Thailand: Day 5

1/26/12, Khao Sam Roi Yot

The air is still. The space is vast, larger than life. Jagged karst limestone walls surround me stretching, reaching up towards a distant azure sky. A garden of full grown trees and shrubs populate the sink hole's floor, amazing generations of wanderers and adventurers who scale the mountain trail to find them. The caverns of Phrayanakhon Cave mesmerize me in their profound and simple beauty. This place is a world unto its own.

*****

On January 24th, I left Bangkok by train, headed south for Yala. Car 5 was taken over by the Wildlands Studies group and I was able to find a window seat near a functional ceiling fan. Despite the luxury, I opted for a wide open window.

The train ride was about 7 or 8 hours- a nonexpress route. We passed by towns and small villages, but nothing that could compare in size or scope to Bangkok. At every stop, a parade of food vendors would march up and down the aisle with their baskets of snacks or buckets of ice cold drinks. Sitting next to the window, I was buffered from the invasion of aromas and tantalizing goodies. By the time we arrived at our destination, everyone had embarked on a surprisingly tasteful adventure with train food.

From the train station, it was another 45 minutes to Khao Sam Roi Yot by truck. We loaded our packs onto one pick-up and 18 of us hopped into the backs of two others. I stood towards the front, leaning forward into the wind as we drove out into the wilderness. As we approached the national park, lights from fish farms dotted the landscape. Looking upwards, the silhouettes of mountains distinguished themselves faintly against the night sky. Coupled with traveling by train and standing in the back of a pick-up, it was an incredible travel day.

The following morning, I woke up to run for the sun. I headed due east from the camp bungalows following a dirt road toward the ocean. I heard it before I saw it. The heartbeat of the sea, the calm pulse, the soothing sound of sand and ocean saying their hellos and goodbyes. I jogged up through a small mangrove brush and planted my feet in the sand. I said my good morning to the Gulf of Thailand.

We spent a couple days at Khao Sam Roi Yot. We climbed the mountains and visited a shrimp farm that I had seen from the pick-up on our way into the park. We also visited the largest fresh water marsh in these areas and trekked up to an isolated cave tucked away at the top of a mountain. Every moment was spent learning, exploring, and experiencing life to its fullest. And before I knew it, we were packing, headed for Kari Buri by bus with eyes set on Surin in the Andaman Sea.