I can't decide whether or not the stomach issues were a curse or blessing. On one hand, we were bound to get sick at some point early in the trip. You don't eat that much MSG and spicy seasonings without feeling a little ill. And we won't be wasting a day that could otherwise be spent adventuring, since we are traveling today. On the other hand, feeling ill and traveling around rural Thailand on a bus for the first time is enough to make me slightly less than happy without adding sickness on top of that.
So for better or worse we packed our things, said goodbye to Sue and Jon, and jumped on a bus headed for Khao Sok National park.
Our travel itinerary for the day involved cab to bus station, bus ride to the entrance to Khao Sok, and a ride in the back of a truck to our guest house. The bus was one of those tall buses that tourists ride around on in the states. It also reminded me of the buses Monica and I spent a lot of time on in Ireland. Two seats on either side of the aisle, aircon that either didn't work or made you feel like you were sitting in your own personal Antarctica, baggage stored underneath the passenger area, and the ugliest damn upholstery I've ever seen. I wonder how they pick out the upholstery and for what purpose? To hide the grime of the hordes of travelers sitting on them I guess.
The bus ride was mostly uneventful. I honestly don't think I was conscious for most of the ride. But in between awkward bouts of naps and games of scrabble on Manda's kindle I noticed we drove past a lot of beautiful scenery. Once we got off Phuket island we drove through mostly rural Thai countryside. Occasionally stopping to pick up a person on the side of the rode. How the driver knew to pick them up, I'm not sure. There certainly weren't marked bus stops.
As we got closer to Khao Sok the emptier the countryside seemed to become, the steeper the roads, and the crazier the bus driving became. We whipped around corners of cliff roads at speeds I wouldn't have dared in a car. I first I thought that my sickness induced haze was coloring my judgment but Manda was clutching the side of her seat with white knuckles, so I don't think I was too off base.
We arrived in Khao Sok after 6 hours of travel. The main road, a snake-like two-lane road was intersected by a single lane paved road. There was a small sign declaring the entrance to the National Park to be several kilometers down road. The bus stopped, dropped us and our baggage, and sped away. Waiting at the beginning of this road were a congregation of guest house owners with pictures of their digs. As soon as we stepped off the bus they were in our faces. "You have place to stay?" "My place is best!" "Air-conditioning!!!" Being sick and hazy, I sort of just stared into the distance. Monica glared at anyone who got too close. Manda ignored all but the guy in the pink hat holding the sign for the "Jungle Huts". Apparently she had called earlier in the day and was told to look for him. Clever girl.
We jumped into the back of a pickup truck, whose bed had padded benches in the back, for a ride down the road to our first guest house. The road approaching the Khao Sok entrance was full of guest houses (all had a jungle theme of some sort), tour companies (all seemed to offer similar tour packages), restaurants and mini marts. It should have felt touristy, but it had a sort of sleepy, rural ambiance. Or maybe I was still out of it.
The Jungle Huts was a compound off the main road a few hundred yards down a dirt road. They were centered around a raised main lounge area, which held the restaurant. From the main lounge a walkway lead to a series of hexagonal huts, which were raised off the ground on a series of wooden poles. A variety of local plants grew up along the walkway. The whole compound was surrounded by trees and beyond the limestone cliffs Khao Sok seem to stretch on in every direction. It gave the whole place a really wonderfully secluded feel.
The huts were very simple, a single room with attached bathroom. Ours had a single and double bed right in the middle of the room. Mosquito nets hung above, tied off for the day. The bathroom was odd, the shower was a spray nozzle, that could be detached from the wall and held. There was no separate shower stall, the floor was slightly tilted towards a drain. So when you showered you had to be careful not to spray the whole bathroom and get the toilet paper wet. A lesson I learned the hard way.
Once we were somewhat settled and showered we trouped over to the restaurant. We were greeted by our host, a very nice woman who told us to called her "Spider Lady". Since Monica and I were still feeling somewhat under the weather (although much better than we did in the morning) we decided not to hike right away. The guest house offered a selection of tour and hiking packages. We decided to try our hand at hiking without a guide but we did book a river tubing adventure for the next afternoon.
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| View of Khao Sok from the bus |
The bus ride was mostly uneventful. I honestly don't think I was conscious for most of the ride. But in between awkward bouts of naps and games of scrabble on Manda's kindle I noticed we drove past a lot of beautiful scenery. Once we got off Phuket island we drove through mostly rural Thai countryside. Occasionally stopping to pick up a person on the side of the rode. How the driver knew to pick them up, I'm not sure. There certainly weren't marked bus stops.
As we got closer to Khao Sok the emptier the countryside seemed to become, the steeper the roads, and the crazier the bus driving became. We whipped around corners of cliff roads at speeds I wouldn't have dared in a car. I first I thought that my sickness induced haze was coloring my judgment but Manda was clutching the side of her seat with white knuckles, so I don't think I was too off base.
We arrived in Khao Sok after 6 hours of travel. The main road, a snake-like two-lane road was intersected by a single lane paved road. There was a small sign declaring the entrance to the National Park to be several kilometers down road. The bus stopped, dropped us and our baggage, and sped away. Waiting at the beginning of this road were a congregation of guest house owners with pictures of their digs. As soon as we stepped off the bus they were in our faces. "You have place to stay?" "My place is best!" "Air-conditioning!!!" Being sick and hazy, I sort of just stared into the distance. Monica glared at anyone who got too close. Manda ignored all but the guy in the pink hat holding the sign for the "Jungle Huts". Apparently she had called earlier in the day and was told to look for him. Clever girl.
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| The Jungle Huts, view from out hut |
The Jungle Huts was a compound off the main road a few hundred yards down a dirt road. They were centered around a raised main lounge area, which held the restaurant. From the main lounge a walkway lead to a series of hexagonal huts, which were raised off the ground on a series of wooden poles. A variety of local plants grew up along the walkway. The whole compound was surrounded by trees and beyond the limestone cliffs Khao Sok seem to stretch on in every direction. It gave the whole place a really wonderfully secluded feel.
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| Monica is checking out the digs |
Once we were somewhat settled and showered we trouped over to the restaurant. We were greeted by our host, a very nice woman who told us to called her "Spider Lady". Since Monica and I were still feeling somewhat under the weather (although much better than we did in the morning) we decided not to hike right away. The guest house offered a selection of tour and hiking packages. We decided to try our hand at hiking without a guide but we did book a river tubing adventure for the next afternoon.
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