After a somewhat long journey from Japan, we finally arrived in Bangkok (via Singapore: don’t ask, flight routing baffles me) and set off from the airport to the ‘New Siam 2’ guesthouse. Fortunately the expressway from the new airport to the city centre is now finished, which certainly makes the journey quicker, not to mention cheaper! If the taxi driver had actually known where our hotel was, it would have been even better. Oh well, welcome back to Bangkok!
Still suffering from the excesses of Japan, we decided to use our time in Bangkok to organise where we were going next and to rest up (possibly the only time you will here someone say, they went to Bangkok for a rest!); not to mention acclimatise (we arrived in Thailand with the temperatures hitting the 40 degree mark). So aside from some shopping (I managed to buy the camera lens that I was after in Japan), some eating and a very little drinking, there isn’t much to tell. Ooops! Nearly forgot, we had new tattoos done (Stuart has won the hawk eye award, as he has already managed to spot mine in the photos).
Fully rested and recuperated, we headed to Khao Yai national park, 120kms east of Bangkok. Staying at the ‘Khao Yai Garden Lodge’ we booked on a one and a half day tour of the park, which included a 3 hour trek through the jungle (fortunately it is a bit cooler here). The tour turned out to be excellent; we had a brilliant guide by the name of Mister ‘A’ who proved to be an amazing wildlife spotter. How he managed to see some of the animals is quite beyond me, with the aid of his spotting scope we were all able to get a close up view of the wildlife (with a compact digital camera you can take a picture through the scope, which has given Debs some photos that she never would have been able to take). During the course of our first day we saw: White Handed Gibbons, several Great Hornbills (including one in flight), a monitor lizard, 15 wild elephants (apparently we were very lucky to see this many together), emerald doves, lots of macaques, a giant squirrel, a snake (can’t remember what kind) and the waterfall where ‘Sprout faced boy’ jumped off in the film ‘The Beach’.
On the second day, we visited a large cave full of wrinkle-lipped bats and then had the amazing experience of watching them all take to the skies in big swarms, while eagles circled overhead waiting to pick any stragglers off. Our guide estimated that at least a million of them leave the cave every evening in search of food and return by morning.
Having had a great time at the national park, we headed back to Bangkok for one day (this time to the old favourite D&D Inn), before leaving the next day by overnight train to Chiang Mai. From Chiang Mai, Debs was heading to Lampang and the ‘Thai Elephant Conservation Centre’ for three days to do her Mahout (elephant handler) course (more about this later in Debs’ life as a mahout blog), while I did the sightseeing bit around the city.
Chiang Mai, for Thailand’s second biggest city remains very laid back and village like. I had an enjoyable few days just wandering around the old city looking at wats (temples), museums and markets; while trying to avoid the many ‘tuk tuk’ drivers who were keen to take me on a sightseeing/shopping trip.
Still suffering from the excesses of Japan, we decided to use our time in Bangkok to organise where we were going next and to rest up (possibly the only time you will here someone say, they went to Bangkok for a rest!); not to mention acclimatise (we arrived in Thailand with the temperatures hitting the 40 degree mark). So aside from some shopping (I managed to buy the camera lens that I was after in Japan), some eating and a very little drinking, there isn’t much to tell. Ooops! Nearly forgot, we had new tattoos done (Stuart has won the hawk eye award, as he has already managed to spot mine in the photos).
Fully rested and recuperated, we headed to Khao Yai national park, 120kms east of Bangkok. Staying at the ‘Khao Yai Garden Lodge’ we booked on a one and a half day tour of the park, which included a 3 hour trek through the jungle (fortunately it is a bit cooler here). The tour turned out to be excellent; we had a brilliant guide by the name of Mister ‘A’ who proved to be an amazing wildlife spotter. How he managed to see some of the animals is quite beyond me, with the aid of his spotting scope we were all able to get a close up view of the wildlife (with a compact digital camera you can take a picture through the scope, which has given Debs some photos that she never would have been able to take). During the course of our first day we saw: White Handed Gibbons, several Great Hornbills (including one in flight), a monitor lizard, 15 wild elephants (apparently we were very lucky to see this many together), emerald doves, lots of macaques, a giant squirrel, a snake (can’t remember what kind) and the waterfall where ‘Sprout faced boy’ jumped off in the film ‘The Beach’.
On the second day, we visited a large cave full of wrinkle-lipped bats and then had the amazing experience of watching them all take to the skies in big swarms, while eagles circled overhead waiting to pick any stragglers off. Our guide estimated that at least a million of them leave the cave every evening in search of food and return by morning.
Having had a great time at the national park, we headed back to Bangkok for one day (this time to the old favourite D&D Inn), before leaving the next day by overnight train to Chiang Mai. From Chiang Mai, Debs was heading to Lampang and the ‘Thai Elephant Conservation Centre’ for three days to do her Mahout (elephant handler) course (more about this later in Debs’ life as a mahout blog), while I did the sightseeing bit around the city.
Chiang Mai, for Thailand’s second biggest city remains very laid back and village like. I had an enjoyable few days just wandering around the old city looking at wats (temples), museums and markets; while trying to avoid the many ‘tuk tuk’ drivers who were keen to take me on a sightseeing/shopping trip.
The three days went very quickly and it was soon time to go to the elephant centre, to watch Debs and her elephant take part in a show. On arrival at the camp, Debs was already waiting for me dressed in her mahout suit ready for the mornings’ elephant training. She seemed to have had a really good bunch of people on the course with her and had obviously had an amazing time (the huge grin that she was permanently wearing was a bit of a give away!). It was really good to watch her and the others putting their elephants through their paces, and the elephant bath that followed training was done to the accompaniment of much laughter as they set about getting each other as wet as possible. The show itself was very good and demonstrated the enormous strength, balance and agility of these huge animals (the elephants that is; not the mahouts, they were all tiny!). Debs and her elephant ‘Look-Khang’ even had a star part in the show, when Look-Khang carried and placed a hat on her head! After the show it was time to have a final look around the camp, say goodbye to the elephants and mahouts, buy a picture painted by Debs’ elephant and then board the bus heading back to Chiang Mai.
Later that evening we met Kat (one of Debs’ fellow mahout trainees) for a few beers and had a brief look round a nice outdoor craft market. Due to the trains being full, our planned stay in Chiang Mai, of another two days, got cut short. With only one day left, we used it to have a final look round the town and visit the excellent night market (an absolute must if you find yourself in Chiang Mai, if only for the food hall where we had the best and cheapest meal we have had in Thailand). After a lazy morning trying not to overheat, we boarded the sleeper train back to Bangkok and settled in for the journey. I would love to say that it was a restful journey, but the train was really noisy, slow and swayed a lot, (not helped by being in a carriage full of a loud French tour party, who all seemed to think that a ‘no smoking’ sign didn’t apply to them!) I arrived in Bangkok somewhat bleary eyed! Debs on the other hand, had taken a sleeping pill and had slept comparatively well.
Next: Debs’ life as a mahout blog
1 comment:
I had unforgettable memories after visiting Thailand! and I also was in Chiang Mai, located 700 miles from Bangkok - the gateway to northern Thailand and beyond... Mist covered mountains, ethnic hilltribe villages, rolling rivers, historic temples, wild elephants. Adventure, trekking and inspiring scenery. Thailand is a big country with a diverse landscape. There is somewhere to visit whatever time of the year you visit the kingdom. An exotic long haul destination, Thailand is also a sophisticated tourist destination with a great universal appeal. Many of tourists realized high profitability of Thailand property investment. No where else on earth is the property market quite so inexpensive as compared to what you can expect in return.
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