Khao Sok and a Zippers Nightmare

At Khao Sok, we stayed at a place called "Our Jungle House" where Penny stayed when she visited Thailand a few years ago. What a great recommendation! It was the off season so most of the places around were empty and much cheaper, but this place had a lot of privacy since each hut was surrounded by lush jungle. Our treehouse had a rooftop deck and it overlooked the river that backed onto huge limestone cliffs which was an ancient coral reef back in the day. Cool! We bathed in the river and washed our clothes (without using soap) and then walked around the town. It was pretty small and most places were closed since there were very few tourists -- it was kind of nice this way! It was a little odd to see that the reggae bar was still happenin' though (the Thais love their Bob Marley).

We signed up for a two day one night excursion at Khao Sok National Park. There were 4 of us plus a guide. This included a journey across the lake in a long boat, trekking up to a viewpoint, a night safari, an overnight stay in a floating raft, and hiking through a cave filled with bats, spiders, and water. The best part of the trip was our guide, a jolly Thai local who called himself "Big Man". Big Man grew up in the area and was a former park ranger so he really knew the ins and outs of Khao Sok. He, along with almost everyone else we met, thought I was "same same Thai people" until I spoke. This was handy at times since I was able to get local price entrance into the park! I guess I say it best when I say nothing at all.

Khao Sok is really amazing. Apparently, the mountains are comparable to those seen in Guilin, China and the rainforest is larger than that of the Amazon. We took the long boat to the base of one of the mountains and hiked about an hour to the top. The brochure for this tour was in broken English so we were not prepared for this in the least! Within 10 minutes of trekking in the jungle, everyone was soaking wet with sweat. The trail was quite rugged at times and it required us to climb up very sharp jagged rocks using both hands. Big Man was doing all this in bare feet! He said he used to hunt for wild boars as a child with his father and bare feet was required so that the animals couldn't hear them coming. Half way up the mountain, we stopped for lunch -- it was sliced fresh cucumbers and steamed chicken breast over rice with a soy ginger sauce. Delicious, especially since we were so tired!

Along the way, Big Man would point out monkeys (who looked like they were having a lot of fun chasing eachother around), rattan used to make furniture, birds, old communist bunkers, etc. The most amazing animal we saw was the hornbill -- a large black and white bird with a huge yellow beak and something that looked like a horn on top of its beak. The view from the peak of the mountain was breathtaking -- as far as the eye could see, we were surrounded by lakes, mountains, dense jungle, and bright blue sky, and all around us there was a constant chorus of birds, animals, and insects.

After that we took the long boat to the floating river huts, which were nestled on the lake between some mountains. Everything was simple and made out of bamboo, and underneath our hut we could see fish swimming and hear fish jumping. From the back door of our hut, we jumped into the water for a much needed rinse off and cool down. It was fantastic! For dinner the hosts prepared us a feast of fish caught from the lake, sweet and sour vegetables, vegetable stir fry, green chicken curry, and fresh fruit. Delicious! It was pitch dark after dinner when we all boarded the long boat for the night safari. Big Man would drive the boat and shine his floodlight in the trees and on the shore somewhat erratically. We were all skeptical at first that this method would enable us to see any animals of the night, but Big Man proved himself as he spotted an owl from far away. It took the rest of us a long time to spot the camouflaged animal, and it wasn't until we were only a few meters away from it. Our guide's eyes were truly amazing -- he'd see a glimmer and know it was the eyes of a fishing cat, or some tail-less monkey. At one point, his floodlight caught a large water snake not far from our boat, and Big Man yelled a bit and cranked up the motor and booted us out of the area! When our guide is scared, it makes us a little more than nervous! Apparently, snakes like to follow the light that is shining on them so we had to get out of there quickly.

On day 2 of the safari, after a nice breakfast of Thai pork congee and fried rice, we headed to the caves. The trek took us into the jungle and across many small rivers and streams. At one point, there was a large tree with a naturally formed swing made out of thick strong vines. It was so cool that this naturally occurring vine was able to hold anyone's weight!

Now this is where things went horribly wrong. Our camera stopped working just as we reached the entrance to the cave -- probably a result of it getting wet from Eric's profusely sweating arm dripping down the cord into the camera. It simply wouldn't turn on. No sign of life, despite the fresh battery :( The cave, however, was great! Since it is now just the end of the dry season, the water level was quite low, but during rainy season, it could be several meters higher. There were stalagmites, stalactites, little waterfalls, spiders as big as my palm, and bats everywhere! It was so cute to see the baby bats hanging on to the mommy bats stomachs. We had to wade through a lot of water, and at some points, the guide took our bags as we swam (or in my case, dragged myself across with a rope) through narrow and deep crevices. The water was very cool and refreshing and it didn't even matter at that point that we were soaking wet.

We went back to the raft houses and packed up for our trip back to Our Jungle House... but not before stopping at a local market for some fresh fruit! Big Man was quite excited to find out that Eric loves durian so he made a special stop at the market to help Eric get some. For about $2.50, Eric picked up two durians! They were much smaller than the ones we usually see at home, but they were extra tasty... even I liked them! They were super fragrant and sweet. Big Man also bought us some of his favourite fruit which we pretended to enjoy because it was so nice of him, but really, they tasted like overripe pears. They were good, but not that special. He also shared some deep fried bananas with us. Addictively tasty!

Back at Our Jungle House, we stayed in a different treehouse with a veranda. It was lovely! A few trees over, there were several monkeys messing around. So cute.

Now for the Zippers nightmare...

It was very exciting to see so many fruit trees all around us. Almost every path we walked down had some sort of fruit tree just growing randomly. There were fields and fields of edible goodness -- limes, pineapples, bananas, rambutans, jackfruit, mangoes, papayas, guavas, and mangosteens. Mangosteens for god's sake! It was everything we hoped and dreamed of in Thailand. For months we salivated at the thought of eating fresh tropical fruits in Thailand. The lady at the place where we booked our tour said we could help ourselves and eat as much as we wanted for free and we were happy to... BUT NOTHING WAS RIPE YET. The picture is of Eric with a rambutan tree on his right and a mangosteen tree on his left! The fruits in northern Thailand ripen in May, but in the south, they ripen in August. She said we should come back in a few months when everything ripens. DAMMIT!!! We timed our trip for the fruit season, only to find out that there was a gross miscalculation since we didn't know where we were going, north or south. Oh well, at least we could buy fruits back in Bangkok, but it just isn't the same as picking it off a tree and eating to your hearts content. Boo.

We took several overnight trains in China and they were reasonably comfortable so we decided to take an overnight train back to Bangkok. In comparison, this was luxury! We ordered dinner and someone set up a table for us and put our dinner on it -- I had a seaweed tofu noodle soup (not what I ordered but still tasty) and Eric had some sort of seafood stirfry with rice and a soup and a beer. We each got an air conditioned bunk. Actually, they were just seats facing each other at first, but when you're ready for bed, someone comes and folds out the seats so it is a bed and then folds down another bunk from above. He then makes the bed with a mattress and clean sheets and puts up privacy curtains. It was amazing! The washrooms were well stocked with TP and there was no smoking and minimal horking. The best part was that Eric even fit in these ones -- tieing his arm to the guard rail was unnecessary! We could even sit up on the upper bunk.

The highest priority task we had upon arrival in Bangkok was to try to get our camera fixed. It hurt us to know that there were many sights and meals that we missed! We ended up at the Sony Service Centre, conveniently enough. After 1/2 an hour of intense waiting to hear the diagnosis, we were called up to the desk and discovered that it would cost us about 15000 baht, working out to about $95 US less than what we paid for it to begin with. To rub a bit of salt in the wound, the parts that were damaged need to be shipped in from Singapore, which would take an additional week give or take. ApparentlyEric's sweat is corrosive. So clearly, the next step on the agenda was to find a new camera. We sat in the Sony lobby in silence for a few moments, completely deflated. Before packing up and heading out again, I decided one last desperate time to put in our freshly charged battery and slowly press the power button... IT WORKED! We were speechless! It was one of those moments that can never be described nor even remembered in all its detailed glory. So we're back in the game camera-wise... for now... know on every piece of wood we see from now until we get home and try the US warranty dept. Apparently the oxidisation from the damage isn't really all that great in the long term. We're hoping that long term means something after the month of May. This smiley pic is in the Sony lobby. First pic back in the game!