Thailand

       Khoa Yai N. P. is about 2 hours to the north east of Bangkok. Once you get there you hitch hike into the visitor center from the main entrance. I was with two other girls and we only waited about five minutes before a couple pulled aside and rearranged the contents of their compact car so that we could squeeze into the back seat. The road in winds up and down hills through the jungle. February is towards the end of Thailand’s dry season but the foliage was still vibrantly green in the valleys. On the hill tops the trees were dry enough to give me a view of the rocky faces that plate the  ridge lines. In the back the tiny car we passed crossing signs for pythons, elephants, and tigers.

Once inside the park the girls and I went about orienting ourselves and setting up a campsite. We then hitched a ride out to Haew Narok, a waterfall on the south eastern border of the park. We got a ride from a van full of Thai workers. The driver had to dodge monkeys on the road. The waterfall was running pretty low because of the season but the height was still impressive. The water pours straight down for 150 meters into a deep calm pool before trickling down another series of drops. We had to edge our way down several precarious flights of  stairs to get down to river level. This wasn’t enough for me. I had to duck under the railing and free climb down to the water so that I could stand at the bottom and stare up the falls.

That night we went on a night safari. We had heard that this was a must but I think it would have been better on another night. It was Saturday and the night safari was more like a disco on a war field. There were fleets of trucks loaded with about 20 people in the back roaming around the park roads with three mounted spotlights each scanning the fields and trees for wildlife. I’m pretty sure there were no animals within 10 miles of the roads anywhere in the park. But the stars were out and it was pretty fun just to drive around and chat with the other people silly enough to go on a night safari on a Saturday. Back at the campsite our peaceful little place had turned into a party. The Thais were out in full force. Every piece of grass in the camp ground was covered by a tent, mat, blanket, or car. People had reassembled their living room sets outside. Families had glass tables and candles, massive coolers of food, mounds of pillows, music blaring from every speaker, quite lively- not at all like the camping I’m accustomed to. I packed my mat into my hammock and cacooned up for the night. I woke up at 3 AM freezing. In Bangkok it’s about 70 degrees at night so I didn’t think I’d need much to stay warm but it was just freakishly cold. So I did what any respectable member of the MTU Ridge Roamers would do. I set out in search of boulder problems with my head lamp. After about an hour of pulling on the rocks embedded in the concrete on the back wall of the camp ground office I was sufficiently pleased with myself and warm enough to sleep until sunrise.

The next day I woke the girls up bright and early so that we could hitch a ride back down to the visitor center and hire a guide to take us on the long trail along the northern border. I’ve never had a guide for a trail before but the tiger and elephant crossing signs on the way in convinced me it wasn’t a bad idea. Plus we’d heard that the trail was easy to lose if you didn’t know which way you were going. I certainly didn’t know which way I was going so we got a guide. This guy was a trip. I really enjoyed posing for pictures with his gun. We hiked all morning enjoying the gibbon monkeys in the canopy above us and the elephant trails that criss-crossed the forest around us. After several hours we came to two of Thailand’s most famous waterfalls Heaw Sai and Heaw Suwat.

That night the campsite was a ghost town. We had the place all to ourselves. The next morning we got a ride back into town and furiously studied for midterm examinations. The tests are taken quite seriously here. You are required to wear your full school uniform (they made me tuck in my shirt!) and show your student I.D. before you are allowed into the testing room. As of this morning I am done with tests and tonight I’m off to Laos! Wish me luck!