More of the Jungle

I had a couple of informal guidelines for the trip – no stays of only one night, so that I could have at least a full day wherever I was going, and no all-day excursions – I didn’t want to plop my stuff down and be gone all day. In Khao Sok, the most popular excursion, to a nearby lake surrounded by beautiful karst mountains, followed by caving, is an all-day one, but I opted to stay closer to where I was. Next time! I wanted to go on a hike to see the world’s largest flower, the Rafflesia, found only in Khao Sok and an adjacent wildlife sanctuary (though it has cousins in Malaysia and Indonesia). This plant has no roots or leaves of its own; it lives parasitically. It forms a football-like pod and when it blooms, the 80-cm flower gives off a potent stench to attract pollinators. The hotel guys called around – no flowers in bloom. So no hike to see them. The picture is of a display in the visitor center – so at least I know what one looks like.



I could have taken a guided hike, but decided to stick to the paths on the park map. I had bought ice cream just outside the park boundary the day before (a single Magnum, not a double Magnum, but still, a Magnum), and the operator there said nobody had ever gotten lost following the main trails. So no guided hike. I fortified myself with fried pineapple and banana for breakfast and resolved to have that again. In the park, I saw lots of plants and trees along the river and a couple of waterfalls; I didn’t see any wildlife (which is supposed to be amazing there) but it was nice to go at my own pace. Back for a green curry lunch, I talked with the children of the owners – they didn’t know much English but they did know, “one more,” and they kept asking me to take one more picture. Then I sat on my treehouse balcony for a while, enjoying the sounds of the river and the view of the mountains. Then I went tubing – I had been told the river was a bit low, but I saw plenty of other tubers (people in tubes, that is, not potatoes of any sort) float by, and it looked like fun.



Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring my camera (the pictures in this entry are from my hikes), but picture a quiet river, with lush green banks – at times steep, at times lined with banana or rubber trees, at times with overhanging trees. I had a guide with me, who pushed or dragged me along when the river got slow, but more of the time we floated together and he pointed things out – different trees, a troop of monkeys (more macaques! Longtails, these), a snake (I didn’t see the one he was pointing at – that’s okay). That was one of my favorite excursions (hm – when I think about it, many of my favorite activities were water-based. I guess that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise; I’ve always liked those things!). I could have gone on a night wildlife hike but decided (in part because the book warned of leeches and I didn’t have closed-toe shoes – it was dry season so they told me there weren’t as many, but why press my luck?) to have a Thai massage instead (this one with oil, for something different) – a massage every few days turned into another informal guideline!