge of the water and also long-tailed macaques. We eard a lot of white-handed gibbons, but never really saw any. Great viewing opportunities, because it was like boating around in the treetops.

morning boat excursion to see monkeys

monitor lizard sunbathing 15 feet up a snag

mosquito nets over our beds - miraculously, there were no mosquitos even at night!


view of our bungalows from the bathrooms

watching monkeys by the bathrooms (okay - I couldn't get any clear pictures)

fixing up the bungalows - they hauled all the bamboo in with a longtail boat.
On our way back to the dam we stopped for a little cliff jumping! One of my favorite things in the world.

on our way back to the dam in the longtail boat.


We headed back to Surat Thani, hopped the night train, and headed back to Bangkok. Here's the view from my balcony - the shrimp farms down below. Ready for school tomorrow!

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

This weekend Jessica, Pavla, Emily and I visited the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market just ouside of Bangkok.

we took a boat to the market - klongs full of people selling stuff out of other boats. This one was kind of touristy, but there are many more floating markets around Bagnkok. They seem to be a relic from the traditional lifestyle where Thais were dependent on the klongs and rivers for transportation. They used to load up their goods in their boats and paddle them into town to the market to sell.
typical Thai house on the side of the klong with the very common elevated concrete walkways (like the ones by my house) along the edge. I can't figure out how they build the walkways.
selling fruit at the market - pineapple, pomelo, mango, rambatan, banana.
One section of the market as seen from a bridge

Selling guava and oranges.

The First Few Weeks Back in Thailand

Weekend 1 – Back in Thailand! – Kho Samet Island

On our first weekend back to Thailand (a 3 day one at that), 18 teachers (some new, some returning, some over 50, most under 30) headed off to good old Kho Samet Island. We stayed in bungalows on the beach, body surfed in the waves, played ultimate Frisbee, and ate a lot of good seafood at the ocean-side restaurants.
...good old buckets on the beach!

The first night we all went out dancing and doing chin-ups for free drinks. The second night we played guitars on the beach and sang/mumbled along. The third night we were so tired everyone went to bed by 8:00!


Weekend 2 – ANOTHER 3 day weekend! – Surfing in Phuket

Saturday morning, Spencer and I hopped a short flight to Phuket for 3 days of fabulous surfing!
...suprise gekko on my breakfast cracker!

...geez, Pete, does this look familiar?

Mind you, Thai surfing is no Hawaii (or S. Africa, or Chile) but the rain kept us cool, the waves were predictable, and the guy didn’t even charge us for the longboard Spencer broke in half. He just laughed – “big falong!” Over some delicous Indian food (the green stuff with the cheese bits) we decided wherever we end up next needs to have surf.


Weekend 3 – “oo-ay-porn wun gert” to me!

On the 25th of August, Spencer, Norman, Dao, and I took a little motorbike trip to a temple by the Chao Phraya River for a little Birthday Blessing. I threw a bucket of fish into the river and made a wish. I lit some incense at a shrine and stuck gold leafs to gold-leaf-covered statues of various monks famous to Bangkok. I jiggled a can of sticks until 1 fell out with my lucky number (23) which corresponded to a fortune (which Dao translated as “everything’s good!”). We sat cross-legged before two orange-robed monks reciting prayers while we offered them a bucket of supplies, money, and water for the trees.

Thus blessed, we drove the bikes onto a very small “ferry” and took them across the river. Norman showed us a magical little floating market where we had lunch (not the chicken neck or the intestine, but the noodle soup).

Later that night more friends joined us downtown - we're on the skytrain here.


We feasted on sushi, Japanese beer, and delicate cakes (not the butter-frosting kind that are so popular for Thais, but the fancy chocolate/mango/cheese cake kind – ohhh so good!).

...(Paula, Tyler,Spencer, Danile, Emily, Jenny, my new birthday scarf)

We stopped by a concert at a black-lit tennis court inside of a giant blow-up dome…pretty random!…and had beers.

Then, the next day, we went wakeboarding! Surrounding the apartment and the school are many small fish/shrimp farms. One of these was cleaned out and turned into a wakeboarding lake. A cable runs around the lake in a rectangle suspended above the water by 20 feet. You stand on your wakeboard on the dock with a tow-rope in your hand and wait for the rope to catch on the cable and pull you, very abruptly, into the water. ¾ of the battle was surviving takeoff. Then you had to deal with making the corner without your arms getting ripped out of their sockets. If you failed to make the corner, you had to swim back, pushing your board. It was great fun! A few Thai adolescents obviously spent many a Sunday overcoming these challenges, and could use the power from the cable/corners to propel themselves 12 feet in the air and do amazing acrobatics.

What a weekend! My forearms were sore for days.


Weekend 4 – Moving and the old capitol

At long last, Spencer and I moved into a new apartment at Thana City. Thana is a big condominium complex rising quite oddly above the surrounding lakes with Bangkok and the new airport off in the distance. It’s a great spot, a 15 minute bicycle ride from school, 30 minutes from downtown, with little pollution and lots of pools, fields, and klongs to explore. The apartment feels like a real home – 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a nice kitchen, three big decks, and a good view. Now we need plants!

On Saturday, Norman, Dao, her friend Sarah, Jessica, Spencer, and I put our bicycles on the train and headed up to Ayutthaya.
Normal shares a seat on the train with his bike...


Ayutthaya was Thailand’s royal capital from 1350 to 1776. It was one of the most prosperous, beautiful cities in Asia until the Burmese took over and destroyed it. There are still many crumbling ruins left, about 100 wats (temples). We biked around the city, explored the ruins, and ate noodles.

...loading onto a ferry
...crossing over to Ayutthaya, which is an island surrounded by rivers.

...many old Buddha statues lined the walls of the ruins - all of the heads were cut off long ago and sold to art dealers and museums.

...much exposed brick now, but it used to be covered by gold and bright colors

We had a bit of a time getting our bikes back on the train to go home. We kind of had to stack them in the 3rd class seats with us. The train only stops for about 2 minutes at each station, so we had to pile our bikes on and off with lightning speed (shoveling them through an open window to someone waiting outside). Once we got back to Bangkok we were temporarily stranded at the train station after the guards told us we couldn’t bring the bikes on the subway and the taxis avoided us. We made it home, though…a new home sweet home.