After an awesome week in Chang Mai, we decided to make our way down to Bangkok in style... Although we loved travelling like the locals up until now, we decided to travel in style and book a much nicer a/c bus from Chang Mai down to Bangkok. On the front end of Bangkok, we stayed at a pretty nice, newer hotel in Bangkok near Kao San Road (the tourist area). Although at first it seemed a bit far away, we really enjoyed the quiet and peacefulness in such a huge city. On the back end (after we returned from Cambodia we stayed a couple more days in Bangkok before heading to south thailand) we stayed in the newer financial/shopping area which was great to see the different sides on Bangkok.
The next day we decided to see some of the historical wats (temples) in Bangkok. We decided to get on a water ferry to get around. We learned the hard way that they like to pack those water ferries just as much as the local buses. After a little while on the water ferry we made our way to our first stop, the Portuguese Catholic Church. We thought it a little bizarre that a catholic church would be a tourist spot in Bangkok, but later learned that Thai king(s) respected the catholic religion and supported the Portuguese in Thai. On our way out of the church we came upon a small bakery shelling out delicious Portuguese pastries, which was a great mid morning snack before we headed off to the next temple. The next temple we arrived at was Wat Arun. The architecture was impressive and the climb to the top was steep and narrow but we couldn't miss the views of Bangkok from the other side of the river. Our last stop for the day was visiting Wat Pho, where the infamous reclining Buddha sits. The Buddha was enclosed in one building and was enormous. The remainder of Wat Pho boasted some other impressive statues and Buddhas to see but the major attraction was the giant sized Buddha. We ended our day relaxing at the hotel and then enjoying some delicious Thai cuisine.
Next stop: Khao Yai National Park. While in Chang Mai we were convinced to try out the National Park which is famous for its wildlife and trekking. We arrived in Pak Chong where we were met by our driver for Green Leaf Tour and Guesthouse. This place was great - it seemed like a family run tour and hotel operator that organized your entire stay and activities in the park. We chose to do the one and a half day tour which consisted of a half day of swimming in a natural spring, visiting the nearby "bat caves" and a full day of hiking through the natural park in search of wildlife (snakes, scorpions, gibbons, wild elephants, horn bills to name a few...). The highlight of the half day tour was easily the bat caves we visited. The first cave we visited housed about 1 million bats and we were able to get very close to these little guys. The tour guide explained to us that every year the bats migrate to this area and live in these caves for a few months per year before heading out. We were able to walk throughout the cave, getting closer and closer to the bats as we walked deeper into the cave. In even the smallest of spaces, the bats manage to fly around you and not hit you, even though your hand can touch the ceiling of the cave.
We were also fortunate enough to come across a tarantula in the cave. In doing this every day, our guide knows where these guys live and managed to keep the tarantula out of its hole for us to see it. With bats, spiders and other creepy wildlife, the experience was frightening but unlike any other.
The next stop was the famous "bat cave" which houses about 5 million bats. Every day, just before sunset, the bats leave the cave in swarms and go out to the nearby areas in search of food. The all leave the cave together and do so as a form of protection against awaiting hawks and other predators. Once the bats began flying out of the cave the entire event lasted for about 45 minutes. It was unbelievable to think how many bats were in the cave. As expected, the hawks were also out and flying into the swarm of bats in hopes of catching some dinner. With 5 million bats, their odds were pretty good! This may have been one of the best experiences we've seen as of yet!
The next day new headed into the national park. Our guide, Lek, had been working for this place for seven years and knew exactly where to find the animals we were looking for. He first spotted a family of gibbons high up in the trees. These monkeys make the funniest sounds and live way up in the trees so we had little chance of seeing them up close, but we were lucky enough to encounter a good pack of them swinging in the trees. After that we headed into the woods in search of more close-up wildlife. Throughout our trek, Lek pointed out a few different holes in the ground, home to the scorpions. Finally he found one that he thought big enough and went in with a stick and pulled the scorpion right out and onto his hand. He claimed that scorpions are not poisonous but that they hurt very badly. As long as you don't touch them on the tail, you are free to play with them all you like. Eventually the both of us mustered the courage to hold the scorpion.
The rest of the day we encountered different species of spiders, snakes, more monkeys, and the elusive horn bill bird. Our guide managed to catch the snake by spotting it while riding in the back of our moving truck, hanging in a nearby tree! How he saw it, we are still baffled! We were all coerced into holding the snake, something Shaun wasn't too excited about. At one point the snake even got loose in the truck and Shaun made it a point to make sure Rayann was blocking him from the snake's head...what a great boyfriend! Our day ended on a wild hunt for the wild elephants. After a few hours searching the park, we found no elephants but it may have been a good thing as we had heard that wild elephants can be quite vicious and some elephant attacks have been reported at this park.
The day was one of the best we had experienced and loved being out in the "wild" for a short time, albeit with a guide. The next day we packed our bags and headed to the bus station for an interesting bust trip into Cambodia. But you'll have to wait for our next post to hear about it!
Shaun & Rayann
Great catch up! I hate bats, Ray you are one strong woman! :) Shaun- suck it up, snakes are your friends.
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