Old Tractor that made me happy
Happy jumping by the dam
The girls taking my hair out
Our transportation
The Waterfall
November 21, 2009
On Monday eight of us drove out to the first campsite in Phutoei National Park. The other four headed back to the eco-house to teach. After setting up our crappy tents, we had a wonderful dinner of fried rice and pineapple. We spent the rest of the evening playing card games and chatting. The next morning we packed up and headed out to the starting point.
The first day was not too difficult. We stopped often and had lunch on the way out of a bag. We saw a few waterfalls and even climbed up one. Our leader, Joe (as in G.I. Joe), was one of the park rangers and cleared the path for us using his machete. Egg was the other ranger with us and Paris also joined. After three hours of hiking we came to the last waterfall, Taperngkee, and stripped down to our bathing suits for a shower. After that we hiked the last ten minutes to our campsite and set up camp. I spent the rest of the day sleeping, eating and enjoying a cultural dance performed by the children of the local hill tribe.
That night there was supposed to be a meteor shower. We woke up at 4 am to see it. I saw about 5 shooting stars in a short amount of time but the others were not impressed. I guess they expected all the stars to be shooting at once. One girl even asked me if one of the stars that were already there would fall. Not the smartest group I am traveling with.
On the second day we left at 10 am to explore some caves. One of the dogs even joined us for the adventure. The first was easy to walk through and although we saw a few bats was not very exciting. We were able to explore a bit further in the second one and even climbed up on top of the ridge. A Buddha image could be found in this cave as well as the third one.
The third cave was by far the coolest. Five of us, Imogen, Scott, Nicky, Maryanne and I, accompanied by Joe made the trip. There were a few parts where we had to crawl and there was a lot of going over and under rocks. We saw a few bats and had to crawl right by one of them. We got to a dead end and Joe told us all to turn off our lights. I decided that would be a good time to let them hear my Phantom of the Opera scream. On the way back out I was leading for a little bit. We had to crawl by the bat again. I shined my flashlight on it so I knew where it was. It moved so I decided to crawl past it as quickly as I could. Soon I heard Scott yell “it’s moving…IT”S FLYING!” and soon after the bat flew out of the narrow opening right by my head. After every calmed down we preceded to the exit.
Back at the campsite we had a delicious dinner and then played some more card games. That evening most people retired to their tents but Scott and I drug our sleeping bags outside and stargazed. I only know a few constellations but we had fun chatting and making up our own.
On Thursday morning we trekked up to the top of the nearby mountain. It is around 1200 meters above sea level and took us just over an hour to reach the top. On the top of the mountain there is, of course, a Buddha image. We took some pictures, had a snack, enjoyed the view for a bit and then headed back to the campsite. After lunch the rangers convinced us to go see Dragon Cave. What they didn’t tell us was that tennis shoes and a flashlight would be necessary. I ended up climbing up and over in my broken flip-flops, getting fed up with the situation (I didn’t trust these guys in the first place) and walking back to the truck. That night we ate spaghetti and garlic bread and then played card games. Seven of us stargazed although most headed in around 8:30. Scott and I stayed out until midnight and then called it a night.
Friday morning we loaded up into the back of a pick-up truck and headed to Lumtaphern Dam. The place we stayed was nice. We had mattresses to sleep on and a shower. I took my braids out and lost about half my hair in the shower afterwards. They also stocked up on drinks and snacks for us and had a karaoke machine down by the water. We had a drink or two and stargazed that night but the bugs were bad and we were all inside by 10 pm. That’s it for now. I’ll try to post one or two more times before I leave Thailand. Miss you all!
On Monday eight of us drove out to the first campsite in Phutoei National Park. The other four headed back to the eco-house to teach. After setting up our crappy tents, we had a wonderful dinner of fried rice and pineapple. We spent the rest of the evening playing card games and chatting. The next morning we packed up and headed out to the starting point.
The first day was not too difficult. We stopped often and had lunch on the way out of a bag. We saw a few waterfalls and even climbed up one. Our leader, Joe (as in G.I. Joe), was one of the park rangers and cleared the path for us using his machete. Egg was the other ranger with us and Paris also joined. After three hours of hiking we came to the last waterfall, Taperngkee, and stripped down to our bathing suits for a shower. After that we hiked the last ten minutes to our campsite and set up camp. I spent the rest of the day sleeping, eating and enjoying a cultural dance performed by the children of the local hill tribe.
That night there was supposed to be a meteor shower. We woke up at 4 am to see it. I saw about 5 shooting stars in a short amount of time but the others were not impressed. I guess they expected all the stars to be shooting at once. One girl even asked me if one of the stars that were already there would fall. Not the smartest group I am traveling with.
On the second day we left at 10 am to explore some caves. One of the dogs even joined us for the adventure. The first was easy to walk through and although we saw a few bats was not very exciting. We were able to explore a bit further in the second one and even climbed up on top of the ridge. A Buddha image could be found in this cave as well as the third one.
The third cave was by far the coolest. Five of us, Imogen, Scott, Nicky, Maryanne and I, accompanied by Joe made the trip. There were a few parts where we had to crawl and there was a lot of going over and under rocks. We saw a few bats and had to crawl right by one of them. We got to a dead end and Joe told us all to turn off our lights. I decided that would be a good time to let them hear my Phantom of the Opera scream. On the way back out I was leading for a little bit. We had to crawl by the bat again. I shined my flashlight on it so I knew where it was. It moved so I decided to crawl past it as quickly as I could. Soon I heard Scott yell “it’s moving…IT”S FLYING!” and soon after the bat flew out of the narrow opening right by my head. After every calmed down we preceded to the exit.
Back at the campsite we had a delicious dinner and then played some more card games. That evening most people retired to their tents but Scott and I drug our sleeping bags outside and stargazed. I only know a few constellations but we had fun chatting and making up our own.
On Thursday morning we trekked up to the top of the nearby mountain. It is around 1200 meters above sea level and took us just over an hour to reach the top. On the top of the mountain there is, of course, a Buddha image. We took some pictures, had a snack, enjoyed the view for a bit and then headed back to the campsite. After lunch the rangers convinced us to go see Dragon Cave. What they didn’t tell us was that tennis shoes and a flashlight would be necessary. I ended up climbing up and over in my broken flip-flops, getting fed up with the situation (I didn’t trust these guys in the first place) and walking back to the truck. That night we ate spaghetti and garlic bread and then played card games. Seven of us stargazed although most headed in around 8:30. Scott and I stayed out until midnight and then called it a night.
Friday morning we loaded up into the back of a pick-up truck and headed to Lumtaphern Dam. The place we stayed was nice. We had mattresses to sleep on and a shower. I took my braids out and lost about half my hair in the shower afterwards. They also stocked up on drinks and snacks for us and had a karaoke machine down by the water. We had a drink or two and stargazed that night but the bugs were bad and we were all inside by 10 pm. That’s it for now. I’ll try to post one or two more times before I leave Thailand. Miss you all!
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