Welcome To The Jungle...

Almost forever ago I was still in Thailand with little Laura and just before she left we spent a few days exploring the real Thailand - the jungle! Early morning we left sleazy Phuket for the wilderness of Khao Sok armed with copious amounts of deet, snacks galore and prayers that the rain would hold off for a couple of days. On the way to Khao Sok our little minibus made several very snappy un-thai like stops, first for breakfast and before our stomach's had chance to settle we were whisked away to the Tsunami Memorial. The memorial consisted of a police boat that had been washed 2km inland, I was expecting a tiny row boat or similar but instead it was a gigantic metal ship. Next to this was a booth plastered with the most graphic images, the type that would be censored everywhere in England.

From here we were taken to a breathtaking viewpoint and on to a monkey temple. Whilst I've been to a monkey temple before the monkeys were not as funny or as feisty as the ones here. Laura, the risk-taker she is, bought a bag of peanuts. Chaos ensued! One of the monkeys pounced and Laura was jumping around as if she was on a pogo stick, the poor monkey clinging to her neck. This was all captured on film by a lovely old English guy, unfortunately he doesn't have facebook so you can't enjoy the moment.

That was the last of the mini stops and it was time for dinner, a feast of most of our favourite things! Massaman curry, friend chilli chicken, spring rolls and soup! After this we got chance to view some on site animals, a croc, a monkey, a tortoise and best of all Buddy, the cheeky gibbon! We first spotted him being sick on his swing, an interesting sight and an obvious indicator that he wouldn't be eating the pineapple we had to offer him. He did however want anything that was not tied down - sunglasses, camera cases and a poor lady's head scarf!

In the afternoon we were taken on a lazy canoe tour and had snakes, lizards and creepy crawlies pointed out as well as a personal encounter with a fat frog! Our guide also gave us a bit of a Tarzan show, swinging from ropes and jumping into the river, he was, i think, a little disappointed that we had both forgotten our bikinis! As the river tour ended it was almost time for the day trippers to leave, but not before taking a few trips down the zip-wire (playing flying foxes apparently!)

It turned out that we were the only people staying overnight which at first sounded a little scary but turned out to be a blessing! We were treated like kings, given time to have a necessary nap and then being treated to a herbal sauna - a homemade affair which we thought was broken for quite some time! After around 10 minutes of sitting, not wanting to offend our hosts, it kicked in! The air was thick with a medicinal steam that felt like it was doing wonders for the skin.

Tea time was another feast with enough food to feed 10 people! But good sustenance for our night time trek, a walk for the jungle on the search for jungle cats, monkeys and other such things. Unfortunately this is when the rain kicked in, the animals went running and we were left with mutant sized insects - spiders, grasshoppers, fire flies. The guides showed us an ingenious use for banana leaves, they made the most effective umbrellas! Finally when it was time to return only one of the group fell on the floor - the guide! We consoled him by letting him win at thai poker (10 blooming rounds!)

The second and final day involved a 4km trek through the jungle, hindered slightly by the rain and the scary sight of an incredibly large tree that had fallen down the mud banks between the start and return of our walk. We were then taken on a return trip to the monkey temple which was holding a special weekend market, we were to help with the daily shop! This was Laura's first experience with a thai food market and she was enthralled. Live snails, a whole pig chopped into tiny parts, chicken feet and all the unimaginable parts of animals, it was particularly funny when a butcher offered her the pig's tongue! ThankGod none of these bits appeared in our dinner. After food we boarded the mini bus (ignoring a bit of kerfuffle from some rather rude Russians) and set off for our final few days in Bangkok and our final few days together.

Only two(ish) weeks behind now : P
xxx