Khao Yai National Park

After arriving back in Thailand Fai had surprised me by booking a couple of nights in a luxury cottage near the Khao Yai National Park, she had mentioned about going but I didn't know she had booked it so I was happy. Her friends family own 'Khao Yai Cottage' so we got a slightly cheaper rate. Khao Yai is around 3 hours drive from Ayutthaya so not far at all, I was impressed with the very big room in a delightful garden setting.

We had arrived in the late afternoon so set off off right away on the very short drive to the National Park. Now as any of you who have been to Thailand know there are two tiers of pricing when it comes to any type of entrance fee, one for Thais and one for Farang (foreigners) and Khao Yai National Parks had to be the most brazen attempt I had ever seen. The price for Thai's was 40 baht (80p) and the price for farang cost a 1000%, yes, that's one thousand percent more at 400 baht (£8). Now I don't normally mind this, after all westerners do have more money than (most) Thais but this was the biggest difference I had come across before. In any case we were warned of this before by the lady at reception and she told me if I produced something to say I was either a student or working here I might be able to blag it, I ended up print screening a confirmation email from my TEFL course (which he couldn't read) to say I would be studying here and showed him a student rail card from Bangkok, (which was Fai's) and it worked so I was very chuffed, this was especially good because we would be needing to pay the entrance fee twice as we were visiting over two days.

Khao Yai National park is huge, so there is significant driving around to get to the various places. Within 10 minutes of driving we encountered monkeys on the road which was pretty cool, they were different to the monkeys I had seen elsewhere in Thailand, a different species but I'm not sure of the name. Our first stop was at a great view point where we again encountered many monkeys roaming. We then just went for a drive in a random direction where we arrived at 'Pa Deo-Die Cliffs' which was breathtaking! After taking this in, we headed up a little further to the end of the way, there was military guarding a gate which led I believe to some sort of Air Force base, what we did find though was a small place selling beer, we were sure this was for the benefit of the soldiers as alcohol is not sold anywhere else in the park. we took two cans of Leo and took a seat but it was absolutely freezing, there was also a breeze coming through which amplified the cold. The only times I had ever been cold in Thailand was when riding a motorbike in the cool season, so this was a first for me to be cold just sat there. It was kind of nice as it gave me a Christmassy feeling.

After our cold beverage stop it was starting to get dark, so we headed off (albeit the wrong way) to find the place that offer a night safari tour, after we realised the direction we finally found it and managed to get there just in time to share one of the pick ups with a small group of Thai's, the cost for the whole car was 500 baht and Fai and I offered them 100 each and off we went. What I was really hoping to see was some Elephants, all the Elephants I have seen have been in captivity so it would have been amazing to see them in the wild but unfortunately there wernt any around, we did see a number of deer though which was great. When the truck returned to the base the other Thai people said a phrase which is heavily embedded into Thai culture and that is 'mai pen lai' (basically translates to never mind) about paying them for our share of the safari so this was another result. We were feeling pretty hungry now so headed to a restaurant before heading back to the cottage.

The following morning/early afternoon we set off again to the National Park, I once again got the local price to enter so of course was happy about that. We didn't have a real plan of where to go so picked one of the waterfalls "Haew Suwat" and set off for that. I normally like to swim if I ever visit a waterfall but there were signs strictly forbidding it. The weather was pretty chilly too and the water was absolutely freezing so I wasn't so inclined this time. After the waterfall we drove around for a bit in search of some cool wildlife where we came across the campsite areas. Now when I come back to Khao Yai National I will for sure be camping, in the campsite there are again monkeys roaming and deer grazing right next to tents, at night who knows what else may wonder by. It would be better with a big group to do the camping, so when I return (not sure when but I will) my plan is to round some people up and do it. It was damn cheap too at just 30 baht (60p) and the tents are already pitched for you.

It was fairly late in the afternoon when we came across a nature trail, the information sign at the start stated it would take around 45 minutes and we had just under an hour we thought before the sun would be gone, we decided to do it anyway only thinking  after that with the dark brings all sorts of animals, namely snakes, king cobras in fact, that we for sure did not want to be coming across. About 10 minutes in we decided to turn back, it was a shame that we didn't get there earlier as there had clearly been elephants close by due to droppings on the path and that many trees and bushes had been cleared which was unmistakeably the work of elephants. Once darkness had set we headed off in search of a good steak restaurant, we picked one at random and I ordered the Australian Filet Mignon which was the most expensive meal I had ever ordered in Thailand at 650 baht (£13) when it came out it was tiny but still absolutely delicious. Fai and I then grabbed a bottle of Hong Thong and headed back to guesthouse where I played some guitar in the garden with the company of not only Fai but two adorable dogs which belonged to the cottage.

We checked out the following morning and had planned on visiting one of the many adventure activity centres that are in abundance in Khao Yai, a lot of the resorts in Khao Yai offer many activities on site ranging from ATV to zorbs. We checked online for one which wasnt too expensive and decided on the Fountain Tree Resort. We spent a good hour or two here and ended up doing: ATV'ing, go karts, archery, paintball (not a team game just shooting at a target) and zorbing. the price ranged from 100 baht (£2) to 250 baht (£5) per person per activity. The most expensive was the zorb and Fai went first (I was feeling a little hungover to attempt it) it was funny to watch that was for sure. What was also good is that the guy didn't take her ticket from her so I did it in the end as we essentially had a free ticket. It wasn't a huge hill like some of them can be but it was still definitely fun, I had never done it before. After trying everything we wanted to do we then headed back to Ayutthaya, where I planned to just chill until Christmas.

My Journey Back To Thailand

After an emotional goodbye on Koh Rong I was now due to start my journey back to Thailand as I wanted to spend Christmas and New Year with Fai. My initial plan was to take the boat to Sihanoukville and jump on the first available bus to Phnom Pehn, stay one night then head to the Poipet border the following morning. I hadn't really thought through it that much and realised that if I was to take a bus to Phnom Pehn it would arrive near midnight which wasn't feasible or desirable. I changed my tentative plan and stayed one night at the Monkey Republic in Sihanoukville with two Swedish guys (Richard and William) I had met at the Elephant and who I took the boat back with. We shared a triple room which was fairly pricey at $24 but it was a delightful luxury from the previous three weeks, and the bed wasn't covered in sand; result!

I was feeling absolutely shattered as it was a pretty heavy last night on Koh Rong and all I felt like doing was sleeping, I played a few games of pool with a random German guy, had a couple of beers then went for a power nap until around 8.30PM when we headed off out. Our first stop was 'The Big Easy' next door, we met up with a lot of other people who had stayed at the Elephant too which was nice so we had a good group of us. They had an open mic night that night at the Big Easy and the resident Filipino who was playing was excellent, after a couple of Long Islands I was ready to perform and I think I surprised many people, I received a lot of praise from a lot of people after my short set. After an hour or so there we headed to Utopia which was much busier than the few weeks earlier when we went, they had a drum and bass DJ on but we only stayed for about half an hour before moving on to the Dolphin on the beach, again this was significantly busier than before, we also wondered to some of the other bars on the beach, got some free shots and played beer pong. It was actually a pretty decent night.

The following morning we checked out, Richard and William had a bus booked to Saigon, and I had a bus booked to Phnom Penh, it was a pretty easy ride and I even had the seat next to me unoccupied, I arrived in the early evening and grabbed a tuk tuk to Sunday Guesthouse where I booked a bus to Poipet for the following day. I wasn't really up for doing much whilst on my own in Phnom Penh but I did fancy an Indian curry, so I jumped in a tuk tuk to the riverside to a restaurant I already knew. I filled myself up, had a little walk along the river and jumped in a tuk tuk back to the guesthouse. Now I had stupidly forgot to grab one of the business cards for the guesthouse for the address so it took way longer to get back than it should have, I was very clear and asked him many times before we set off as to whether he knew where my guesthouse and he said "yes yes yes, I know, $3 ok" this was the same price I had paid any other driver so I thought he did know where he was going but oh no he did not. I knew basically it was in a certain general direction and he was going the opposite way, the journey depending on traffic should have been 10-15 minutes but this took closer to an hour, he stopped asking many other drivers where it was and none of them knew. I wondered if he was just scamming me to extend the journey for some more dollars but we agreed on a price and I wasn't paying more, to be honest though I don't think this was what he was doing, he just didn't have a clue. I was getting a little worried after a while as I wasn't sure if we would find it at all but I figured we would in the end, I also got to see more of Phnom Penh I hadn't seen but this reminded me even more about how serious poverty is in this country so left me feeling a bit sad. Finally we found the guesthouse, I voluntarily paid him a dollar more as it used a lot more of his gas, even though it was his fault a dollar to him is worth way more than a dollar to me.

The following morning I took to the Russian Market and Central Market as I had wanted to pick up some more shorts. I was specifically looking for the same pair of cotton Levi shorts that I had bought nearly a year before which were still going strong, I found the same stall (I cant believe I remembered the exact place) but unfortunately they no longer stocked this exact pair so I settled on a different pair of 'Levis' costing $6, I also picked up a couple of polos and a t shirt and headed back to guesthouse to catch my bus. The bus journey was again hassle free, the route was going through Battambang and I hadn't been this route before so it was good to travel on a new road, I think the journey took just under 8 hours in total which wasn't too bad. The bus was full mostly with Cambodians but there were about half a dozen foreigners who were heading to Battambang, it was here that almost everyone got off and then it was just me and 5 Cambodians left going to the border. They had a TV on the bus which for most of the journey was playing Khmer karaoke shows but for the final stint they played a movie which was in English with Khmer subtitles and vice versa in places. What I hadn't realised until the end of it was that it was actually an informative movie for Cambodians to explain the rights they have when working overseas. The movie was about a girl of 17 who faked an ID (as she had to be 21) to go and work in Malaysia as a house keeper where she was treated abysmally, she fled and ended up contacting the Embassy who safely returned her home. The agency who the girl worked for were acting illegally but the girls family had no idea their rights and what they could do, at the movie credits there was a very detailed explanation about what to know before working overseas and that you should not use false documents and if they knew anyone planning on doing this they should warn them about the possible dangers, it emphasised that they can always contact their embassy at any time if they were not safe. This was a good last impression of Cambodia, I had not expected this at all.

Upon arrival to the border I was hoping that it would be an easy cross and this it was, the easiest and quickest crossing in fact into any country I had ever done. I was the only person crossing the border as it was late and I stamped straight out of Cambodia and headed over to the Thai immigration where I was stamped straight into Thailand, the officer did make a comment that I looked nothing like my picture from when I was 16 with a big quiff (think Reece from Malcolm in the middle) my appearance to him now was of a grade 2 buzz cut and a beard, I just said sorry I cut my hair and that was sufficient. It was now just a short walk past the customs officer who was pretty much asleep in his chair then to the 7/11 where I would be greeted by Fai who came to pick me up. I was now back in Thailand, YAY!

My Family of Koh Rong

After an average time in Sihanoukville we were now bound for Koh Rong. We took the speed boat for $18 ($2 discount from $20) which was pretty reasonable as it is an open return, in February the cost of this boat was $30. The sea was very rough so the journey was interesting to say the least. At least half a dozen people got really sea sick and some even threw up, but in just under an hour we were there. Upon arrival our first mission was finding a room, I had wanted to stay at Koh Lanta the pizza place I was before but it turns out he is no longer renting rooms. We ended staying for the first night in a dorm at 'Bunnas Place' which fine for $5 but it was way too loud as Bunnas is one of the main party bars on the island. We checked in the following day at the Elephant Guesthouse I got my own room shared bathroom for $10 an incredible price for the location. It was here that I would discover my Cambodian family, and little did I know at this point how much I would really get to love this island even more than I already did.

I spent just over 3 weeks on Koh Rong, the first 6 nights I paid, but from there on I paid for nothing at Elephant. The family recognised me from the last time I was on Koh Rong and I was initially asked if I would help them come up with a cocktail menu, something every other place had but they hadn't quite grasped. To give you a little bit of background to this family, as far as I could make out, 'Mr Elephant' the main elder and a couple of the others had lived on Koh Rong for just over 20 years (originally from Phnom Penh) and foreigners have only been coming to Koh Rong just over 4 years. I imagine they used to live in a small hut, with the sea being their source of food, they now have one of the biggest guesthouses on the island and one of the busiest, so a huge transformation has taken place and running a business, especially one taking in so much money is still very much a concept they haven't mastered. Overall, in the whole family of 20 or so only around 5 could speak English and only 2 or 3 of them to a good enough degree to communicate properly, it was actually the 16 year old girl (Nat) who spoke it best so it was kind of a curse for her in a way as she was expected to do almost all of the talking to the customers. My job description was very vague and I was given almost no real instruction other than to help make a cocktail menu, help fill the rooms, help sell their boat trip and help take out the furniture at night for the BBQ. In exchange for this I would get my room free, food free, and beer, well that was free too. I think what they mainly wanted was somebody who could speak English so they could learn from me just by me being there. In fact after a few days they actually told me I had to do less and I didn't have to help them until the evening which was of course fine by me. In the evenings I would also help 'Mod' with his homework, and any of the other family who wanted to sit in on it, Mod is a kid who stuck in my mind from last time, a very happy boy who always attended school and was very clever indeed, he spoke reasonable English and I dubbed him my little Cambodian bong (brother)

So, the whole cocktail menu thing, well this was going to be difficult for them, trust me on that. All they really needed was some spirit mixer drinks as not all girls like beer (this is all they had) I told them to just make up simple things like vodka & orange, Malibu & pineapple, gin & tonic etc. He got some gin in (they already had cans of tonic) and made up a strong mix for me to try, I told him it was good, just add a slice of lime and it would be perfect. It was then that he asked me if he should add beer to it, then it really kicked in that he had absolutely no idea! I gave him a list of things to order for the basic mixer drinks but after the 3 weeks this never transpired. What I was probably best at here was selling the boat trips and I went on three altogether, the price was $10 with possibility of a discount for bigger groups, we would first go snorkeling to the small island which had outstanding aquatic life and coral, we would then go fishing and whatever was caught would be cooked on the boat and we would eat it at 'Long Beach' the final stop on the trip, it was here we would stay until the sunset and then head back, part of the trip included swimming with the plankton but I would just tell people it can be seen anywhere in the water when it is dark and that they should head to the dark part of the beach when the power shut off (Koh Rong has no mains power and the generators normally shut off around 2AM) other trips would stop on the way back from Long Beach but would be charging more and its not really worth the extra money as it can be seen anywhere. The plankton I must say is pretty surreal, I had never encountered this before Koh Rong. My favourite thing of all was going on this trip, it would always be a fantastic day.

 

Apart from helping the Elephant family out, I also on occasion would help the 'Friends of Koh Rong' a group of people dedicated to helping the local community. This included the teachers at the school and some other people interested in giving back. At the school they are currently building a wall out of the old spirit bottles to show the Cambodian people that they can recycle things rather than just throw it on the floor or into the sea, if you have ever been to Cambodia you will know exactly what I'm talking about. They have no concept nor perhaps the means of properly disposing of rubbish so it is simply dumped anywhere and everywhere. One of the days I gave a few hours of my time to help mix the cement up for the wall, it was roasting hot and I very much enjoyed my beer after that. On another day I helped round up some kids to clean the beach, this is something they do every Saturday, afterwards we all went for a swim was was incredible fun, lots of chicken fights and back-flips off of my shoulders left me exhausted but it really was a great afternoon.

Apart from working at Elephant and helping the Friends of Koh Rong I of course did a whole lot of other things with my time here. One day, Dave, Chelsea and I took Kayaks to the small island and then continued to 4K beach where we had a nice chilled day at this near deserted spot, I also got to ride a water buffalo again (I managed to do this last time too simply by asking) another day we hiked to Long Beach, I did this in flip flops (the only time in 3 weeks that I actually needed to wear anything on my feet) shoes would have been more advisable though (mine were in Thailand), the last stint of it requires an abseil down some rocks which was actually pretty dam cool. Although it only took just over 45 mins to get there I must have sweated 2 litres, the cool refreshing clear water was pure bliss on arrival. One of the night there was a full moon party at 'Police Beach' which was nothing like Koh Pangan, this was a much more chilled environment with most people sitting around watching the fire shows. Most of our evenings we would go to Bunnas Place which was good but they did play the same music every single night, although I liked it. Other nights I would just spend with the family drinking whiskey, although I didn't understand much (in fact I didn't understand really anything) it was interesting, I tried some very odd food they offered which was very nice (some of it). The rest of my time I would spend relaxing on the balcony, in a hammock. I read a book (something I hadn't done in far too long) and done a whole lot of swimming in the sea which was just steps away from my room. I also helped try to fix one of the guitars at the school but unfortunately without success, I tried to salvage some old strings but it didn't work, when I return that will be something on my list to bring as well as some more pens, paper etc for the kids. I was on one day also mistaken for being a doctor as I rushed to aid an extremely intoxicated person who was being carried by two others on the beach, this was in the middle of the day and it appeared to be a mix of alcohol, Valium and sun stroke, his friends took him to bed and kept an eye on him and he was all ok in the end. The Elephant family from there on though now had a lot of questions about their health for me assuming I could help them. I felt the worst for Srue, the boat trip driver as he complained of having constant pain in his kidneys, he needs a real doctor who knows what he is doing and not so many of these exist in Cambodia, a visit to the doctors is also expensive for them. I hope this problem is not serious as he is one of my favourites in the family.

All in all it is safe to say Koh Rong is my favourite island of all those that I have been to, its not perhaps as beautiful as some of the Thai islands but it is simply down to the locals here that made my time complete, there is no hassle from anyone here. What was strange though about Koh Rong this time was the amount of Police carrying heavy machine guns, I had not seen police here before, I was told they were looking for western staff to extract 'fines' from them but I wasn't approached once by police, turns out the Elephant family had that covered and I needn't worry. I wondered why there were so many though and why the guns and I was told by the family that they couldn't tell me but everything was ok. They told me any problem I had was a problem of theirs and I was part of their family, that made me feel very warm indeed. When I finally had to leave I ended up getting all soppy and crying as I really did feel at home here. I would like to take this time to thank all of the Elephant family for showing me such kind heart, and wish you all the very best. I will see you again, that is certain!