Cowboys & Christmas (Khao Yai National Park)

Christmas Eve was a jolly affair, spent with our friends Chris and Oh and their little boy, Safe (age 7). We were joined by Billy, another Englishman living in Thailand, and his 7-year old daughter Natalie. The full monty was laid on, complete with sprouts, cranberry sauce and Xmas pudding.

The next morning, after Alan had ‘harvested’ the pomegranite tree in Chris & Oh’s garden, we set off heading south to Nakhorn Sawan on the way to Khao Yai, Thailand’s oldest, largest intack monsoon forests in mainland Asia and apparently the most visited National Park - an opportunity to be in the same space as (though not necessarily actually see) tigers, monkeys, bears, hornbills, clouded leopards, guar, and other endangered species.

Neither Nakhorn Sawan nor Khao Yai get much of a mention in The Lonely Planet, but we got ample opportunity to experience and see how Thai people enjoy their leisure time. We arrived in Nakhorn Sawan late afternoon, and Safe’s first opportunity to try out the miniature remote-control helicopter that Alan and I gave him for Xmas (a great success!) We checked into our hotel and adjourned to their restaurant for dinner and live Thai pop music. Mid-way through dinner, Chris announced he’d unfortunately just swallowed his bridge and the three attached teeth. After a brief discussion, the concensus was that he should let nature take its course. (Without going into too much detail, with the help of a ‘borrowed’ ice bucket, a pair of tongs, a spare toothbrush, disinfectant and a tube of Superglue, the problem was resolved three days later).

Like the rest of SE Asia, the Thai people are compulsive snackers, so our onward journey to Khao Yai (over 550km) was intermittently punctuated by numerous stops at petrol stations which also play host to various brands of coffee shops and Seven Eleven stores. At each of these pitstops, Oh would emerge with armfuls of goodies – some liquid gloopy bags for dipping unidentifiable sausage like things in, bags for sugar-fixes, luncheon meats, cheese filled sausages plus the picnic of cold broccoli, chillie and soy sauce (yum), cold chicken, boiled potatoes left over from Xmas dinner. And, of course, a large bucket of strong frothy cold coffee with crushed ice for the road. At one of these stops, a delightful botanical gardens, Alan and I tried out a string of Thai sausages from a street vendor. These little round balls, a mixture of pork and rice, were very tasty and, at last, solved my curiosity as to what they actually were.

We spent four days in the Khao Yai area, staying at a great place called The Jungle House Hotel which had its own mini herd of elephants. Indeed, one morning we woke to the sound of an elephant being given its morning bath and sugar cane just yards from our bedroom window. The park was magnificent - despite charging foreigners nearly 450% more than locals for entry - waterfalls, macaques, Asiatic bears, deer, incredible forests (four different types) and mountains, the area covers more than 2156 sq km and is, apparently, still home to some rare and endangered species such as tigers, clouded leopards, hornbills etc. As we were not trekking, we had to content ourselves with some of the lurid displays of lethal stuffed and bottled creatures on display in the excellent visitor centre including two tigers that had mauled and killed a number of people as recently as 1998.

The surrounding valley was home to Thailand’s nascent wine-growing industry and we visited a couple of delightful vineyards, although the wine itself was surprisingly expensive and, as small sampling could reveal, not very nice.

Nearby our hotel, we came across a cowboy festival at which we enjoyed an excessive evening of Leo beer, more snacks, Eagles music and lots of Thai men and women dressed as Red Indians, Squaws and performing whip-cracking, fire eating and horsey tricks – “Yee-Ha”! It seems that the cowboy fun wasn’t restricted to the festival, with a nearby amusement park, Bonanza, continuing the theme, we spent a happy morning with Chris and Oh as Safe tried out every ride his little wiry frame made him eligible for. He reminds me very much of Mowgli from The Jungle Book – an energetic and smiley kiddie who is always singing to himself or climbing and prancing around. In the short time we spent with him, we became firm friends and had lots of fun.

We were kindly dropped off at the bus station in the nearby town of Pak Chong (another cowboy city!) where we caught a bus direct to Bangkok. The roads throughout the full trip from Chiang Mai to Bangkok were excellent highways and expressways. From the Northern bus terminal in Bangkok we took a taxi that got caught up in bustling city traffic…back into urban life!!

Jan 1, 2009

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