Day 10 - Life-wild

18:45
What a day!

A relatively early start, but nothing like the brutality of the 04:00 alarm call I’m used to on African safaris. Felix is also up with the lark, and we meet in the car park just before our pick up at 08:00. We meet our guide, Klin, who immediately tells us that we are inappropriately dressed. It’s wet enough (please refer last night’s rainstorm) that leeches are a risk, so we need trousers. I’ve got some Columbia bush pants, but Felix is bereft. I lend him my North Face zip-offs, which *sort of* fit him. The long trousers tickle his ankles, but they’ll do.

We jump into our minivan, and head off to the national park. I’m not entirely sure what to expect today. It’s not quite a safari in the Africa mould, but there’s plenty of wildlife to experience. We’re apparently going to go on a bush walk, which will be awesome, and some other stuff. We stop for caffeine and a quick wander around the study centre. Klin comes to grab us, as there have been elephant reports nearby. We bundle into the van, and head up the road.

What we see, I’ll be honest, shocks me. I’m so used to the African variety of safari, that seeing people out of their vehicles not 10 metres from an elephant is bordering on disturbing. In Africa, you don’t even get out of the vehicle if you’re busting for a pee. In Thailand, it’s positively encouraged. We pull up at the side of the road, and Klin motions us out. Weird. Weird, weird, weird. Felix is loving it though. I’ll admit, there’s something incredibly raw about standing near this animal, that I know from experience can be so dangerous and destructive. It takes me a while to be able to just relax and enjoy a majestic wildlife encounter.

We stop briefly again at the visitor centre to don some leech socks, then head off for our bush walk. It is the most incredible sensation. There’s a small chance we could come across some sizeable game, but the likelihood is that we’ll see lots of smaller creatures on our trek. We’re looking at a good couple of hours marching through the jungle. BTW - we look up the difference between a rainforest and a jungle, and we’re deffo in a jungle. There’s something serene about the jungle. I mention to Felix that folks often talk about peace in the same breath as quiet - but that the jungle is incredibly peaceful, and anything but quiet. There’s a cacophony throughout our hike, but it doesn’t detract from the sense of calm, balance and serenity that we both experience.

We spend a half hour with a family of gibbons. Their movement through the canopy is so effortless and graceful. We start to beat a somewhat hasty retreat when they start to throw scat at us. This is apparently standard behaviour. Felix spots a snake, which surprises us all. Klin moves like lightning and grabs it by the tail so we can take a closer look. I wince a little at the poor thing’s treatment, and it definitely seems to anger the snake quite significantly. Klin brings us a cicada, maker of that so familiar noise, but a creature I’ve never seen in the flesh. We see some utterly funky and furry caterpillars, some giant squirrels (not as big as the name suggests…). We then hike a couple of miles to meet our driver/van. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much. The heat index is up in the high 40s again today, and while the jungle canopy provides some blessed shade, it’s still steaming hot.

After lunch, we head off back into the park. We spend some time with some sambar (big deer) and some pig-tailed macaques. Oh and some butterflies. SO many butterflies… We stop briefly at a waterfall, which looks like it would be a sight to behold in the wet season, but is a little underwhelming today, compared to everything else we’ve seen. We finish up with a trip to the highest point of the park, which has an other-worldly view across the valley. It’s dramatically cooler up here. We both find it pleasant.

Time’s getting on - it’s after 16:00. We head back to our guesthouse, which is a good hour’s drive away. Felix manages a not insubstantial snooze. I feel my eyes getting heavier, and nearly drift off a couple of times, only to be foiled by a pothole / speed bump / bridge etc etc. No matter.

Back at Siam Dasada, I have one of the finest showers I’ve ever had. It takes several minutes for the water to heat up, and it’s not exactly a power shower, but washing the dust, heat and sweat off me is a deliciously delightful experience.

I reward myself with a glass of my leftover wine from yesterday. I feel I’ve earnt it.

22:00
We’ve planned to eat at Siam Dasada this evening, largely because we’re almost out of cash, and don’t want to grab more before we head to Cambodia. We head to the restaurant via the reception desk, where we ask (with the aid of Google Translate) for a taxi at 07:45 in the morning to take us to Prachin Buri. What follows is confusing, slow, and slightly troubling. The guy I talk to spends about 10 minutes on the phone, I assume trying to locate a cab company in the not too distant vicinity. He then phones someone else, and someone else. At no point does he check back in with us- we are clueless. He finally accosts someone sitting in the reception area, who may or may not have something to do with the hotel. He comes over to us, and agrees to give us a lift to the station tomorrow. We agree a 07:45 meeting time, and start hoping that he’ll actually be there. If the very worst comes to the very worst, there’s a later train we can take.

From there, we head on down to the restaurant, where Google Translate informs us that the kitchen closed at 19:00. It is 19:30. Ok - back to Tipsy Bar it is, which will dig even further into our remaining Baht reserves. We eat well - some crispy pork belly, and a prawn/glass noodle hotpot for Felix, and a Vietnamese sausage salad (!) and some fried rice for me. Felix’s hotpot is a dish I tried a couple of times on Koh Santa back in April, and which I LOVED. I’ve completely forgotten about it though. My salad is very tasty, if a little avant-garde. There is once again a band. We briefly harbour vain hopes that they’ll be better than last night’s offering. They are not. The rain stays away, and we’re back at Siam Dasada a little after 21:00. Early start tomorrow, assuming Mr I’ll Give You a Lift guy actually turns up.Lue lisää