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!

It's Completely Normal...

Life here in Thailand is much different than in Minnesota!! We have lived here (in our new apartment) over a month and here's a list of things we've learned so far. Things that are completely normal in Thailand - not so much in the States.

Complete the sentence. It's Completely Normal...

1. .... that a rooster wakes us up every morning - in the middle of this huge city!
2. .... to encounter delicious smells that make you hungry - then awful smells that make you loose your appetite when walking outside.
3. .... for 5 disheveled dogs to be laying outside 7-11, or bus stop or the on stairs

4. .... that a shower is never hot, nor is it one temp the whole time, nor do you have the option to control it.  
5. .... to need two outfits or showers per day - it's hot and you sweat a lot!
6. ....that meat, fish, and eggs are not stored in the fridge/freezer while waiting to be sold at market.

7. .... that motorcyclist drive wherever they wish.
8. .... for no one to follow traffic laws, here they are more like suggestions.
9. ..... to put kidney beans and corn on your ice cream, and to put your ice cream in a bread sandwich!

 
7. .... for a family of 4 to be on the one motorbike, baby included.
8. .... that a bed is about as hard as the floor.
11. .... for electrical wires to be in a huge tangled cluster.

13. .... to see a 7-11 every block.
14. .... to hear the loud bang of a firecracker or firework go off - day or night.
15. .... to eat rice, in some form, for each meal.
16. .... for a group of Thai people to try to help you despite the language barrier. 

Sukhothai - The Dawn of Happiness

We took our first trip out of the city last weekend.....and made it back!! We traveled to Sukhothai, Thailand north of Bangkok about 7 hours. We were excited to meet up with Jess and Alex, friends from orientation and have some true English conversations - haha!

Thailand has an far-reaching bus system making it easy to travel throughout the country – as long as you can navigate it. We traveled to the central bus station in Bangkok, it was more like a huge airport! Two floors plus outside full of bus ticket booths, food courts, and a countless number of bus bays. We got a 2^nd class ticket (air-condition but no bathroom) to Sukhothai but it left later than we hoped so we were able to grab some supper before the long drive. We boarded the bus to start our journey. We stopped at various bus stops and stations along the way, making the journey even longer. At each stop passengers getting off and on. We finally rolled into Sukhothai around 2AM! We wondered around looking for a cheap hostel or hotel to spend the night. Lucky we spotted a cheap(less than $10) hotel right across the street – perfect! In the morning our new challenge arose – how to get to the old city. Again, luckily, a helpful local helped us get onto a bus (a truck where passengers sit in the covered truck bed) which took us to the old historical city.

 

We stopped for some brunch while waiting for Jess and Alex to arrive – so good to see them again! After brunch we walked back 2km to find our hotel – not a wise choice in the heat of the day! We found our hotel and while checking in met an American woman working there. After talking to her a bit we found out she was from Moorhead, MN and Josh had gone to college and took classes with her brother. One of those “small world” moments. We decided since it was too hot to explore the old ruins, that we would go for a refreshing swim.

         HAHA! The bathroom signs at the hotel!


 
 Below: A video of the happy children who followed us around this site excitedly repeating "hello!"

           

 Later, after the heat of the day(so we thought), we rented bikes and rode to the old city. The old historic city of Sukhothai was the first capital city of Thailand in the 13^th century; it remained the capital for over 100 years until it’s fall. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We rode and explored the ancient ruins and despite our efforts it was HOT! The ruins were very neat to explore – interesting structures and Wats; different poses of Buddha figures everywhere! It was quite the site to see. Many of the Wats and buildings were surrounded by a moat. We finished our day in the central part of the old city with a beautiful sunset among the ruins.

On our sweet bikes!

Buddha's Footprint

After a delicious supper at the hotel.

Wat Chang Lom (Chang = elephant, Lom=around).
36 elephants surround the base of this wat.

The following morning we arose early, again in attempt to avoid the heat. At breakfast we observed the food offering to local monks – then it was off on the bikes to the old city again. This time we traveled to the far part of the old city. It was here where we climbed the many stone steps to Wat Saphan Hin, after the sweaty climb we were rewarded with a beautiful view! We continued to ride and visit various ruins. Then back to the hotel for some pool time!!! So nice to relax with good friends and the sun! :)

Wat Saphan Hin

Stone steps - this isn't even halfway up!

View on top of hill of Wat Saphan Hin

After some lunch, the time had come, back to Bangkok we go. We thought we had looked the bus schedule closely early on Saturday when we arrived – but at 2am, slightly incoherent state, we didn’t read the details. The next bus back wasn’t until 5pm, with no choice we waited  for 2.5 hours for our bus in the heat. It was during this time a smiling monk walked up to Josh and shook his hand and sat next to me and attempted to interact, however this was very difficult because of the huge language barrier –so we just smiled back and forth. We also met a lady who gave us travel advice. Finally we got on the 1^st class bus (air, bathroom, free snacks and drinks), only choice,  back to Bangkok. We arrived home around midnight. This concluded out excellent trip to Sukhothai!!

The four weekend explorers!