Khao Yai National Park - Pak Chong - Thailand

May 31st - June 2nd, 2016

We took a train to Pak Chong where we had booked a day and a half's tour in the nearby Khao Yai National Park and after being transferred from the station to our accommodation via the back of a pick up truck we just had time to grab some lunch before setting out. The half day part of the tour took us to a natural spring where we were supposed to go for a swim, but as it had just started raining and the milky water didn't look that pleasant, we all decided to give it a miss and carry on to the cave instead. Along the way our guides were constantly on the look out for interesting things to show us and on this occasion spotted a white leaf snake dangling in a tree for us to have a look at. The cave they took us to wasn't particularly large but was very interesting for the amount of wildlife to be found inside, many bats of several species, tarantulas, huge spiky insects, scorpion spiders and centipedes to name a few. The other fascinating thing was that within the cave were also many shrines where Buddhist monks come to meditate in the quiet darkness. We spent about an hour down in the cool, damp cave and when we emerged the sun was well on its way down and it was time for us to head on to another cave, this one high up on a hillside and not to be entered. The reason for coming here was to watch the bats emerge at dusk, all 2 million of them!! After our disappointment at Mulu we were keeping our fingers crossed that we would see them this time. Right on cue they started to appear, first a small trickle, black spots against the sky, then they started to come in a rush like a tap being turned on full blast. The noise of all those wings is amazing, but what is truly magnificent to watch was the way that they didn't disperse as soon as they had left the cave, but continued for miles as one long stream, twisting, turning, spiralling across the valley together towards the national park in the distance. We watched in awe for more than half an hour and still they kept on coming....it takes up to an hour for all 2 million to finally escape their home and make their way into the night to feed on thousands and thousands of insects. Finally it was getting too dark to see and we climbed back aboard our passenger truck and were taken back to the hotel for dinner and an early night.

Away early in the morning, we joined our group for the day and headed in to Khao Yai National Park with a brief stop along the way to look at a vivid orange leaf snake that one of the guides spotted as we were driving along. Once inside we frequently saw groups of Macaque monkeys hanging out by the side of the road, I guess some tourists feed them and they think of it as an easy meal to sit around and wait for someone to pass by. We didn't give them food, but we did take lots of pictures and they were most obliging by posing nicely while we did so! Our first official stop was seemingly a random spot but actually was the start of a short loop trail, not one I'd want to try without a guide mind you as it was barely visable at the best of times. As we walked along our guide spoke to us about some of the flora and fauna we passed but the main reason for the exercise was to follow the haunting calls of a family of white handed gibbons somewhere in the forest. Once again we were glad of the guide as we frequently left the trail to beat our way through brush and undergrowth so that we could get to where we could see the gibbons, I completely lost all sense of direction and would have been very lost almost straight away. We were told that in fact a couple had gotten lost here for 3 days a while ago so from that point I made very sure of where the group was at all times! After an hour or so of tracking the elusive gibbons (they tend to stay very high up in the trees and so are hard to spot) we made it back to the trail and trekked on keeping an eye out for wildlife as we headed through an elephant sleeping area and up a short hill to where we heard, but unfortunately didn't see a Great Hornbill. There are 4 species of Hornbill to be found in the park along with about 375 other species of birds, which you would never guess by the lack of sound here, probably caused by troops of tourists coming through every day. After our trek we got back into the truck to head to the visitor centre but soon stopped as the guide rescued a huge black scorpion from the middle of the road and insisted on placing it on peoples shoulders for pictures....we didn't volunteer!! At the visitor centre after a much needed iced coffee we wandered down to the river and were lucky enough to see an otter gambolling around, playing in the cool water and somehow managing to avoid every picture I tried to take. The visitor centre grounds are also host to some large deer, one of which was quite unconcernedly relaxing in the shade while people crowded round to take photos. I was more interested in the vast number of butterflies that were flexing their wings on the warm concrete and would alight all together when someone walked through, creating a fairytale feel to the place. There were in fact more butterflies here and throughout the park than I've ever seen before and much time was spent trying to capture them on film or just watching them flit around, spiralling and trailing one another in the sun.

After we left the visitor centre we went to see the famous Haew Suwat Falls...famous as the jump scene off of the magnificent waterfall in the movie The Beach...not so magnificent after 3 months without rain, their wasn't even a trickle, just a few drops falling over the edge onto a rocky ledge below. Apparently many people have died or been seriously injured trying to recreate the film scene, people are stupid! Next we sat down to eat some lunch and were visited by the world's largest squirrel...a huge black animal with a pale belly, about 3ft in length from its nose to the tip of its tail! Just as we finished eating, the rain poured down and we quickly retreated to a nearby shelter to wait out the worst of it and were joined by more butterflies doing just the same, which provided us with some entertainment. Once the downpour was reduced to a drizzle we started on a 2km hike alongside the river to look for a resident crocodile, but despite our best efforts we were unable to find his hiding spot and had to settle for a lime green Pit Viper which thankfully was sleeping as it is apparently very poisonous and can be grumpy when its hungry.

Our last couple of hours were spent in the back of the truck searching the park for elephants, of which there is supposedly a 50/50 chance of seeing....we didn't see any and by the time it had started to rain again we were ready for the day to be over so we could go back for a shower to wash off the dust and sweat. We did enjoy our tour even if we didn't get to see the elephants, but were definitely ready for a good meal and bed when we got back as it had been a very long, hot day.