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!