Liz- cursing me for taking her photos as we trek through the jungle
Since moving to Thailand 4 years ago I have been trying to get members of my family to visit. Any members, I'm not particularly fussy. And for each member of my family, I know that there is something about Thailand that will appeal; my brother -the birding, my father- the old Thai farming ways, my sister- the diving and the wilderness. However, they consistently come up with one excuse or another and leave me with a promise of .."next year". After four years of excuses, my brother and his wife, finally came up with a plan to get me off their backs...Ros (my sister in law) would send her sister, Liz. Liz would have very little opportunity to turn this offer down as they bought her a guide book to Thailand for her birthday...and you wouldn't want to waste that!
So last Thursday I traveled to Bangkok to meet her. Now as far as I know, Liz has never expressed any desire to live in a hut for a week or to scramble through the jungle, but this is exactly what was in store for her.....and she did it marvellously.
Having flown to Thailand, she then caught the skytrain to the centre of Bangkok where we took a boat upriver, followed by a taxi to the bus station and finally a bus to Klang Dong. Five forms of transport in as many hours...not bad going.
So last Thursday I traveled to Bangkok to meet her. Now as far as I know, Liz has never expressed any desire to live in a hut for a week or to scramble through the jungle, but this is exactly what was in store for her.....and she did it marvellously.
Having flown to Thailand, she then caught the skytrain to the centre of Bangkok where we took a boat upriver, followed by a taxi to the bus station and finally a bus to Klang Dong. Five forms of transport in as many hours...not bad going.
Liz teaching the papercraft art of "Quilling"
Liz's first full day in Thailand entailed two more forms of transport- our Land Rover followed by the santheaw. The sangtheaw is basically a pick up that has a tin roof on the back portion and two rows of seats. The sangteaws that ply the route through Pakchong also come with innumerable school children in identical uniforms dangling off the back, as standard. We eventually reached my school, where Liz was going to spend the day with me. The students were sitting end of year exams, but in the gaps in between, they were fascinated by Liz's 'quilling'- a form of papercraft that she had brought to show them. The day flew by with the kids nipping out to sit an exam, before heading back to the quilling.
Saturday was spent with the bicycles, taking it easy around Klang Dong and visiting some of the local sights such as the floating market, fruit market and the white Buddha. The locals of Klang Dong enjoyed having a second western resident of the village and the word 'suay' (beautiful) could be heard following Liz where ever she went.
A short road trip west saw us head to Kanchanaburi...a province of Thailand that I love. I wanted to show Liz the Thai-Burma Railway and take her to one of the best museums I know- the 'Hellfire Pass Museum'. Here on a 4km walk through woodland, along the old railway, you are accompanied (with the benefit of a headset), by some of the Australian PoWs who built the railway- informing you of the history of the place and recounting their memories. However, the landscape of Kanchanaburi at this time of year is very brown and dry and it is only seeing this, that makes me appreciated how green and lush our own corner of Thailand is- even at the end of a long dry season.
A short road trip west saw us head to Kanchanaburi...a province of Thailand that I love. I wanted to show Liz the Thai-Burma Railway and take her to one of the best museums I know- the 'Hellfire Pass Museum'. Here on a 4km walk through woodland, along the old railway, you are accompanied (with the benefit of a headset), by some of the Australian PoWs who built the railway- informing you of the history of the place and recounting their memories. However, the landscape of Kanchanaburi at this time of year is very brown and dry and it is only seeing this, that makes me appreciated how green and lush our own corner of Thailand is- even at the end of a long dry season.
The Great Hornbill- just about to fly to it's nest about 5 metres away
Liz's final day with us was spent in the jungle with a wonderful guide I know called Deaw! It has been some time since I have been in the Khao Yai National Park myself and I must say, it made me appreciate once again what a fantastic job the guides do. In the past couple of weeks I have been grumbling how much of his spare time Deaw has spent focussing on piles of rust (he calls them cars), but yesterday I was in awe of his abilities in the jungle.
We arrived in the park around 9 and whilst I was busy fending off a none too friendly macaque, Deaw was finding a hornbill for us to admire. It flew picture perfect across the viewpoint - the swish of it's enormous wings making the spectacle more awe inspiring. Flyby over, it disappeared into the trees and we got back into the Land Rover. One kilometer further along, Deaw pulled to a halt. "Get out here and look at that tree" he instructed. "There's a hornbill's nest there and I think the one we just saw was headed this way". We did as told and sure enough, within a few minutes, the loud swish once again heralded the arrival of the Great hornbill. For ten minutes we watched as the male hornbill regurgitated it's morning's collection and fed the female and baby that were holed up inside the tree, completely dependent on the male's arrival.
Shortly afterwards, we entered the jungle. I was happily tramping along when Deaw came to an abrupt halt. He had heard something. As we listened carefully he pointed out a 'pok' sound, that happened every 30 seconds or so. "That's an elephant" we were told. How did he know? "It sounds like it is breaking branches", he said, but also commented that this was strange, as there was no bamboo in that area of the jungle. Another guide and is group came a long and, after a few minutes of conferring, they headed off the track and into the jungle overgrowth. Deaw had been right- it was an elephant- he was also right in that the sound wasn't from bamboo. The source of the'pok' sound was the elephant's ear - flapping intermittently against it's head as it wallowed happily in an area of mud, unaware of the humans that watched.
We arrived in the park around 9 and whilst I was busy fending off a none too friendly macaque, Deaw was finding a hornbill for us to admire. It flew picture perfect across the viewpoint - the swish of it's enormous wings making the spectacle more awe inspiring. Flyby over, it disappeared into the trees and we got back into the Land Rover. One kilometer further along, Deaw pulled to a halt. "Get out here and look at that tree" he instructed. "There's a hornbill's nest there and I think the one we just saw was headed this way". We did as told and sure enough, within a few minutes, the loud swish once again heralded the arrival of the Great hornbill. For ten minutes we watched as the male hornbill regurgitated it's morning's collection and fed the female and baby that were holed up inside the tree, completely dependent on the male's arrival.
Shortly afterwards, we entered the jungle. I was happily tramping along when Deaw came to an abrupt halt. He had heard something. As we listened carefully he pointed out a 'pok' sound, that happened every 30 seconds or so. "That's an elephant" we were told. How did he know? "It sounds like it is breaking branches", he said, but also commented that this was strange, as there was no bamboo in that area of the jungle. Another guide and is group came a long and, after a few minutes of conferring, they headed off the track and into the jungle overgrowth. Deaw had been right- it was an elephant- he was also right in that the sound wasn't from bamboo. The source of the'pok' sound was the elephant's ear - flapping intermittently against it's head as it wallowed happily in an area of mud, unaware of the humans that watched.
The sun begins to descend in the Khao Yai national park
I saw Liz off this morning from the bus stop, as she begins her long journey home. I am very grateful that an almost member of my family has been to experience what life is like here, in this small spot of land that is so very Thailand. She coped with the hut, the roosters, the roofless shower and even the millipede remarkably well and I don't think I'd be lying if I said that she enjoyed it too. It was certainly different from any other holiday she has had before.
Come back soon Liz- there's plenty more to see :)
Come back soon Liz- there's plenty more to see :)
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