Big Mountain, Large Animals

January 22 - 25
We got into Pak Chong train station and were immediately surrounded by tour guides all wanting to whisk us away to their accommodation and tour package of Khao Yai National Park. We were planning on going "solo"(as usual) but mom was caught up in the action and I thought it would be a good way for her to see the park since she's not the hiking-all-day-in-the-sun type. So, we sattled up with Wildlife Safari Tours for a 1.5 day tour for 1500 Baht per person.

Day 1. The 1/2 day:
We went to the local mineral spring (not I did not say hot). The water was too cool for comfortable winter bathing.

Next was the Buddhist temple where our guide Tuk (a darling woman) taught us very enthusiastically about Buddhism. Then we went to the Buddhist cave where we saw some horseshoe bats and little meditation alters. The cave was very odd and was strung with fluorescent bulbs which lit it up in an eerie glow. There were also many shrines to Buddha in different chambers of the cave. Tuk informed us that sometimes the monks go down there to practice meditation.


Just before dusk we headed to the Bat Cave with Tuk. As we, along with a couple dozen other tourists, craned our necks to see the cave a small stream of wrinkle lipped bats started drifting out. Slowly and steadily the ribbon of bats became thicker and darker as the concentration of bats soared. It was incredible watching MILLIONS of bats flow out of the cave like a slow motion cyclone. We watched for a good half hour before our necks hurt and the sky began to darken.


Day 2: Wildlife Safari
We had requested the night before that we leave early on our tour in order to take advantage of prime bird-watching hours. Our guide was eager to please, though he seemed a little nervous since he's no bird expert. We assured him that we are also novice birders and we would be excited about seeing any birds. This seemed to please him and he began calling some of his birder guide friends who gave him a few pointers on where to find some of the birds Casey was eager to see. We made our first stop on the road outside of the park, where we found some brightly colored birds that for some reason, aren't in the park itself.

Once inside the park, we took are time driving along the road. Apparently this used to be a TERRIFIC way to see wildlife, but because the park has become so popular in recent years, the wildlife around the road has fled further inside. Even still, we managed to see an array of animals in between the cars that were flashing past us. Some of the animals included: pig-tailed macaques, which we ogled at first, but which were so abundant that they eventually were considered pests (especially after they stole some of our delicious oranges straight off of our lunch table), a muntjac (a small deerish creature with a cool name) and jungle fowl (picture a rooster in the wild).



After the slow driving, we began our slow hiking. From the road, we could hear the calls of the gibbons, which sounded as if they were just beyond the first stand of trees. Quickly and as quietly as possible we wormed our way off of the trail until we were standing directly under the gibbon-laden tree. It was breathtaking! Unlike the gibbons of Borneo, the White-Handed Gibbons live with their families in the tree tops. Parents and children swinging from branch to branch and calling to distant relatives together each morning. During this hike, we were be privileged to watch four separate groups of White-Handed Gibbons as well as partake in some excellent bird watching (which bored mom).

After going to the famed waterfall of the movie "The Beach" (there was a waterfall in "The Beach"?) we went to a small pond to watch birds and relax during the hottest part of the day. Aside from some cool looking birds, we also had an up close and personal look at a large male Sambar Deer. As we were milling about, he sauntered directly past mom and Casey. He got so close I began to have visions of a deer encounter gone awry and found myself wondering how far the nearest hospital was. The only thing on his mind, however, were the fruits from the low hanging branches of a nearby tree. We watched him heave himself off his two front legs as his head disappeared into the foliage above.

Then we went on a long drive in search of an elusive, monsterous beast: the Asian Elephant. These elephants are very closley related to the one we saw in Borneo, but they reach larger heights than their island cousins. We have seen them in Ayutthaya, but they were always dressed up for the tourists and not running free in their natural environs. We were all excited to see these large creatures and I was especially eager to share the experience with mum. Unfortunately, it was not our day. But we did run into (almost literally) quite a few pig tailed macaques who were playing in the road.

After our failed expedition, we climbed to the top of the highest peak in the park, with the help of our truck of course. We went there to hopefully catch a glimpse of the elusive Malayan Sun Bear we have been tracking since Borneo. The military who live on the mountain feed the bear, so we weren't sure it would count as a "wildlife" spotting, we were excited none-the-less. Apparently the bear's taste for rice wasn't piqued that evening, but as we waited we did get a wonderful view of a gorgeous male Silver pheasant with his harem of 7 females as they crossed the road. On the way home we spotted the threatened Malayan porcupine.

We had decided to spend some time in the park without the assistance of a guide. We rented out an entire cabin, complete with 3 rooms of 3 beds each and 3 bathrooms. This seemed a might ridiculous, since we could have easily divided the price up into thirds and only occupied 1 of the rooms, but things are never that simple. We picked the location so we were close to the park headquarters and a restaurant. We planned to walk or hitchhike to reach hiking destinations further afield. The room was cozy and it had a nice little porch that mom utilized in full as she waited for us to finish our forays.

That evening we hoped on one of the SIX nightdrive trucks in the hopes to see some amazing night life. We weren't expecting to be in a spotlighting caravan and I'm not sure it made for optimal wildlife viewing, but we took it all in stride. We did get an interesting running commentary from one of the other guests as we strained to look into the dark beyond. Though we were not blessed with gifts of grand elephant herds, we did see some small cat-like creatures (a civet?) and over course, Sambar Deer. Where were the tigers? There was obviously plenty of meat for them to catch. Alas, we learned that there are only 3 known tigers left in this national park.

Day 3: Big Whammy

We hitched a ride to the campsite to refine our birding skills. We also had a grand time chasing pig-tailed macaques away from the food that campers had stupidly left out the night before. Eventually, we made our way down a hiking trail, which bordered a small river. We went excrutiatingly slow for the couple behind us, who were looking for a little alone time. I swear we heard to purr of a tiger amoung all the chatter of the birds. We ran into a million hornbills, but none of them were of the "Great" variety we had hoped to see. As I was frantically searching for otters in the river, Casey came across a Siamese Crocodile about to heave itself up onto a log. No wonder there were no otters around! We snapped a thousand pics and watch the highly endangered animal sun itself.

As we began walking along the road, on the way back from our morning hike, we were greeted by a passing car with "Beware, elephant ahead." Beware? I thought as I quickened my pace to meet the giant face to face. I, obviously hadn't thought this completely through and though I was stoked, I was beginning to have my doubts about the brillance of meeting a 2 ton wild animal.

Just when we were beginning to discuss the pros and cons of trying to pet a wild elephant, a car pulled up with 3 Germans who were willing to give us a ride. Gladly we accepted the chance to cruise past the elephant in the relative safety of a car. Little did we know what kind of elephant we were about to face. This was no gentle mother. On the contrary, it was a large male, who was fond of fighting (as was evident by the missing tusk). He was creating a rukus in the middle of the road and had caused a traffic jam. But the German's weren't afraid and they reved ahead in their small compact car, with the elephant towering over us. To assist us in getting the perfect closeup, made the mistake of slowing the car down just as we past the creature. In retaliation, he made a mini charge at the back of the car. I will be honest here...this really freaked me out. I imagined the headlines "Death by Elephant" in a car no less. But, the driver craftly sped away before the elephant could do any damage.

The German's kindly allowed us to tag along as they drove south to the highest waterfalls in the park. I say waterfalls here, but the park service likes to think of them as one unit "one 3-tiered waterfall." This, of course, makes it seem like the waterfall is much taller than it actually is, since it really consists of 3 separate waterfalls, but we won't get into technicalities. Anyway, regardless of whether it was 3 waterfalls or one tiered waterfall was immaterial as it was one of the most impressive sites involving falling water that I have ever seen. In three large turns (each about 100-150 meters high), a great expanse of water rushed down the edge of a plateau.

As we played among the edge of the top tier, the driver told us an interesting story of a herd of elephants, which got washed away in the rush of the river during a flood. The elephants were thrown over the cliff onto the top of the 2nd tier. A rescus operation tried to save 2 of the elephants, but the waters were too strong and they soon were swept away to the lowest tier. It is unfathomable to me to imagine rushes of water strong enough to wipe out an entire elephant herd! (keep in mind, i'm a native Arizonan).

Day 4: More heart-ache
We woke up bright and early, not really bright since the sun hadn't risen yet. Our plan was to hike to a watchtower, where we would see dholes (wild dogs) running alongside the elephants and deer. From the last sentence you should know that our plan was flawed. For one thing, when have we ever seen so much wildlife all at once? Also, we were forgetting our luck. We misjudged the distance to the watchtower and arrived long after all of the animals had run back to the coolness of the forest (that is, if they were ever frolicking on the pastures).

Disheartened from a relatively animal-free morning, we hitched back to our cabin, where we packed up and hitched back into town. Then we caught the train to Ayutthaya where we waited for the train to Chiang Mai.