Over the weekend, the three of us headed to Khao Yai National Park a three hour drive North East of Bangkok.We'd planned a three day two night camping/trekking trip and I was relishing it.The chance to trek the jungle and see some local wildlife was something I couldn't wait to start.

We arrived at about 7pm Friday evening and the first thing I noticed was the difference in temperature.Still 20 degrees (and at 7pm that'd be hot back home) but a lot cooler than the recent temperatures in which I've found myself.The task ahead was the laborious pitching of tents and in the dark with leeches everywhere, it wasn't easy.As for the leeches, they were to be an ever-present annoyance over the next few days.Little s***s!After a little Thai whiskey to knock us, the morning arrived and the trekking was to begin.First thing to do though was to purchase leech socks and meet our guide, a young fella called Nu.Not actually a guide but a patroller, who's job is to survey the park for poachers.However for a small fee (500Baht) and a bottle of whiskey, he would be ours for the weekend.And he was superb, very little English but with Hava translating I found out a lot about the local wildlife, Cambodian poachers and himself.He was always giving us vegetation to eat, pointing out various medicinal values and talking about the depletion of the parks tigers and elephants due to the poaching problem.

The first day was a short 4.5km trek (as opposed to a long 4.5km!) to a guard station, which would be our base for the evening.It was a sweaty slog with all the kit on our backs, the humidity of the jungle sapping my body dry.Along the way the ever present howling monkeys (gibbons) and screeching of crickets provided our theme tune.Huge trees rising into the canopy above, lush greenery all around, trickling streams and fast-flowing rivers……the scenery was magnificent.Upon arriving at camp, we quickly set up camp and had some food and water.Before Kenny, Nu and I ventured out again to se some deer and try and down the gibbon.We never saw gibbon this time but were fortunate enough to come across deer, snake and (unfortunately for Mr Arachnophobia here) plenty of large, colourful spiders.

That evening the patrolmen and Nu were surprised at how much I ate and Hava explained that I'd try anything once.So they gave me some of their leftovers and giggled away as I lapped it up.Not too sure what it was but it went down fine.Then the drinking started and the translated conversations and jokes began.The guys were superb to the three of us and before we knew it started to construct a bong out of some things they had lying around.And this was to be the tone of the evening until, one by one, we fell into our tents and blissful comas.Early start on Sunday, quick brekkie and off back to the main office to drop our packs off and begin the trek to the waterfalls, ending with Haew Sawat Falls (from the movie 'The Beach').

The trek followed the bank of the river and along the way we passed a snoozing croc.Myself and Nu tried to wake it up by throwing sticks but to no avail. The waterfalls were beautiful, particularly Haew Suwat (The Devils Falls) bulging with monsoon rains and spraying a fair distance. Unfortunately due to the time of year swimming wasn't an option and we turned back returning to base camp.

The weekend was brilliant but it didn't truly end until we began to leave the national park. When we stumbled upon a large group of gibbons, about 30 in total. Playful little critters, bouncing along, swinging through the vines and snatching Oreo cookies from my hand. I was fortunate enough that Kenny got a shot as one took a cookie from my palm looking as if we're shaking hands. A great end to a great weekend!