Southern Thailand: Khao Sok National Park & Krabi

After a couple of days in Bangkok, I headed south on the overnight train to Khao Sok National Park in the south of Thailand. The park contains some of the oldest rainforest in the world, and is situated in an area with beautiful limestone karst formations, like those in Halong Bay, Vietnam or Guilin, China.

Like Sukhothai, the park, and the area around it, seemed completely deserted. The guidebooks say that this time of year is monsoon season on the west side of the Isthmus of Kra, but in reality, it rains everywhere in Thailand nearly every day, so the best way to tell what “season” it is is to count the number of tourists around. The morning after we arrived, I hiked one of the most popular trails and only saw a handful of people, although that was better than the amount of wildlife I saw. Although I heard rare gibbons calling to each other in the distance, my best sighting of the day was probably a millipede. I’m just glad that I didn’t see the leech whose bite I found later when I took off my shoes and socks.

A so-called “monkey temple” in the area offered a better chance for wildlife viewing, if you didn’t mind getting *really* close to a troop of long-tailed macaques. And by close, I mean several of them jumping on your shoulders at once with others tugging at your clothes if they thought you had any food for them. They were really entertaining to watch, and there were several mothers with infants, which of course were my favorite subjects for photos. The babies had such humanlike expressions, even if they did look a little bit like Yoda with their huge, pointed ears!

Long tailed macaques with infants. Click the images to view them larger.

After Khao Sok, it was time to head to the beach. Southern Thailand is famous for its gorgeous islands and beaches, and I was ready for another tanning session since my Vietnamese sunburn had finally faded.

Visiting the Ancient Thai Empire at Sukhothai

Having just experienced the wondrous Angkor Wat and finding myself in Thailand for nearly a week with no set plans, I decided to head to the north of the country one more time to visit Sukhothai, the ruins at the heart of the ancient Siamese empire.

Being a bit off the beaten path for tourists, Sukhothai took some getting to. First I took a 6-hour train ride north from Bangkok to Phitsanulok. I rode in the fan-cooled second class car, which I actually prefer to air conditioned first class because the windows open. It’s a great way to experience the beautiful Thai countryside.

In Phitsanulok I needed to catch a bus for the hour or so ride to Sukhothai, but that proved harder than I thought it would be. I found the city bus stop and asked a man which bus went to Sukhothai, and he replied that buses #1, 2, or 8 would take me there. I found bus #1, boarded, and waited. And waited. And waited. About 45 minutes later, a driver came on board, asked my destination, and off we went. We went around the small university town of Phitsanulok, picking up other passengers. About 30 minutes later, we’d made nearly a complete circle of the small city when we pulled into a slightly larger bus depot. “Sukhothai”, the driver said, pointing out the door at the other buses. It had been an hour and a half, and I’d gone about 4 blocks!

Luckily, the next bus really *did* go to Sukhothai, and I arrived before dark. I found a guesthouse called “Old City Guesthouse” which was simple but charming with its wooden cabin exteriors. I felt like I was at a little lodge in a U.S. National Park.

The next morning, I rented a bike for $1 from the cafe/guest house/internet cafe/bike rental shop next door and set off to explore the ruins.

It was a *hot*, midweek day, and I had the place nearly to myself. Sukhothai’s ruins are famous for their giant buddhas, which sit serenely amongst the brick ruins of former temples and palaces. I spent a day and a half leisurely biking around the ruins (and ‘leisurely’ was the fastest I could possibly go… did I mention it was HOT? I couldn’t even stand still in the shade without sweat pouring off me.) Luckily there were a couple of cute cafes just outside the park entrance, so I could hang out and drink icy watermelon fruit shakes in the shade.

It had been a nice, relaxing, quiet break away from the hustle of Bangkok, but I had to return to the city for the third and final time of my trip, in order to meet up with my last group for the journey south down the Ithsmus of Kra, the Malay Peninsula, and finally on to Indonesia.

Monk in a Tuk Tuk

Seen near Wat Po, Bangkok.

Twilight at the Temple of Dawn

Wat Arun, which means “Temple of the Dawn” in Thai, is one of Bangkok’s most recognizable landmarks. Facing the Grand Palace and Wat Pho across the Chao Phraya River, it stands nearly 200 feet high.

Though it is the Temple of the Dawn, I really wanted to photograph it after sunset, when its prangs, or towers, are illuminated in yellow tones and it stands out wonderfully against a blue twilight sky.

I wasn’t sure where to photograph it from, though. The banks of the Chao Phraya aren’t open for strolling because houses and businesses line the river, and the multiple ferry landings are far too wobbly for photography since they float on pontoons.

I wandered up and down alleys looking for a location. I finally stumbled on a hidden gem when I found a boutique hotel on the river with an adorable rooftop bar that directly faced Wat Arun. I greatly enjoyed my pineapple juice and malibu cocktail while listening to some jazz and watching the light change on the temple in front of me.

Here’s my favorite photo from the evening.

Brand-New Bangkok

As my Royal Nepal Airlines 737 dipped below the haze over Thailand, I was struck by what I saw outside the plane window: Houston!

I know that sounds crazy, but the suburbs 100 miles out of Bangkok really *did* look like Houston - swampy fields, housing developments, and 8-lane freeways. I wondered if I were on the wrong flight.

It turns out that Thailand has changed a lot since I last saw it in 2002. The gleaming airport is brand new, as is the highway leading to the shiny city full of sparkling new skyscrapers. The sidewalks were clean, the roads were all labeled and the avenues were immaculately landscaped. Where WAS I?

Even the Khao San Road, the backpackers' gateway to Southeast Asia, was completely changed since I was here last. I recognized only three storefronts on the whole street: a seedy underground bar (that I avoided on my last visit and avoided again on this one), an ATM (there was only one last time, and now there are at least 5, with a couple of other ATMs-on-wheels that drive around), and a 7-11 (again, there was only one last time, and now there are three or four on the 500-meter stretch of road). It was like having an inverted deja vu experience: I knew I had been there before, but I hardly recognized the place.

Khao San Road: Backpackers' Gateway to Southeast Asia

Scenes from the Grand Palace

Bar Della! "Glowing with Health" :)

In my few days in Bangkok, I took care of my to-do list: I slept a lot, got a haircut, drank lots of watermelon fruit shakes, and get a couple of massages. I also managed to get out to do some sightseeing, including Chatuchak Weekend Market, which boasts over 8,000 market stalls (including one devoted to guinea pigs!), the Grand Palace, and the National Museum.

After meeting up with my group, I took an overnight train into the north of Thailand. I love Thai trains. They're clean and so comfy - they bunk 4 people where Indian trains fit 8. At 10pm, an attendant comes around and converts the train seats to two vertically stacked bunks. I slept like a baby, lulled by the gentle motion of the train.

Chiang Mai is Thailand's second city and the "capital" of the north. It's cooler than Bangkok and has a more intimate feel. The old city is surrounded by an ancient wall and is filled with temples. Chiang Mai also has some of Thailand's best cuisine, and being a Thai food lover, I took a cooking class. We made a lot of tasty food, and ate it all. I basically had to be *rolled* out of the cooking school at the end of the day.

Cookin' up some tasty tom yum soup

A cultural show in Chiang MaiThe Buddha at Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai

After Chiang Mai, we headed to the Mekong River border between Thailand and Laos. It had been a brief visit to Thailand, but an interesting one, especially seeing how much has changed in such a short time. I'll be back in Thailand in a few weeks when I travel south from Bangkok to Bali on the last leg of my trip. I'm looking forward to seeing more, and eating a whole lot more curry!

The Hands of Buddha

The Coast is Clear in Thailand

As some of you may have heard, there have been some protests and violence in Thailand in the past week. I wanted to let everyone know that the situation has stabilized within the past couple of days, it will not impact my travel plans in Southeast Asia, and I plan to arrive in Bangkok late next week. I received the following e-mail today from the travel company I booked with for Thailand-Laos-Vietnam-Cambodia:

"As you have most probably seen and heard, there have been on-going anti-government protests in Bangkok. These demonstrations have caused some isolated disruption in Bangkok for the past several days. The Thai military moved in yesterday and in the face of this and a lack of public support, the demonstrators have now dispersed. We are very pleased to advise the situation is resolved and things have now returned to normal.

While the images of these demonstrations were alarming, we would like to reiterate that the protests were only directed at the government. Only the areas around Government House were affected and life in other parts of Bangkok continued as normal during all these events.We look forward to running our tours in this area as scheduled, and having you travel with us."

In blog-related news, I think I have fixed the issue that was preventing comments from working. Thanks to everyone who let me know!