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Welcome to Khao Yai and Beyond's blogspot..largely the ramblings of Annie and her perspective on Thailand and all that it has to offer.

Jungle Boot Camp

10/19/2012

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I read a book once called the 'Celestine Prophecy'  and, whilst some of the story was a little fantastical for me, I liked the idea it proposed that when you meet people, they have a message for you or can teach you something, if only you take the time to stop, exchange a smile and a few words. Well, it was something along those lines and it stuck with me.


I have just returned from a visa run to Laos where an encounter was just that...


At the moment Khao Yai and Beyond are working with OutdoorFitness Ltd. of Cardiff to plan a 2 week boot camp in the jungles of Thailand. It will be fitness and activity based, but will also include activities unique to Thailand such as a 4 day trek into remote jungle, snake training and survival skills for this environment...as well as some very nice food on occasions.  I was planning to include a Muay Thai (Thai boxing) training session but had so far failed to find any suitable location/trainer etc.


And so back to the Celestine Prophecy. 


On Thursday morning, I was outside of the Thai Embassy in Vientiane, waiting for it to open. The sun was already beating down on us beet-faced sweating Westerners, desperate to get the whole process overwith. I caught the eye of an equally wilted man, smiled and we got talking. The usual stuff to start, where are you from...blah blah..all part of that well worn script for travellers. During the conversation, he introduced me to his Thai friend who had drive him up. He was wearing a polo short with an Olympic logo on, so it made for easy conversation, myself being a gold medal olympic armchair observer this summer. 


The upshot of it all was, that through this chance encounter, where I chose to chat to a stranger instead of reading my book, I met a Muay Thai and boxing coach. Not only that, he lives and works near the Khao Yai. The cherry on the cake is that he's not just any boxing coach, but Thailand's top national one, who had recently coached Thailand's silver medal winner in the London Olympics.(hence the polo shirt) 


Oh yes....and he would be happy to organise some training for our bootcamp.


Oh...and would I like a lift back home to Thailand instead of an 8 hour ordeal of a bus ride?


Oh yes :) 


If anyone would like to know more about the Thailand Boot Camp, please contact Jeff  or Stuart on jefferywebb@outdoorfitnessltd.com




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Work in Progress

10/10/2012

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Whilst the threat of Tropical Storm Gaemi, may have halted our plans to visit and survey Pang Sida, it didn't stop work altogether. As you can see in this picture, SFD, as helpful as ever, is inspecting a hole...dug by yours truly. 

Two years ago, we built our current hut and, whilst it's still a fantastic (and largely dry) place to live, the weather has taken it's toll on the terrace and repairs are needed. The terrace is one of SFD and Cwtch's favourite places. Here they can watch over their territory and look for any border incursions by the dogs in the next planting. They can also duly harass the poor guy who jogs up and down past the planting as part of his daily fitness regime, or anyone who dares to pass along the road by any means, if it's less than 20km/hour. But I digress. In a nutshell- we knew major reinforcement for the hut & terrace was needed when any movement by SFD, whilst on the terrace ,(scratching/rolling/walking) led to a major tremors throughout the hut. Hence the digging of holes where new concrete posts will go.

But- we're not stopping here. Why dig 5 holes with nothing but a crow bar and a coconut shell when you can dig seventeen? Whilst we are in the mood we have decided to build a school room (long awaited) which will house 3 more guest rooms above it. 

It's an exciting, but a little nerve-wracking time. Many people have expressed an interest in learning English here in Klang Dong...but being interested and actually doing are two separate things. I have 'expressed an interest' in running a marathon, several times over the last two decades and have even filled in a couple of application forms, only to fail at the first attempt to get off the sofa.

As with all things...time will tell.

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Mother Nature Rules

10/5/2012

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Today we were supposed to be heading off in the glorious sunshine to survey the National Park, Pang Sida. Perfect. Pang Sida, lies in the east of Thailand close to Cambodia. We are looking for a new, challenging 4 day jungle trek in readiness for our bootcamp visitors in March. We want to find somewhere remote, tough and beautiful. Deaw reckons that this place ticks all of the boxes. 


Unfortunately it looks that nature has some different ideas for our weekend. Although you would never guess from the skies around us at the moment, Thailand has begun to brace itself for the first tropical storm to hit the country in 3 years. And it's forecast path is directly over our trekking ground (and 2 days later...our hut  >_<). It is very tempting to ignore the forecasts and take the chance, with the storm still being 2 days away, anything can happen. However, living as close to nature as we do, we have learnt to respect it. In small ways, each and everyday, we are reminded who's boss- be it the ant infestation in my 'there's no way a bug's going to get into here' box,  or the land we've spent hours clearing springing up with lush green weeds before we've even decided what to plant. 


So for the moment at least, our adventure is on hold. Instead we shall busy ourselves with our other plans- building the new schoolhouse and guesthut. But that's another blog.
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And so we begin!

10/3/2012

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Deaw testing the river before driving through in our trusty Land Rover. We drive through this jungle before getting to a spot where we begin our hike for the overnight jungle tour.
After Olympian dithering (oh that it were a sport) we are finally ready to launch our website. The last six months have been spent setting up Khao Yai and Beyond so that we are able to deliver our vision without compromise. It's not always been easy, but we now feel that we are ready to give our customers the real experience of the jungle that we had dreamed.

We have surveyed and tested some great routes which give a variety of levels of trekking. What they have in common is that they are remote and unique and will give you experience of the real jungle. Not the one seen from the back of a pick up. We have also focussed on recruiting local people, who know the jungle intimately, to help us guide our tours or be our trackers. It is our intention that by investing in local people that they will be able to make their living by protecting the jungle rather than taking from it.

We live about 15km from the main drag of guesthouses, and would more accurately describe our accommodation as homestay rather than guest house...or guest hut! If you choose to join us on one of our tours, your accommodation will not only be free, but will give you a unique insight to how many rural Thais live...but more about that in later posts.

For now, I am being called to go and lug some bamboo. I hope that you find us here in cyberspace and having seen what we are about- come and visit us in person :) 



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Where is everyone?
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    Khao Yai and Beyond

    We are a small local trekking company on the outskirts of the Khao Yai National Park.

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