One of the amazing things about being in the jungle is the diversity of wildlife that you may not see but you can definitely hear. In particular, the jungle reportedly comes alive at night and early morning when the creatures and critters come out to hunt. I just came back from a two day tour of Cheow Lan Lake which is part of Khao Sok National Park. After spending the first day treking through the jungle and traversing through Namtaloo Cave we spotted some langurs off in the distance on our way to the floating bungalows that would be our refuge for the night. The bungalows were extremely simple but, nestled in a little inlet, the setting reminded me of the film "On Golden Pond". Until you went to the bathroom that is. Despite being western toilets, these were some of the nastiest toilets I have ever seen. Unfortunately, my bungalow was directly in front of the washrooms so the smell had a tendency to waft in.
The night sky was amazing though, lit up much more than the fireflies we were supposed to spot during our evening tour of the lake. We did view a couple of Tucans but at night they were just black blobs in a tree. Once back at the bungalows it was lights out at 10 pm - literally. As the people quieted down you could start to hear the animal calls, the insect calls and even the sound of the fish jumping out of the water. Then, just after falling asleep, the entire camp was awoken by the most feared creature in the jungle... The Snoring Frenchman. I am not exaggerating to say I have never heard such a loud awful sound in my life. And it was relentless. Between the eighty or so people and hundreds of animals by the lake, only one slept that night.
This was confirmed by all the grunts and moans that could be heard in the morning alongside the woops of the gibbons in the trees.
