Rerekuka's Travel Journal: January 2007

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

To the bat cave, Robin! (1/2007, Khao Yai National Park, near Pak Chang, Thailand)

Around Pak Chang, we took a couple of day tours into Khao Yai National Park, then to a Buddhist meditation cave and a bat cave. The whole area reminded me a bit of home in autumn, with golden dry-grass hills and green deciduous trees. The days were hot and the sky clear blue.
As much as we prefer hiking on our own, it was a good thing we took the park tour (~7 people), as the trails were sometimes amorphous and not always well marked, and there were lotsa wild animals to find and find us. One such animal was a wild dog, who came careening down the hillside about twenty feet from me and another hiker, stopped and barked at us, then went tearing down the hill past the rest of the group. We also spotted gibbons, deer, and exotic birds such as the Great Hornbill (the fellow below), who is on the endangered species list.

We hunted for but did not find a king cobra (much to the relief of one of the tourists). Although it wasn't leech season, the tour guide gave us leech socks ~ canvas-type socks that tie just under the knee. I was happy to have this on as I stepped into a "dry" creek bed and my left foot, ankle, and half of my shin sunk into the muck, and stuck there as I tried to pull myself out. There was a tree root or something just over my foot and I couldn't pull out without leaving my shoe. So I finally did that, and thinking "Í don't believe in spooks, I don't believe in spooks" and chanting "there are no leeches, there are no leeches," I stuck my hand up to my forearm into the feral goo and finally drew out my shoe with a big sucking sound. No leeches to be found, but Eric did pull a tick out of his ear and something tick/flea-ish out of mine later on.

At the end of the hike, we were rewarded with a stop at a rushing waterfall (famous for its part in the movie The Beach). As we clambered along the top, I thought of the top of Vernal Falls in Yosemite. In Thailand, though, there are few guard rails and warning signs. You can get as close to/over the edge of any precipice you want.

The next day, we toured a Buddhist-Hindu meditation cave, exploring shrines, stalactites, and stalagmites, and finding bats, huge spiders, and a green viper snake.

The stalagmite below was a fortuitous find for Shiva lingam (phallus) worshippers.

That night, we went to a field to watch the entrance to a bat cave high on a hill; at sundown a bizillion bats came pouring out, like, well, bats out of hell, soaring and spiraling together in a long ribbon toward din din at the national park.

Bobo, Eric's Loverly (and I do mean loverly) Friend

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Hey Hey We're the Monkeys (1/15/2007 Lopburi)

Lopburi is famous for three things ~ it was once the capital of Thailand, it has some ruins to that effect, and its citizens share their turf with a tribe of monkeys.

As the story goes, once upon a time, a faction from a large family of monkeys inhabiting a nearby country temple decided to head for the city, found Lopburi, and begat and begat and begat. They hang out and down from telephone wires and street signage, stroll the sidewalks, make off with tourists' cameras and bags, and inhabit some of the ruins.

They were particularly prolific at one ruin site and on the shop-lined street in front of it. In one coffee shop, an air rifle sat on a counter and another on a Nestle's ice cream freezer on either side of the front door; the same shop owner went out front to hand out pineapple cores and attracted even more monkeys and their antics. In the ruins, the monkeys made their rounds, slept, played, and cleaned themselves and eac

h other, with little monkey dramas going on here and there. They approached us as tentatively as we approached them. As I was setting up a photograph, one little guy made his way to me on a brick ledge and swiped at my neck. I jumped and scared him as much as he had startled me. They were all so cute and fascinating; I could have spent all afternoon hanging out with them. But as the sign says: No touch monkey!

In the historical museum, I saw a Buddha statue I might have seen from up front but hadn't seen from behind: Buddha seated on the curled tail of a naga (protective snake) , with the snake's body climbing up Buddha's spine and its hooded head hanging protectively over Buddha's. I wondered if there was a connection between Kundalini imagery and Buddhism, and a quick Google search found this:

"Psychologically, Naga energy can be associated with libido, Kundalini or life force. The whole process of enlightenment is determined by how wisely one handles his or her own Naga energy. The practice of Tantric Kriya Yoga is devoted to the safe awakening and use of Kundalini for higher consciousness. In Tantric Buddhism quite beyond any folkloristic beliefs, there are privileged esoteric levels for the advanced Tantrician. It is stated that the historical Buddha Shakyamuni took rebirth in the Naga realm just before his last incarnation on earth, and while sitting under the Bodhi Tree in India was magically protected by a Naga." (http://www.jeweledlotus.com/tantra_nagaraj.htm)

Leaving Lopburi, Eric and I took a seat on the outbound third-class train, the same as we had ridden in, with big open windows that let in the fresh countryside. As we waited to depart, a team of a few Thai folks relayed between the station and train with around 20 plastic bags filled with fresh-cut meat and chicken, which were set on the floor and steps just inside the train door. En route, the owner of the meat struck up a conversation with me, with the ritual "Where you from?" We chatted for a while, going back over what we said and gesturing a lot, from which I gathered that he owned a store where he sold the meat. I asked him if he did this every day (taking the train 30 minutes into Lopburi, picking up meat, hauling it back to his town) and he got this far-away look in his eyes and said, "yes, every day, for a long, long time." When we pulled up at his town for the one-minute stop, he scrambled, pulling bags of meat and chickens out of the train and handing them to the other small team who had met the train.

We just got to Ayutthaya from Khao Yai National Park; will report more when there's time. There's also a bunch more pics to post ~ these machines are sloooow!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

1/11/2007 Ranong, Thailand and Kawthuang, Myanmar

Wistfully, we left our happy little enclave on Koh Lanta, heading north by ferry through Phuket, by bus to Champhon, and on to the border town of Ranong, on the Thailand side of the Myanmar/Burma border. In Ranong, we found Pon's Place, a homespun hub of travel activity including a restaurant, travel agency, bike and motorcycle rentals, taxi service, and visa assistance. We were there for the food and a visa run.

After brekkies, we showed up at Pon's and waited an hour past our appointed time for the boat to come in, then left for the dock in a minivan with Pon and a young German family. At the busy dock, we boarded one of many large, motorized longtail (canoe-like) boats: Eric on the back slat, me and the German mom in front of him, and the dad and two young kids in front of us. A captain steered us from behind, with a pre-adolescent Thai boy and another mate on board helping. The crossing to the Burmese city of Kawthuang reminded me of the movie Mists of Avalon, as we glided through the airy mist that clung to the metallic water and small dark islands. I was impressed with how the crew walked barefoot along the six-inch-thick sides of the boat. At one point, the mate and the boy sat on the sides of the boat on either side of Eric, and I was happy to hear a lot of chatter and laughing. Come to find out, the mate offered to help Eric procure some treats while in Myanmar: cigarettes (to which Eric said no), whiskey (to which Eric said no), and finally "boom-boom" (a prostitute, to which Eric said no, and has lived happily to tell about it).

The crossing, including a couple mid-channel stops at customs and immigration checkpoints, took about an hour, and our paperwork went off without a hitch. We had agreed with Pon and the family that we would take just a few minutes to check out the border town before coming back. We wanted to visit one big temple we had spied on the way in. Upon approaching it, though, it turned out to be Moby Dick Restaurant. That plus a swarm of hawkers hanging on to us from the border gate on was enough like India that we were happy to just call it a tour and return to Thailand.