Last morning at Koh Phra Thong we walked along the road and then to the beach next to Monkey Hill. Left wistfully (hope we’ll go back one day) and took the truck along the road to the port, observing the (mostly unoccupied and not very attractive) cement apartment blocks built by the Swiss after the tsunami. Took longtail prow boat to Khuraburi Pier, then shared a taxi with a Dane (who lives in Bangkok) and an Englishman to Takua Pa where we caught a bus to Khao Sok. You can always find a meal in the bus stations, including delicious fried sardines.

Khao Sok is a dump of a place, teeming with tourists and we had the impression of arriving in a sort of tacky Disneyland. The Khao Sok Green Mountain Lodge hotel was outside the village and rather a disappointment, with leaky plumbing, lice and no mosquito nets on the windows, even if the staff were efficient and helpful. After settling in, short walk to the river and a dash back inside to avoid the 2h mosquito swarm, we went into the village for the evening with the hotel taxi service, climbing up into the truck and enjoying the cool breeze.

The next morning we went off on our day jungle trek, driven by Jaja, who scared both of us with the idea we might see tigers (which we did not). For our trekking expedition, we had 2 national forest jungle guides (Poun and Arm), only one of whom spoke English, but Arm was very observant and also solicitous of our wellbeing, particularly when the 13km trek proved a little arduous, over many boulders, which made Fontainebleau seem easy.

We were joined by 2 young Americans from Missouri, with whom we had little in common once it was established that the young man had a collection of 6 firearms and boasted about the fact you could walk into a store and buy a gun. 

We were of course not the only group of tourists doing a jungle trek (I taught another guide the word for tadpole), but were lucky  enough to see 3 very poisonous snakes (all high up around tree branches), 2 large golden spiders the size of a hand,

plenty of macaque monkeys, including one who used the picnic area, fish in the water, stick insects, the house of trapdoor spiders (they only come out at night-time), the cocoons of cicadas, a huge wild bee hive, lizards and a multi colored caterpillar. The most amazing feature were the trees, from rattan, used as safety ropes on the steeper part of the climb,

huge bamboos and the extraordinary sight of 3 trees, intertwined and embracing like friends, enabling the middle tree to survive and grow taller.

The trek was quite difficult, not because of the terrain but mainly the intense humid heat. We were glad to stop by the waterfalls and also by the water at lunch time, deep into the jungle behind the locked gate, where Arm prepared a feast of fruit for us. We were accompanied by the chattering monkeys on the other side of the river and the cracking, booming almost gunshot sound of the giant bamboos shaking in the wind.

I might not have been the fastest climbing the rocks or crossing on bamboo-made bridges across the water, but I marched at a quick pace on the homeward path, my head full of the green symbiotic nature of the magnificent and huge rainforest trees.

The next day we took a minivan (collective taxi) to Phang Nga. Bus station. A very experienced and seasoned traveler gave us a tip for Angkor Wat. We found our first (shared) tuktuk to the Phang Nga Origin hotel, which turned out to be delightful. A very tasteful establishment, not apparent from the outside, a room with a balcony and a view of luxuriant foliage (coconut trees and palm fronds), as well as the hills behind. The hotel staff were very helpful, even if their hand drawn map didn’t correspond to Roland’s idea of heuristic map design, which meant we had to walk much farther than we thought to find a place to eat in the evening, compensated by a delicious chicken coconut soup. The town is not touristy, full of little workshops, banks, schools and people working and talking.

Actually we were probably the only mad people walking in the streets in the whole town.

After hiring a Honda 125 cc motorbike from the hotel, and a Thai breakfast of sweet flavoursome rice wrapped into triangles and oblongs in banana leaves, we drove off to the Dragon Cave Temple Praya Nakarach) about 20km away . After a short drive, we realised the petrol tank was empty, contrary to what we had been told, so needed to turn round to find a petrol station. After filling up we were unlucky enough to get stopped by a police control, which involved a 12 euros fine for not having an international driver’s licence. Luckily for us we just had read up that this could happen and the policeman was actually quite nice. We now have a safe pass for 7 days and a piece of paper to prove it.

The drive to the temple proved to be challenging, not only because a part was on a motorway, but also the end of the road was a dirt track of dirt tracks, which eventually turned into a wiggly and bumpy walking path and I had to get off and walk. Roland pushed the bike. It was very beautiful and peaceful, surrounded by palm tree plantations, even if we began to wonder at one point if the track was really going to lead to the temple, as Google Maps indicated. Luckily for us, it did and was well worth the visit. The temple is up 200 steps, hanging between earth and sky off a huge vertical rock cliff, where a series of caves are carved, with the most astonishing massive stalactite limestone rock formations like a huge mouth with teeth, inhabited by monks praying and monkeys playing on the balustrades. 

On our return journey, on the opposite side of the valley, the supposedly winding mountain road, seemed like a cinch, compared to the outbound  one off the beaten track. We stopped by the painted rock caves for a late lunch in a shack. Aside the rock paintings, we came upon a group of monkeys having a bath in a pond, playing and laughing like children.