Khao Yai National Park

Learn Thai!

Khao - mountian

Yai - Big

This past weekend we ventured out to Khao Yai National Park, about a 3 hour bus ride northeast of Bangkok. Getting tickets and find the correct bus platform was much easier this time being that it was our second trip! This bus had very little stops so we got there on time!

Thanks to all the friendly, helpful Thai on the bus we finally got off on the right stop. Upon arrival in Pok Chong we called the guesthouse where we had reservations - which they had lost but they thought they had an open room. A truck picked us up and took us to the guesthouse - they did have room! We stayed at Greenleaf Guesthouse - a family run guesthouse and Khao Yai tours. The guesthouse wasn't anything spectacular, but great food and a soft bed! 

In the Songthaew

Leech Socks!

After breakfast the next morning we boarded a songthaew (pickup with benches in the truck bed for passengers - ours had a canvas top and detachable sides) with 6 other people and we were on our way! After entering the park we stopped to put on our leech socks. The leeches in the jungle were tiny and fast crawlers! One could easily get into my shoe through the air hole! ICKY!

With our new fashionable leech socks we're ready to get in the jungle! We drove for a bit looking for wildlife. We saw a black gibbon, then heard a family of white-faced gibbons. Our guide thought they were close so we hopped out of the truck and followed him into the jungle in search of the gibbon family. Finally we found them! Way up in a tree swinging then napping. Fun Fact: Gibbons spend 96% of their lives up in the trees.

After a short rain shower we headed off into the jungle for a 5K hike. Very dense jungle with tons of vines and interesting plants and trees. Our guide stopped to lure a deep blue scorpion out - he then picked it up and placed it on our arms! He said "They do not kill people, their poison will just hurt a lot."

Continuing onward into the jungle - it started to rain again. The rain let up a bit for us to enjoy a light snack - sticky rice and sweet custard - yummy! We finished our snack and it started to rain again! This time poured down hard!! So on we go we still have 2Ks left. Sadly because of the rain the wildlife was scarce. But it was still neat to walk through the jungle. It felt like Jurassic Park at times - just waiting for the big dinosaur to pop out.

We enjoyed lunch in a lookout tower. Then went to view a waterfall. We stopped for a hot chocolate in attempt to warm up. After a short hike we viewed Heaw Suwat Waterfall, this waterfall is was made famous for appearing in The Beach. The waterfall was beautiful, not as big as I thought it would be. The steam from the jungle and mist from the rain made the mountains a breathtaking site!

Then back in the songthaew to look for more wildlife. We drove around for what seemed to take FOREVER. We saw many monkeys along the way. The sun was setting and we started to make our way out of the park and back to the guesthouse. The driver slammed on his breaks and we all squished up against each other wondering "what the heck!?!" As we recover and look around in the night we see a huge wild male elephant not 30 feet from us. He was eating and attempting to break through the thick jungle walk next to the road. He was either frustrated with the humans or with the thick jungle he turned to the road. At this point we had to leave, wild elephants can anger quickly and can be aggressive when aggravated.

 Back at the hotel we had to face the freezing cold shower, after being cold and wet all day. I can honestly say this was the first day I've been cold in Thailand! We had supper with our fellow explorers then off to bed. 

We caught a ride back to the bus station in Pok Chong after breakfast. Then took a bus back home to Bangkok.

Another fun adventure in the books! We really enjoyed our jungle day, dispite the rain. Missed lots of wildlife but still got the jungle experience. I enjoyed the hiking and next time would do more - hopefully no rain then!