Khao Yai National Park (Thailand)

“All that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest, in the jungles, in the hearts of wild men ” - Joseph Conrad

Made pleasant by the air conditioning, my minivan ride from Bangkok to Pak Chong took a mere three hours. Certainly, the distance suggested less than three hours, but considering the traffic and the absolutely confusing stops in small villages along the way - for some reason I'm sure, but none that came to mind at the time, or has come to mind since - I should not complain in any way at all. Rather, I consider the leg an ultimate success, as I found my way to the right place – Khao Yai National Park. The country side of Thailand is as one should expect it to be. There are so many tree and plant species growing out of the ground, out of the rocks, out of the houses, out of each other, that to name any of them would be an injustice to the rest of them, so I will just say it looked like a jungle; plain and simple, and end it there. The bedrock is completely limestone, so I will label it.

The Thai People – A Brief Note

They are wonderful. Perhaps it is because they live in a place where sunshine is ever present, and where life is everywhere; or perhaps it is their majority Buddhist religion that stresses good will towards others and rewards good karma. I do not know for sure, but I do know for sure that this “Land of Smiles” is exactly that; for the natives and for the visitors. They help others as if it weren't an option, just the right thing to do – the only thing to do. In general, they will go to the ends of Asia to direct and accommodate. My hospitality scale has a new high standard, and it is the Thai people. The French remain in solid grasp of the low.

My tour began in Khao Yai National Park at 8 in the morning and went until 6 in the evening on the first day. My tour group had other tourists, and they all had names and countries, but unfortunately, none of high importance, so I will just say I went on this thing with other tourists. All day, we drove around in the bed of a ford truck which had been outfitted to look like a safari vehicle from the Serengeti. It did a good enough job copying the function of what it tried to, and it allowed us views throughout the park where we could look for wildlife. Along the road, at one moment in particular, our guide abruptly stopped the vehicle and jumped out into the jungle. He went about ten yards into the thickness of it and grabbed something off of a tree. As he got closer I saw it was a long, white, skinny looking snake; a whip snake. Assuming he would just hold it for us to look at was the wrong assumption! He hopped into the bed of the truck and started reeling off facts as if they were fishing line. Mind you, the business end of the thing was swaying through the air and inching its' way closer to us the whole time. I felt it was an appropriate time to ask about how dangerous the snake was. I asked; he replied: “yes, dangerous but not poison. Bite often, and biting hurts.” This event set the tone for the day, and I prayed our guide was able minded.

We drove some more with outstanding vistas of the mountains and the jungle attached to those mountains. We passed through the set of the Jungle Book and came out through the set of Apocalypse Now. The pattern repeated itself for much of the day. On one of our stops, we joined a troop of Macaques as they were lazying about on the side of the road; seemingly doing nothing productive with their lives, besides checking their friend's backsides for parasites. Indeed, these are some bold creatures. They come right up next to tourist's and would hop aboard their laps if it weren't for the tourist's “shooing” them away. I cannot decide whether they are friendly, courageous, stupid, tame, wild, timid, dangerous, safe, careless, or all of these. They resemble us in so many ways, it is likely that they are all of these. They even have finger nails that look trimmed and groomed, albeit black as the road.

By and by, we found ourselves in the middle of the jungle, bushwhacking through the tangle of it all, on a three hour hike looking for more wildlife. We saw huge Hornbills soaring through air, spiders the size of tennis ball's, millipedes as long as my forearm, White Handed Gibbons swinging effortlessly through the canopy. We saw a hole in the ground next to a termite mound and our questionable-minded guide began poking deep into it with a stick. Out came an enormous scorpion. After some brief description of the thing, our guide began handling it, and then started towards me as he was doing such. I suppose I felt his confidence through the heavy and humid air, so I let him do whatever it was he was about to do, and before I realized what it was, I had a Forest Scorpion hitchhiking on my shoulder. If my heart didn't stop, it took a long nap, surely. Very well, I don't remember how long it was there, but I know it got off eventually and we continued on. The day ended in the search for elephants, not the finding of elephants, and we went back to the guest house for some much needed cold beer.

A half day tour followed where we explored a cave riddled with bats and statues of Buddahs, swam in natural springs, and visited a Monk encampment. I cannot say, behind honest eyes, that a string of things so surreal has happened to me before. Next stop – Cambodia... hopefully!