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Sunday, August 26, 2007

 

Making peace with Thale Ban

For our third long weekend out of the last four, we loaded the motorbike and headed to Thale Ban National Park. Yes, this is pronounced like the terrorist trained posse from the Mid-East. No, we did not need to create an improvised explosive device to enter the park gates.

This park sits on the southwest portion of Thailand bordering Malaysia and hosts wet ecosystems ranging from tropical rainforest to mangroves. The park headquarters and bungalows we stayed in are located next to a small lake tucked between steep forested hillsides. This valley is a huge migratory path for birds and one can see many different species throughout the year, including multiple types of hornbills.

The hornbills are most prevalent after their nesting periods (springtime) and we never saw one of these bulky-billed beauties. But we were treated to many types of swallows and swifts darting around the swamp salas and boardwalks at all times of daylight. Never seen but always heard were the rare barking tree frogs.

One morning we headed to the Wangpra Meadows for wildlife and bird viewing. The directions on all park & internet resources were correct but they neglected to mention that the final 10 km after the last left turn was a bumpy dirt trail well suited for a motor cross race. We took our time scooting in while enjoying the calls from two different families of gibbon monkeys. Play the video below to hear the sounds of these majestic mammal callings.



While the meadows were a little too wet to trek great distances, we were lucky to see a couple falconettes, banded woodpeckers, leaf birds, and crested bulbuls. That afternoon we took a nap after lunch hoping the rain would stop. Hours later and no sign of the precipitation relenting, we threw on the ponchos and headed out into leach territory.

Park headquarters has a group of nature trails that places one immediately into the lush diversity of this jungle. While the trails are longer than we might have expected, we never completed either of the two loops. Throughout the weekend, we started out on three of the four different legs and each time were forced to do some difficult trail finding before wisely returning. We learned later that the park strongly recommends a guide and this time of year there are no guides. Thinking of myself as an experienced mountain traveler, I continue to be humbled by the difficulty of navigating dense jungle climes.

On our bigger nature trail walk while hearing another family of gibbons, Em spotted a flying lizard. I only saw it resting on the tree, but she saw it fly (twice). Right after this, we heard some rustling in the upper canopy and looked up to see a gibbon swinging elegantly through the trees. Not only smooth, but this creature also traveled through branches making hardly any sound at all. He stopped a couple times to give us a good look and it was quite memorable. We see macaques (long tailed monkeys) around Thailand all the time and admire their swift mobility. But after seeing the gibbon in action, we have a whole new appreciation for acrobatic agility.

Click here to see more photos of our Thale Ban trip.

The Friday night before we left for Thale Ban, we had a dinner party at a nearby favorite restaurant for Em's birthday. We frequent this place regularly because of the ambiance on the outdoor deck. Sure enough, it rained this particular evening so we sat inside where I sadly realized there was a karaoke machine in action. True to eastern entertainment, this karaoke machine was the hit of the evening as the ladies couldn't put the mic down. Pitt dominated one microphone for a couple hours while Em, Gi, Win Win (Gi's 5 year old daughter), Toi, and May sang a few back-up rolls.

Teaching is going well and I continue to learn the importance of "mixing it up." While I am strongly encouraged to follow the school's syllabus, I really wanted to throw some environmental education into the loop. I figured since my 5th graders were working on recreation activities and a very smart group of kids, I would try to introduce the "Leave No Trace" concept. The first challenge was working on translating with Jean, my assistant. I then headed into the classroom with various pieces of garbage for the kids to guess their decomposition times. Not expecting them to really be able to have an English conversation about the topic, I think it went well and some of them learned the importance of packing it out. I think I also gained some false respect from some of the tougher boys since one of the articles was a cigarette butt.

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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

 

We ♥ Phatthalung


When we first started planning a weekend roadtrip to Thale Noi in Phatthalung province, out came the trusty Lonely Planet. I went to the "Southern Gulf" section... no Phatthalung. Must be under "Andaman Coast"... well, that can't be right - no Phatthalung there either. It seems to be the only province (that we know of) completely left out of our guidebook. Poor, neglected Phatthalung! We got a few ideas off the internet, and set off for the non-existent province. (pictures)

We opted to take the roads less traveled (and, it turns out, less signed) hugging the coast of "Thale Sap", the large complex of inland seas that get progressively less salty until you reach little, freshwater Thale Noi. We stopped for lunch on a small peninsula, and encountered a shrimp-lover's dream: prawns the size of lobsters, no joke! While we were waiting for our food, I went to grab my camera from the bike, and the waitress pointed across the road, where she was headed. She said "shrimp", and motioned for me to follow. There, in a shallow cement tank, were the most enormous shrimp I'd ever seen. She fished one out, and we walked back. I returned to the table babbling excitedly about freakishly large shrimp, and I think Trevor didn't really believe me until our Tom Yum soup came with a 16-ouncer in it. [I think they were giant freshwater prawns - Macrobrachium rosenbergii. Common length: 20cm/7.8in. Maximum length: 34 cm/13.4in. Weight: 0.32kg/0.7lbs - 0.40kg/0.9lbs. Big shrimp.]

Closer to Thale Noi, we pulled off to investigate the "Phatthalung Botanical Garden" which turned out to be a kilometer-long boardwalk through some interesting swampy forest. By then we were both getting stiff and sore from the bike, so it was a nice break to stretch our legs and check out the birds and trees.

The park bungalows were unfortunately full, but Pitt had booked us a room at a nice guesthouse along the main strip of shoreline, and we got settled and took a stroll to check things out. The existing park accommodations are some fairly nice bungalows over the water. At the other end of the strip, some new bungalows under construction looked like they might be park service as well, though all the signage was in Thai. On that end, the water vegetation was fairly dense, and there was a lot more opportunity for wildlife watching directly from the pathways.

Our early-morning boat ride was really beautiful. The lotus were definitely done blooming, but pink and white lilies were still in fine form, and Thale Noi's bird life is always amazing. We saw purple swamphens, egrets, little grebes, brahminy kites, white-throated kingfishers, and little cormorants in abundance. Bronze-winged jacanas, common moorhens, purple herons, yellow bitterns, little herons, blue-tailed bee-eaters, greater coucals, and lesser whistling ducks put in frequent appearances. It was also interesting to watch the fishermen at work, plying the lake with traps and nets on a fairly small scale. We did a complete loop of the lake, including a quick trip under the bridge and into the next lake (Thale Luang).

In the afternoon we set off in search of Khao Ok Thalu (A mountain/karst with a hole in it - though I'm not sure that the Thai name has anything to do with a hole). Our first turn off the main road became a circumnavigation of the karsts, which wasn't what we had in mind, but turned out to be really beautiful. We stopped at a little temple with some nice statues and a stupa set into the cliffside. We'd almost given up on finding a trail up the mountain, when one last side-road attempt put us in exactly the right place. We started up some stairs....1,050 of them that went all the way up to the hole, which offers an interesting perspective on the town below.

At the top there was a gathering of monks and other folks, and we had our first encounter with the extremely friendly Phatthalung People's Association - a kind of social/service club with members who came from Phatthalung and currently live there or in Bangkok. Many of them had done some kind of run/race from Thale Noi early that morning - 20k - then walked up all those stairs to finish it off. They were having a cleanup party, and had invited monks from all over (even one from Malaysia). When we got to the bottom, more folks from the PPA offered us food from the chow tent. We tried valiantly to turn it down (already ate... very full... couldn't possibly...) but accepted some water. Which led to fruit. Which led to noodles. I felt like I'd been to Granny's house, in a good, very full way.

Monday we started the drive home, heading over the bridge (which we'd been under on the boat ride) and down the coast. We made a loop around a cape, and stopped at a wildlife preserve. There wasn't much to see, but a nice covered pavilion on the water overlooking the mangroves made a pleasant break. And of course we stopped on Koh Yo (Yo Island) for late lunch at our favorite seafood place. Yummy!

Total mileage: 430k.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

 

Railay, Krabi

Thailand's coastline is famous for those crazy, dramatic limestone cliffs and islands that shoot hundreds of meters straight up out of the sea, and look like they should topple over any moment. Nowhere are these features more photographed - and hyped - than in Krabi. A four day weekend (hooray again for bountiful Thai holidays) gave us just enough time to see what the fuss was all about. (pictures and map)

We arrived on Railay Beach Saturday afternoon, and spent some mellow time just enjoying being out of the city. Our place at the Railay Beach Club (thanks so much for the recommendation, Bodhi!) was pretty amazing, and we had some good chill time on the deck enjoying the natural setting. On Sunday we had a beautiful few hours of paddling, poking around the karsts (the name for those limestone protrusions) and sea caves.

Monday was reef day: ancient reefs in the morning, and new reefs in the afternoon. Those improbable karst formations are actually the remnants of an ancient barrier reef that was 5,000 km long. When the Indian subcontinent collided with Asia 30 million years ago, the same forces that created the Himalayan Mountain range uplifted the reef, the end result of which can be seen throughout Southeast Asia. Water erosion carved the stone into the existing karst formations. (Geology-in-a-nutshell courtesy of Thom Henly's great book Reefs to Rainforests, Mangroves to Mountains.)

Monday morning we explored the two well-known caves in the area. The Princess Cave (Tham Phra Nang) is really more of a huge hollow in the cliff with a shrine at the deepest point, which is right on the beach under a massive overhang. The walk there along the base of the cliffs offers plenty of opportunity to poke around in small cave openings. The Diamond Cave (Tham Phra Nang Nai) is more impressive from a cave formation standpoint, and with lights and a pathway, was really easy to get around. While you're walking around wondering at the fantastic things water can do with limestone over time, it's hard to imagine that even further back this was living reef at the bottom of a shallow sea.

To do the "new reef" part of the day, we unfortunately had to take a boat trip out to some outlying islands. Apparently there used to be reef just offshore, but it's been almost entirely destroyed by dynamite. We snorkeled at three different islands, and were impressed to see a lot of neat things we haven't run into anywhere else. The soft coral was very cool, with lots of long coral whips, barrel sponges, and some lovely little sea fans. We saw a barracuda and a harlequin sweetlips, and we got to snorkel through a cave.

Tuesday morning we decided to brave the hike to "the lagoon" (AKA the princess pool). We were warned that the hike was pretty gnarly... and this proved correct. Muddy trail, muddy rope, rock scrambles with rope assist... It was also an amazingly beautiful hike, ending at a lagoon completely surrounded by towering limestone cliffs. Well worth the effort.

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