Day 27

26/11/12

It rained so hard in the night it woke me up. I sheltered at the lodge restaurant in the morning hoping for the rain to subside, which it eventually did. During my wait I talked to Mr Bao a bit, and we had some monkey visitors, a macaque and her baby plucking bits from a palm tree only meters from the tables. They were sucking the oil from the plant bits, and let me get really close. They didn’t seem bothered by the spiky trunk sticking into their fur. After they left, a stripey little squirrel came to the same tree with a small tail. Mr Bao said that big groups of monkeys sometimes come to his lodge and he has to leave banger traps at his kitchen to scare them off, or they steal the food supplies!

I like to think he’s a really old kung fu master

When the sun appeared I walked about half an hour in the hot and humid weather to the main road and down to the “monkey temple”. Here the Dutch couple I’d met a few days before had met a friendly gibbon you could play with, who was raised by the monks. Unfortunately as I arrived, the rains started again. I found a cave with some shrines and statues inside and sheltered there on a little plastic stool reading, hoping for it to die down. Even the chickens and dogs had scurried for shelter.

My cave refuge

After half an hour of boredom I donned my poncho and went out to get wet. The main temple was shuttered up. The area was filled with trees and smaller buildings, loads of hens had emerged from hiding with chicks, and lots of dogs and puppies roamed around barking randomly at random things, probably getting into practice for the nightly dog war they’re so fond of out here.

At one of the out-buildings I saw a grey monkey chained up on a long leash. It was around a pillar so he could climb up to the rafters. When I got close he scarpered up there and peered down at me in suspicion. I left him to it. I found some cages nearby. In one was a massive black bird which looked like a rook. It had a pitifully tiny cage about twice its size, and it was pecking at the bars, poor thing. The cage next to it had a big red monkey in it, I don’t know the type. He was just sitting grooming himself and after looking up at me returned to his work.

Even when I got right next to him he didn’t pay any attention to me and didn’t respond when I stroked his foot either. His cage was very small for his size and had some scummy food remnants scattered around. I hoped he wasn’t kept here all the time. I wondered if his zombie-like behavior was a result of his captivity, or he was just not interested in me.

Towards the front of the temple was a big temple building under construction. The golden statues around the walls were still in cellophane and the inside filled with scaffolding. It was still raining and there was no sign of the tame gibbon sadly, so I headed home, passing some tourists who’d found some macaques in the trees nearby. I’d seen enough monkeys already today! I had a late lunch at the tasty restaurant from the previous night. The European owner is an old man with a cane and sight problems, who reprimanded me and the other couple there for leaving our shoes at the entrance and making it unsightly, bringing them inside and dumping them at our tables!

The rain didn’t stop all day so I stayed at the lodge, caught up on the internet and planned my next moves. I’d get a mini bus to Krabi tomorrow and then a bus up to Bangkok the following evening. It would be nice to be dry again, now everything I owned was soaked!

Day 25th

I woke in the night to a huge cracking, crashing sound outside. I guessed it was thunder, a gunshot or a tree falling. I could hear the rain pattering on the roof and desperately needed the loo. I walked to the toilets with only my torch to light the way, it was pitch black. Frogs jumped out of my way and the place felt quite eery, we were really alone out here in the jungle. I couldn’t get back to sleep, my mind was too active so I read my Kindle for an hour before drifting off again.

We were supposed to get up at 6:30am for a morning safari to try and see some of the animals. Unfortunately it was still raining and Ya Ya had said not to bother getting up if that was the case. So I went back to sleep and again slept through my alarm with Ya Ya knocking on my door to wake me up. The others were photographing some long tailed macaque monkeys who had come down to the shore to feed. It was still raining and Ya Ya said he’d take us up to a waterfall, usually you’d get to see inside caves but with all the water they’d be flooded. We had a quick breakfast, a swim to get washed (there’s no showers or sinks here) and set off on the longboat. The battery on the longboat was dead to begin with because of all the rain, so Ya Ya had to attach rope to the starter motor and yank it to manually start it. We cruised around a bit to charge the battery up and then up the inlet we’d explored first in the kayaks yesterday.

Path to the toilet block

We moored up to a tree at the only non-forested bit of the shore, a small path led through some low plants towards the forest. The footing was slippery in the mud. We entered the forest and it was chucking it down. Shortly we came to our first river crossing, the current was quite strong and the water was waist height. We all stashed our things into dry bags (waterproof bags that roll up and clip at the top). The river was probably 5 meters wide. A vine had been strung across it to help, so we grabbed it and moved forwards. As the water was muddy you couldn’t see where you were putting your feet, thankfully the ground was quite stable and not too rocky. You had to go slowly and double check your footing for each new step – the current was strong enough that a slip could get you swept away. We grabbed the vine with one arm and crossed without any problems.

The jungle was very wet and it was pouring with rain. There was no chance of seeing any animals, they’d be safely sheltering. I bagged up my good camera and switched to the waterproof one. Although the photos wouldn’t turn out very well in the wet, anything was better than nothing! As you’ll see in the following pictures, water gets on the lens easily and it’s impossible to keep clear in the wet conditions. We paddled along the windy muddy path occasionally finding a leech or two making an attempt to feast on our tasty flesh. The next river crossing was bigger and had a bamboo pole across it to hold on. The current was pushing away at our legs as we went over, and you really had to force yourself upstream to make it along in a straight line, as the water pushed you back.

Some more jungle and then we had to wade in the river upstream to continue. The going was slow and it was rocky. You had to watch your step because you could suddenly plunge into a much deeper section, and obstructions you couldn’t see were hidden underwater. We continued like this for a while, the river was quite shallow up here and we traversed across the whole thing a few times. Bits which looked really rapid and deep turned out to be manageable, they were shallow and in certain places were very strong, but other bits were deceptive and wasn’t too hard to wade through. But it was easy to slip and we had to be careful.

We came to some big rocky sections back on land where we had to go down a narrow rock gap covered in roots, and discovered a rock arch. From here we could see the cave entrance on the other side of the rushing river. Water was pouring out of it. People have died in these and other caves in the park, from flash flooding. Within minutes the caves can become a river inside, sweeping people into underwater chambers or smashing them against rocks. In one tour group everyone except one woman was killed and she was left trapped in a high section staring at glow worms before she was rescued the next day!

The dark bit at the top is the cave you can enter when it’s not the rainy season! Now it’s just another river mouth!

We continued zigzagging in the river along one side, clambering over rocks and braving dangerous rapid sections where although it was only a meter or two deep a wrong footing could see you slip and carried down-stream to smack against all the rocky bits on the way. With one arm I had been having some difficulties as I couldn’t effectively balance – and I could only grab things with my left hand. That was also the only hand that could save me if I slipped. When we were told the waterfall was only ten minutes away I laughed, as far as I was concerned we’d been wading through a waterfall the whole morning!

The falls

Sexy poncho for the win

The waterfall turned out to be small but wide, and was gushing fiercely. We stopped to take some triumphant photos. I wanted to climb up to the tree trunk but couldn’t with only one arm. We made our way back down, we’d probably taken about an hour and a half to get up here. The going was slower as descending was trickier. The river had swelled quite a bit and everything was deeper. When we got to the rock arch, which had previously been dry land, we found it was now part of the river! The water here was above shin-height already. Back at the main river, we stayed on the edge and the current was stronger than before. It was a lot deeper. At some parts we were at waist height where previously it had only been knee height. On one of the stronger parts, one of my sandal straps finally snapped off the bottom of the sandal. They’d been getting pulled so hard by the current the strain was too much. Now it was a sort of crap flip flop. I continued with it on.

The water was really strong now

Twenty minutes ago this had been knee height!

At the first full river crossing on the way back, what had been knee-height before was now above the waist and the current was very fast and strong. There was nothing to hold onto and it was a challenge to stay upright, especially in the middle where the current was almost wrenching your feet from under you. Ya Ya was leading the way and personally I wouldn’t have believed it was possible to cross until I saw him do it. Of course as he was the only guide, if anything had happened to him, we’d be on our own. He was a stocky, muscled bloke though with solid legs and stood strong against the currents. Unfortunately for me, this crossing is when the other sandal decided to snap. Now in the rivers I couldn’t keep them on my feet and would have to go barefoot on the stony riverbed. Joys.

This is where things really got hairy, look how deep it is with Anne on the right there

At the next river crossing the place was unrecognizable. The river was deeper by about a meter and was at about 10 meters wider at least. The current was raging. This looked impossible and this was the narrowest and shallowest point! As we watched Ya Ya wade deeper and deeper with the current raging around him, with his bag held over his head, I was wondering how much of a lunatic this guy was. Had he done crossings before in these conditions? Certainly he hadn’t predicted how much water would come in just an hour. The guy had a job to do but was it worth putting himself in danger? If worst came to worst we could hack our way through the jungle, he had a machete after all, or just wait for half a day for the waters to die down. But anyway, forge forward he did, and although he was up to his chest and the current wrenched him downriver as he took each step, he made it across, ending up about twenty meters downstream from us. This was really sketchy, if Ya Ya struggled and was a muscleman who’d done it before, how would the girls and me with one arm cope?

You can just about see Ya Ya grappling with a bamboo trunk here (see below)

Ya Ya talked Anne through what to do from the other side of the river, and stood downstream ready to catch her if she was carried off. But when she went a few meters into the deep part, the current was so strong it almost swept her off her feet and she managed to lurch/swim back to safety on our side. Andy made a good suggestion and shouted to Ya Ya if he could cut a bamboo down and make a bridge. So off went Ya Ya into the forest on the other side and we could hear him chopping away with his machete and the crashing of falling bamboo. He came into view and he’d felled a really big bamboo. We watched as he shortened it, and then maneuvered it into the river end first. It was almost swept away but he managed to correct it. Then he got under it and strode out into the river again carrying it underneath him. When the end closest to us was at our side, he let go and it was swept down to rest securely between trees at each side. Success!

The very precarious crossing!

The water was smashing against it and over it, bending it, but bamboo is amazingly strong and didn’t budge. I decided to go first. Ya Ya told me to cross down-river from it whilst grabbing it. It seemed like madness until he explained that if we went upriver from it, our weight pushing against it could snap it. So I went to chest height with my good arm wrapped around the bamboo at the elbow. Andy and Ya Ya tried to raise it a little so the current wouldn’t push it so much. I started to slide along leading with my arm, my feet slipping along underneath. The current got stronger and stronger and threatened to wrench my legs away. A few times I lost my footing but my elbow link was strong enough to save me from being swept away. In the middle the current was so strong I had to use all my strength just to keep moving. But I reached the other side and only a few meters away the current was weak enough to stand upright again and watch the others cross, which thankfully they managed without incident. Andy managed to stay completely upright and just used one arm, what a hero! His long Swiss legs put to good use!

Some more trudging through the jungle (it was still raining) and I slipped on the sloping water-slicked mud path, landing on bum and my elbow on my bad arm, which jarred my shoulder badly. Shit. Fortunately although sore it didn’t feel broken again, so I carried on. Soon after, I slipped again and exactly the same thing happened! These paths were lethal! I’d probably put the heal time for my shoulder back a few weeks… We reached the last crossing. Again the river here was unrecognizable. You couldn’t even see the vine from before and the river was about double the size in width and depth and it was raging. Ya Ya forged ahead and found the vine underwater. He used it as he waded up to his neck, and then was grabbing it with both hands going hand over hand. At the middle the current was so strong he couldn’t hold on and he was swept off! Luckily he still had some footing and managed to half-swim, half-run to the other side, just within our view about twenty meters down-river. That was a close one! He came up the other side and explained we couldn’t use the vine as the current was so strong there. We’d have to come downriver a bit where it was weaker. He crossed back over at the vine, swimming across and at the strongest bit, doing a leap and grabbing for the vine on the other side. He made it over and led one of the girls down the river a bit. Then he talked her through what they were going to do, and he led the way as they half-ran, half-swam facing up the river, with him supporting her with one arm. The current was sweeping them down-stream with every step, so they went in a diagonal line down, the water going up to their necks at some points. There were some wirey little trees poking out of the water on the other side which they grabbed at the end. One person safely accross. He repeated this process with the others, then it was my turn. I reminded him which my good arm was, if he grabbed my bad one to save me it would probably snap my shoulder again. Then off we went. There was no winning against this current, it battered into you like a car. We hopped along getting swept down. In my bare feet twice I lost my footing and would have been swept away if Ya Ya hadn’t grabbed me. Once you lost your footing it was really hard to get your legs down to find it again. If Ya Ya hadn’t been there I definitely would have ended up down that river somewhere grabbing out for branches and trying to swim with one arm! Definitely the most dangerous point so far in my travels (followed by the previous crossing and crazy dog attack). At the other side I grabbed the little trees and yanked myself to the shore. Phew.

We plodded back to the longboat, which hadn’t been swept away yet. The river came out here and so everything was higher. The motor wouldn’t start again, and nothing Ya Ya could do would revive it. So the poor guy had to paddle us back to base with a little wooden paddle, which took a while. When we got in  view of the raft houses he called out and a guy came out on another boat laughing. They tied the boats together and he towed us back. After our adventurous morning, it was now about 2pm and we devoured lunch, it had been tiring work! Then we had a nice swim (we were soaking anyway) and it was soon time to go.

Another unwanted visitor

My master plan – why waste energy swimming when I could float around in a life jacket?

The trip back was dry, which was nice. We sat back and enjoyed the views. We stopped at one of the cliffs where Ya Ya had spotted some monkeys in the trees on this sheer face. Monkeys are mental, go and live in the flat bits, you fools. Further on I lay down in the sun and had a wee nap, I was knackered!

Goodbye lodge!

One of the other 3 floating lodges

We got back to the dock and drove home in the back of the pickup. I was dropped at my lodge, bid Ya Ya goodbye and got organized. Nothing had dried at all in the two days I’d been gone. Mr Bao was quite surprised by the story of our wet day, especially when I showed him the photos. When I posted them on Facebook, Mark, who does guiding around the area too, commented that the guides shouldn’t take people out there when it’s been raining that much because it’s dangerous – but agreed it makes for a good adventure!

That evening I met my tour buddies for a nice meal at a restaurant near the park entrance. We chatted and exchanged photos from our tour. Unfortunately they were all heading off the next day in different directions, I was hoping they might be around a bit longer for some company. I decided to stay one more day in Khao Sok. In the time I had before I needed to return to Bangkok, I wouldn’t have time to do anything meaningful on the west coast, so I may as well spend my time in the jungle instead. We bid our farewells and headed home.

Day 25

23/09/12

I didn’t sleep very well, blaming the sounds of the jungle, rain on the roof and the broken shoulder. My crappy Casio cheapo watch alarm wasn’t loud enough to wake me up though and I had to throw everything I needed for the lake tour into bags in a matter of minutes, wolfing down breakfast before my truck arrived.

I shared the back of the pickup with three other travelers, friendly Andy and Katarine from Switzerland and an attractive German girl called Anne. We chatted as the truck took us along the scenic highway, past the impressive limestone formations and the jungle back towards Surat Thani for about an hour, stopping at a town on the way to pick up some last-minute things. I bought a new poncho, as our guide, Ya Ya (yes really), warned of rain, and I’d forgotten to bring my dog-scarred one with me.

The truck drove us uphill and over the crest we saw the mighty reservoir. It was made in the 80’s and covers hundreds of kilometers. They made a big dam and flooded the national park valleys to create it, for hydro power. It was a massive disaster for the environment, destroying the habitats of the jungle wildlife and trapping many animals on islands in the middle of the lake. A rescue effort was made to try and save some of them but it was a futile exercise. Now the lake is touted by the Thai tourism board as one of the most beautiful places in the world, which it may well be, but at what cost?

View from the docks

We were dropped off at a dock where we bought a pass to enter the national park (I had to pay again despite paying yesterday!) and hopped into a longboat, which Ya Ya drove. The docks were quite busy with other tour groups, long boats roaring out into the lake. We set off and passed a few big dams on the left. On the right the jungle loomed  on the shores, and in the distance were impressive hills and limestone formations.

The sun was shining to begin with but as we came closer to the amazing scenery ahead, the rains came, and hard. We hunkered down and peered through our hoods at the awesome surroundings as rain lashed against us. Tree covered islands poked through the water. Towering limestone cliffs reared either side of us with greenery filling every crevice. The hills in the distance were dark and moody silhouettes. You could see banks of rain in the distance and mist rising off the forest.

Waterproof camera gets some use!

Rain sweeps in the distance

We occasionally passed other longboats in the distance and the rain cleared up. Now you could see the tops of dead trees sticking up in the water, just like the reservoir up at Sangklaburi I’d been at a few weeks ago. They were 30 years old but still standing, creating an eery atmosphere. Although the scenery was awe inspiring I felt mixed emotions that so much had been destroyed to create it.

We passed a row of raft houses, one of the four floating lodges on the lake. The expanse had opened up here, jungle and towering hills were in every direction. Ten minutes later the lake narrowed as we turned into one of the large inlets. We saw an eagle swooping overhead. Ya Ya steered the boat deftly between some dead trees by the shore and cut the engine. As we coasted forwards he pointed out a large hornbill bird perched on a tree skeleton. It was black with a huge yellow beak, similar to a toucan. It flew off when we got too close.

A little further up we turned into another inlet and saw our raft lodge near the shore. The location was amazing, here the lake was narrow, still and full of little inlets. There were no sounds except the boat and the jungle. Thick forest came right to the shoreline all along the bank. We hadn’t seen any other boats here. There were about 15 little floating shacks connected by a wooden walkway, and some larger buildings with a few longboats moored alongside. As we pulled in, we saw another tour group having lunch, and as many Thai staff lounging around and chatting. We agreed we’d need to kill this other tourist group so we could have the place to ourselves, maybe by sabotaging their boat. Ya Ya gave us a choice of activities and on his advice we decided to do the jungle trek tomorrow and have this afternoon free, as it was likely to rain the rest of the day. Animals don’t like the rain either so we might stand a better chance seeing them tomorrow.

The whole lodge was connected by wooden plank walkways, punctured with bent nails and uneven footing. One part of the walkway looked like it had come from an old door or house. The rooms were small and super-basic, a mattress on the floor with a mosquito net and simple wooden walls and doors, a single window with a shutter hatch. Through the gaps in the floor you could see the water inches below, with little fish swimming around. The structure floated with a bamboo base and big trunks from a buoyant kind of tree. The lake water was quite clear by the edge and you could see large fish swimming. The restaurant sported some big animal skulls, one of which was a tapir, a strange large furry mammal whose skull almost looked like a rhino without a horn. A wooden walkway led to the shore where concrete steps led uphill to the simple toilet shacks (amazingly western flushes!), surrounded by dense jungle. Aside from the chatter of the staff and their blaring radio, the place was amazingly peaceful and the water completely still. Monkeys and birds called in the distance over the sound of cicadas.

Anne’s hut

We went straight for a swim, diving off the lodge. The water was warm and relaxing. Andy took a kayak onto the water and I decided to try too. They’re really hard to roll so even one-armed I should be alright. Getting in was tricky but once on the water I was fine, paddling gently around which didn’t seem to aggro the collar-bone too badly. We came back to have a hearty Thai lunch and afterwards decided to take the kayaks out again, this time in the two-man ones. Andy and Katarine took one and me and Anne in the other. I took a life jacket in case I ran into difficulty, but soon used it instead as a cushion!

Jumping off the lodge walkway into the warm water

Andy and Katarine exploring an inlet

We paddled down an inlet and immediately saw monkeys in the trees alongside, a troupe of black lemurs.  We watched them swinging around and eating for a bit. We pushed through a load of wooden debris in turgid water upstream, and got to a rocky river flowing into the lake where we had to turn back. Now we headed out into the main lake. It was very peaceful. We watched an eagle getting harassed by a smaller bird, both swooping around in large arcs. The eagle eventually gave up and went out of view. We crossed to the other side of the main stretch to explore smaller inlets covered in forest, finding some more monkeys as a hornbill flew past. The rain kept schizophrenically coming on for a few minutes and would then stop, even as bright sunshine shone on us. All over the lake clusters of big water skimmers (or water spiders as they call them here) scooted over the surface, sending little ripples everywhere. Occasionally you’d see a fish jump. At one point I saw a bird of prey in the distance dive into the water and take off with a fish in its claws.

Spectacled languar monkey, photo courtesy of Andy (with the same big zoom lens as mine which was broken!).

Our lodge, taken from the kayak

Me and Anne scooted ahead, I was able to paddle a bit and help. Anne was from Berlin and last year part of a rowing team so I was in good hands! A few boats passed us, one guy in a small motorboat who we found later in an inlet fishing. We continued to explore until we got tired and headed back. It was an amazing place and a great experience, so quiet and fun to explore at your own pace. When you get tired you just sit back and float along, watching the scenery and scanning for movement in the trees.

Me and Anne spotting monkeys. Photo courtesy of Andy.

Inbetween the rains, mist rose off the trees.

Back at the lodge we relaxed a bit and the other tour group had left (maybe Ya Ya did kill them after all?), leaving only four of us for the rest of the day. We were outnumbered by staff two-to-one! One boy was fishing with a tin can and string with bait on the end, straight off the walkways. A few of the staff slept in hammocks and listened to the blaring radio. Ya Ya had spent much of the afternoon lying asleep on an open-air mattress. The staff here work for 3 weeks and have one week back at civilization, all year round. It must get pretty boring when it’s quiet. They seemed to play a lot of card games for money. Although it was quiet now, in peak season the lodge’s full every day with tourists. There’s no road or paths here, the only way in is by boat, and all supplies are delivered that way.

Reflections were very nice when the lake was still

The rains came again. The pattering of raindrops on the lake looked pretty cool. Andy returned from the toilets to say he’d seen monkeys on the loo roof! The fisherman from earlier returned with a catch, completely drenched.

The jungle was alive with noises, and you could hear the air raid siren cicadas blaring out over the lake as it got dark. A bat flew above us under the roof, catching flies. Out on the walkways, you could hear loud frogs very close, but we couldn’t spot them. Up at the toilets there were loads of frogs hopping off the path. The lights up there attracted many bats and they swooped all around the little cubicles at breakneck speed, really close to the walls and doors, even swooping down into your cubicle from above and swooping out again. Andy went up there and let out a girly yelp when a bat swooped past his legs! We tucked into a massive dinner, including a big fish from the lake. No-one else ate fish so I devoured half of it!

Nom nom nom

At 8pm we set out on a night safari, it was only drizzling now so we stood a chance of seeing something. We got into the longboat and it was pitch black once we got away from the lodge. Ya Ya steered and had a powerful spotlight which he shone along the lakeside at the forest wall, scanning for movement, or the telltale reflection from animal eyes. Not far up, he spotted a civet cat (like a small leopard which eats fruit) really high in a tree. It was far away and I couldn’t make out the reflections of its eyes so I can’t claim to have seen it really!

Further along we saw a brown owl perched on one of the dead trees. It would screech from time to time. Later Ya Ya spotted some red hornbills sleeping on some bamboo branches. They sleep on bamboo so that if a larger animal tries to climb up to them, the vibration wakes them up. Amazingly even with the light on them and all the noise we were making, they didn’t wake up. Too many beers that night, I suggested.

We didn’t see anything else unfortunately. It’s quite lucky to see the big animals on these trips, but in the past guides have seen cats, tigers, and tapirs down by the waterside. It started raining again. Back at the lodge Anne went to bed and the rest of us played some cards. Mid-way through, Ya Ya brought me a present!

This huge cicada was alive, and one of the ones which sounds like an air-raid siren. Ya Ya held its wings against its body so it couldn’t escape, but you could hear it buzzing loudly. I took it off him and you could feel its wings vibrating hard. He’d found it disorientated, attracted by the light. It was quite a freaky thing to be sure! When I released it, it flew around randomly and crashed into the floor. Ya Ya said once they hit the lights it’s pretty much game over for them. A shame, because they only come out at the end of their life cycle – the massive noise is to attract a mate, but they spend over five months underground before that. We continued with our game of Shithead (or “The Biggest Loser” for the polite amongst you!). Katharine, who’s never played before, won nearly every game, and I was definitely the biggest loser! Never trust the Swiss, that’s what I say! Ya Ya joined us for a game and put us to shame, he gets to play a lot of cards because he comes out here all the time! When the generators got turned off for the night, it was time to turn in, with the sound of the rain and the jungle all around us.

Dessert