We had a smooth flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok and did what we normally do when arriving in a new place: dump our bags and go for a walk to check out the area and find the local supermarket for some water. The smells, street stalls and heat were similar to Hong Kong but the number of buildings didn't appear quite as dense and the writing on the signs came from an alphabet I have never seen before. It was drizzling which made for quite a soggy first walk and we wondered if Thailand was to be the honoured place where we have to get out our horrendous ponchos (aka plastic bags).
We spent our first evening trying to work out how to get from Thailand to Vietnam and, after reading some websites about the scandals that take place on the border between Thailand and Cambodia, not to mention the 36 hour plus bus journey we would have to survive, we decided to opt for flying and found a reasonable flight with Air Asia (about 70 Euros) leaving on Sunday to Ho Chi Minh City. Prior to this flight we would spend one day in Bangkok and then travel north (about 2 1/2 hours by bus) to Kao Yai National Park.
It was the Queen's birthday on Tuesday 12th (as well as Mothers'Day) so it was a national holiday and pictures of her were all over Bangkok. Feeling a bit "templed-out" and also being restricted by what we were wearing, we decided not to visit Bangkok's supposed biggest attraction - the Grand Palace. Instead, we walked around the outer walls, getting glimpses of golden roofs as we passed the doorways and imagined the rest. We then dived into a shopping mall/market place as the rain got heavier (it's monsoon time) and found a great refuge for a late lunch. Robbie proceeded to brave a haircut in the same mall which took longer than we thought as the barber used scissors to cut off what seemed to be each individual strand of hair. The day ended with a boat ride home down a very stinky canal and a jump to safety whilst laughing hysterically ... the boats hardly wait for you to get onto the bank as they whizz off again!
Our morning bus ride (very frilly-curtained bus!) to Khao Yai National Park (accompanied by a film in Thai being blasted through the bus speakers) meant that we got to our lodge in good time to do an afternoon nature trip. We visited a monks'cave and saw several thousands, perhaps millions, of bats leaving another cave at dusk in a wave-like formation. It was an incredible sight. Yesterday, we set off at 8am for our day jungle trek. Khao Yai National Park is the oldest park in Thailand and is said to be the home of some 250 elephants, a few tigers and black bears. With an area of 2168km, however, the chances of seeing these mammals are quite small! Only at the end of the day did we catch a glimpse (or in my case, just part of the back) of an elephant through some trees. It was the movement of several branches, leaves falling and the big deposits of poo on the road which gave his hiding spot away! Much to my disappointment, bears and tigers were nowhere to be seen. We did, however, encounter 2 snakes, a scorpion, monkeys, deer and both black and white gibbons leaping in trees. The vegetation and waterfalls were also impressive.
The thing I was most worried about during the trek was the possibilty of my blood being sucked from me by thousands of leeches which covered the floor of the jungle. In fact, as we were straining our necks to see gibbons flying from one tree to another above our heads, a saying I heard once came to mind: "Whilst man admires the stars in the sky, he forgets the flowers at his feet". My equivalent would be: "Whilst man admires the gibbons leaping through the air, he forgets the leeches crawling up his leg". I was, however, delighted to be back in touch with nature after the skyscrapers of Hong Kong and Tokyo.
We now have a day to relax (our lodge, costing about 6 Euros each a night, provides us with a private room, bathroom, swimming pool and free internet access!) before we head back to Bangkok tomorrow morning for our flight to Vietnam on Sunday. We managed to avoid the sleeziness of Bangkok when we were there a couple of days ago. I wonder if we will be as lucky tomorrow ...
