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