December 25, 2014: Merry Christmas in Kao Sok National Park
December 25, 2014: PanPen Bungalows
The tour AlteCocker took was with Paddle Asia if you want to have a look. As with all tour operators, they post all these photos of large animals that you may or may not end up seeing. You can tell where this is going. After you get there, you get told that the best time for the animals would be some other month in the so called "dry" season (Someone stated there are only two seasons in the Andaman Sea: The rainy season and the more rainy season. The tour operator told me that the best time of year would be September. You are much more likely to see monkeys (usually very high up in the trees and difficult to photograph) and some yellow hornbills (very interesting looking but, as with all birds, difficult to photograph unless you have spectacular photo equipment--which AlteCocker does not have.
On December 25th, instead of feasting on roast beef and fruitcake (AlteCocker hates fruit cake anyway), it is breakfast at Smoothie Blues and a rush to the airport to sit around as per usual for anything involving flights. In the airport, at the point of no return past security, AlteCocker realizes she has a problem: She is sick. This is not a regular cold. This is rip roaring sick and she is off to a remote area. A quick trip to the airport pharmacy is in order and she stocks up on cold medicine. What a time to get sick! She would be sick with a terrible cough the entire paddle trip. Not fun, but there was nothing to do but to continue on with it.
This is prime holiday travel time all over Asia as schools let out for the Christmas-New Year holiday. Despite the lack of Christians, the festivity of Christmas has been adopted by all, but the bigger holiday is New Year--when a lot of businesses shut for several days. The airport is mass confusion with people being given one gate on their boarding passes, going there, and seeing it obviously was not the gate. AlteCocker has experienced this sort of disorganization frequently in Thailand. It is, she has realized, the norm, not the exception, so deal with it. Asking at the gate will not give you a definitive answer either. AlteCocker got told to go back to the original gate which was wrong. You just have to keep watching the electronic boards and eventually it sorts itself out.
There are tons of Europeans here during their long school holidays. There are also relatively few Americans. Thailand is, of course, farther for Americans, than it is for Europeans--12 time zones half a world away for AlteCocker. You can't get any farther.
Arrival in Phuket is chaotic as it always is when you don't know what you are doing. Exiting the terminal, you are faced with all sorts of alternatives to get to your hotel. Paddle Asia has prebooked Panpen Bungalows for AlteCocker at 900 baht. It turns out to be very near the airport. She ends up paying 300 baht in some kind of vehicle to get there when she should have just taken a "taxi meter" for about half. There do not appear to be tuk tuks at the airport. Tuk tuks are around in the area, but what they use is different. They use Thai street food carts that have been adapted. Tuk tuks can be different all over Thailand as inventive Thais recycle to take advantage of anyway to turn an extra baht, but AlteCocker sees none in the Phuket airport. Perhaps there is some regulation giving the monopoly to high end vehicles. Dunno.
Not only does AlteCocker overpay for transportation, she gets a driver who doesn't know where the hotel is. It is the familiar routine of rolling down the window and asking a passerby. At one point the driver tried to just leave her at the obviously wrong place, but AlteCocker was not buying. The driver did not get a tip when we finally found the place. Panpen Bungalows is OK if all you want is a room for a kayak tour pick up. It is not where AlteCocker would stay again unless she rented a car. It is not on the beach and the beach is a good hike. It is also nowhere near the action in Phuket. Now, mind you, AlteCocker is not referring to sex tourism (rampant in Phuket), but the resorts and the big FantaSea show. AlteCocker did ask about the show, but it was over an hour away--making it undoable both financially and time wise.
AlteCocker did want to at least see the beach. The only way to get there was on the back of a motorscooter. Now watching AlteCocker "hop on" (or rather get hauled on) an motor scooter can be an "interesting" experience--if not hilarious. No helmets, of course. Hanging on for dear life, she finally arrived at the beach where she was dropped by Phen's Restaurant. Dinner was squid with rice and fried bananas with vanilla ice cream for dessert. She gave into the beach atmosphere and had a pinacolada. The flower that came with the drink was presented to a young Finnish girl eating with her family at an adjacent table. She promptly put it in her pony tail. There were tons of Scandinavians and Russians escaping their dark winters.
When it came time to return to the Panpen Bungalows, the driver showed up with a truck. Might have been a commentary on the fact that AlteCocker needs to go on a diet after this trip or the fact that they were not sure if she could get on the motorscooter without killing herself (or the motorscooter). Anyhow she returned and settled in for the night--a night that, due to the cold, resulted in almost no sleep.
A word on toiletries in low end hotels in SE Asia. You generally get a teeny bar of soap, a toothbrush and a teeny tube of toothpaste, but no shampoo. You need to pack enough of those little shampoo samples you collect from hotels in the US just to be safe. In Cambodia, they kept giving me new toothbrushes each day. Who can figure?
The hotel was clean, but, unless you have your own transportation, really is not a good location for a beach vacation. This part of the beach is also full of Russians. AlteCocker presumes they do not have a lot of money these days and perhaps need to stay downmarket. Has the cheering stopped for Putin in Moscow? Time will tell.
On December 25th, instead of feasting on roast beef and fruitcake (AlteCocker hates fruit cake anyway), it is breakfast at Smoothie Blues and a rush to the airport to sit around as per usual for anything involving flights. In the airport, at the point of no return past security, AlteCocker realizes she has a problem: She is sick. This is not a regular cold. This is rip roaring sick and she is off to a remote area. A quick trip to the airport pharmacy is in order and she stocks up on cold medicine. What a time to get sick! She would be sick with a terrible cough the entire paddle trip. Not fun, but there was nothing to do but to continue on with it.
This is prime holiday travel time all over Asia as schools let out for the Christmas-New Year holiday. Despite the lack of Christians, the festivity of Christmas has been adopted by all, but the bigger holiday is New Year--when a lot of businesses shut for several days. The airport is mass confusion with people being given one gate on their boarding passes, going there, and seeing it obviously was not the gate. AlteCocker has experienced this sort of disorganization frequently in Thailand. It is, she has realized, the norm, not the exception, so deal with it. Asking at the gate will not give you a definitive answer either. AlteCocker got told to go back to the original gate which was wrong. You just have to keep watching the electronic boards and eventually it sorts itself out.
There are tons of Europeans here during their long school holidays. There are also relatively few Americans. Thailand is, of course, farther for Americans, than it is for Europeans--12 time zones half a world away for AlteCocker. You can't get any farther.
Arrival in Phuket is chaotic as it always is when you don't know what you are doing. Exiting the terminal, you are faced with all sorts of alternatives to get to your hotel. Paddle Asia has prebooked Panpen Bungalows for AlteCocker at 900 baht. It turns out to be very near the airport. She ends up paying 300 baht in some kind of vehicle to get there when she should have just taken a "taxi meter" for about half. There do not appear to be tuk tuks at the airport. Tuk tuks are around in the area, but what they use is different. They use Thai street food carts that have been adapted. Tuk tuks can be different all over Thailand as inventive Thais recycle to take advantage of anyway to turn an extra baht, but AlteCocker sees none in the Phuket airport. Perhaps there is some regulation giving the monopoly to high end vehicles. Dunno.
Not only does AlteCocker overpay for transportation, she gets a driver who doesn't know where the hotel is. It is the familiar routine of rolling down the window and asking a passerby. At one point the driver tried to just leave her at the obviously wrong place, but AlteCocker was not buying. The driver did not get a tip when we finally found the place. Panpen Bungalows is OK if all you want is a room for a kayak tour pick up. It is not where AlteCocker would stay again unless she rented a car. It is not on the beach and the beach is a good hike. It is also nowhere near the action in Phuket. Now, mind you, AlteCocker is not referring to sex tourism (rampant in Phuket), but the resorts and the big FantaSea show. AlteCocker did ask about the show, but it was over an hour away--making it undoable both financially and time wise.
AlteCocker did want to at least see the beach. The only way to get there was on the back of a motorscooter. Now watching AlteCocker "hop on" (or rather get hauled on) an motor scooter can be an "interesting" experience--if not hilarious. No helmets, of course. Hanging on for dear life, she finally arrived at the beach where she was dropped by Phen's Restaurant. Dinner was squid with rice and fried bananas with vanilla ice cream for dessert. She gave into the beach atmosphere and had a pinacolada. The flower that came with the drink was presented to a young Finnish girl eating with her family at an adjacent table. She promptly put it in her pony tail. There were tons of Scandinavians and Russians escaping their dark winters.
When it came time to return to the Panpen Bungalows, the driver showed up with a truck. Might have been a commentary on the fact that AlteCocker needs to go on a diet after this trip or the fact that they were not sure if she could get on the motorscooter without killing herself (or the motorscooter). Anyhow she returned and settled in for the night--a night that, due to the cold, resulted in almost no sleep.
A word on toiletries in low end hotels in SE Asia. You generally get a teeny bar of soap, a toothbrush and a teeny tube of toothpaste, but no shampoo. You need to pack enough of those little shampoo samples you collect from hotels in the US just to be safe. In Cambodia, they kept giving me new toothbrushes each day. Who can figure?
The hotel was clean, but, unless you have your own transportation, really is not a good location for a beach vacation. This part of the beach is also full of Russians. AlteCocker presumes they do not have a lot of money these days and perhaps need to stay downmarket. Has the cheering stopped for Putin in Moscow? Time will tell.
December 26, 2014: Picking Everyone UP
The paddle trip does not really get started until the 2nd day. The first day is devoted to picking everyone up. The company belongs to Dave and Moo, an American/Thai couple. Moo, led the tour AlteCocker was on She was very patient with AlteCocker--and she needed to be. While the two other couples on the excursion were experienced paddlers, very much younger and agile as mountain goats, AlteCocker had a lot of trouble getting in and out of the kayaks. The problem is AlteCocker's back. She needs leverage to stand up and sit down. Sometimes Moo and crew made things too complicated and AlteCocker would just grab onto something and stand up. AlteCocker has to confess she did not do much paddling. There were some half hearted attempts , but she was really just getting in Moo's way and finally did not even take a paddle. The other issue was being ill. No matter how she mixed her medication--and which ones she did or did not take--that did not go away. It would not have been the time of AlteCocker's choosing to be in a remote area with a class "A" cold and bronchitis but that is what happened. She just made the best of it.
AlteCocker was the first pick up. There was then a journey that lasted much of the afternoon to get the others, a British couple and a Spanish couple. Both of these people had been to a lot of places and exchanged experienced such as a bicycle tour of Hainan Island off the coast of mainland China and places like Madagascar and Everest base camp. The Spanish couple had been to Thailand 13 times. AlteCocker was out of her league. They were also just not very nice to AlteCocker. More on that later. The agile ones generally went earlier and farther with Bao, while AlteCocker remained with Moo and Cap. Bao and Cap were the assistants. On these tours, you generally see the same animals wherever you go and all we saw were "lanka" monkeys and birds. It was admitted that the large animals were not often spotted.
At the end of the first day, we stayed at a hotel near the Rajjaprabha Dam at the entrance to the Khao Sok National Park. Dinner was at a restaurant across the dam. You have to pass through security to get there. One of the menu courses was one of those sweet and sour whole fish dishes that Asians do so well. To AlteCocker's mind, it was the best meal of the trip.
AlteCocker was the first pick up. There was then a journey that lasted much of the afternoon to get the others, a British couple and a Spanish couple. Both of these people had been to a lot of places and exchanged experienced such as a bicycle tour of Hainan Island off the coast of mainland China and places like Madagascar and Everest base camp. The Spanish couple had been to Thailand 13 times. AlteCocker was out of her league. They were also just not very nice to AlteCocker. More on that later. The agile ones generally went earlier and farther with Bao, while AlteCocker remained with Moo and Cap. Bao and Cap were the assistants. On these tours, you generally see the same animals wherever you go and all we saw were "lanka" monkeys and birds. It was admitted that the large animals were not often spotted.
At the end of the first day, we stayed at a hotel near the Rajjaprabha Dam at the entrance to the Khao Sok National Park. Dinner was at a restaurant across the dam. You have to pass through security to get there. One of the menu courses was one of those sweet and sour whole fish dishes that Asians do so well. To AlteCocker's mind, it was the best meal of the trip.
December 27, 2014: The First Day
This was the first day of the paddle experience. But first we had to get there.
Breakfast was in the town and was terrible. Moo did not appear to know where to take us. We went one place--and this was at 8:00am--to be told that they had no "rice soup". The next place said the same. We ended up with chicken and rice with huge chunks of fat. When AlteCocker put the fat chunks aside the Spanish guy said Americans were fussy eaters--this from a guy whose wife had a gluten allergy and had to cart her own bread (this was, of course, not her fault, but AlteCocker thinks a lot of people disclaiming food allergies create them for themselves to get some sort of attention; where, pray tell, were all these people until recently? They did not exist).
Anyway, after breakfact, it is back over to the dam where a "long tail boat" meets us to take us to our "bungalows" for the next 3 nights. But first, there was a stop to climb up a mountain to a viewpoint. AlteCocker is not in the business of doing tourism to kill herself. One look at what what the climb was going to be convinced her to chill out on the deck of the long tail boat while the rest of them killed themselves. They were gone a little less than 2 hours. Had AlteCocker done it, she would have taken 4 and maybe fell off the the train and killed herself on the way down. She fancied coming home on the plane in a seat rather than in a box with the luggage. She sat it out. When she saw the agile ones when they returned, she was glad she did.
Then it was on to the bungalows. Now, what the bunglows are are sleeping accomodations on rafts. From the photos here, you can see there are three types of bungalows. We were in the low end ones. There were communal facilities (meaning cold showers where the shower was a hand held device and an outhouse but with a toilet rather than a wooden seat. To "flush" the toilet you throw a pot of water down the hole--yeah, really. There is virtually no privacy. Power is provided by a generator in the evening until about 10:00pm. It may be turned off earlier if fewer people are staying at the bungalows. You do get a lantern to get around at night. One of the real hardships for AlteCocker on this tour was hauling herself up to the toilet in the dark. Because the bungalows float, the small "bridge" to the toilet was constantly being moved and footing could be trecherous. Everyone should bring a stick--even mountain goats. When it rains, and you are in a rainforest, the footing can be slippery and the steps are always too steep to avoid having to build more steps.
AlteCocker was sick--which meant she was heavily coughing phlem. Rather than leaving dirty tissues about, she expectorated a couple of times into the water. Better to have the phlegm broken down by the microbes, she thought, than to infect everyone. What happened? The Spanish man admonished her--and so did the Brits for her unsanitary habits. They had not yet bothered to notice that the shower water was going right into the water with all the soapy leftovers. AlteCocker was not satisfied that the long drop toilet was really a self contained septic system. It made an awful lot of noise when flushed. Well, she is not a septic tank expert but she dearly hopes it is secure. In the future, AlteCocker only expectorated in the water when they weren't looking. If they caught the cold, too bad for them. That put me off my feed with those folks for the rest of the trip. Thais routinely throw biodegrable waste such as banana peels into the water to be consummed while holding out other stuff for trash cans. Give AlteCocker a break or apologize later? Of course not. AlteCocker did hear the Brits tell the guide that, when they went out by themselves once in the kayaks, they went over to a neighboring island because the water was better without the shower runoff. What is standard in Western countries in National Parks is just not the same in SE Asia.
The first paddle took place after we arrived at the bungalows and settled in. She is not certain which set of bunglows we stayed at but all these accomodations are somewhat similar.
Each paddle was pretty much the same. They were done at sunrise and sunset to maximize the best chance of seeing animals. Each was projected to last 1-3 hours depending upon conditions and desire. The animals seen were gibbons, monkeys and lots of birds (but many of the same species). However, the setting was just the best. There you are miles from home in the middle of a wilderness of water. OK, you have to go to an outhouse and take a cold shower, but when are you going to have the chance to see this scenery?
Meals were taken communally at the bungalow "dining room" and they were very good. They gave you choices for an American style breakfast (omelet, scrambled eggs, fried eggs or pancake). You could even have two choices if you wanted them. Food was not a problem on this trip.
When the bungalows are relatively empty, things could be quite nice. But, when they get full, there are predictable problems with toilets--and noisy people drinking too much beer and keeping everyone else awake. You are in the wilderness so bear with it. The mattress was lumpy and the pillows were like lead, but AlteCocker is glad she did this.
Breakfast was in the town and was terrible. Moo did not appear to know where to take us. We went one place--and this was at 8:00am--to be told that they had no "rice soup". The next place said the same. We ended up with chicken and rice with huge chunks of fat. When AlteCocker put the fat chunks aside the Spanish guy said Americans were fussy eaters--this from a guy whose wife had a gluten allergy and had to cart her own bread (this was, of course, not her fault, but AlteCocker thinks a lot of people disclaiming food allergies create them for themselves to get some sort of attention; where, pray tell, were all these people until recently? They did not exist).
Anyway, after breakfact, it is back over to the dam where a "long tail boat" meets us to take us to our "bungalows" for the next 3 nights. But first, there was a stop to climb up a mountain to a viewpoint. AlteCocker is not in the business of doing tourism to kill herself. One look at what what the climb was going to be convinced her to chill out on the deck of the long tail boat while the rest of them killed themselves. They were gone a little less than 2 hours. Had AlteCocker done it, she would have taken 4 and maybe fell off the the train and killed herself on the way down. She fancied coming home on the plane in a seat rather than in a box with the luggage. She sat it out. When she saw the agile ones when they returned, she was glad she did.
Then it was on to the bungalows. Now, what the bunglows are are sleeping accomodations on rafts. From the photos here, you can see there are three types of bungalows. We were in the low end ones. There were communal facilities (meaning cold showers where the shower was a hand held device and an outhouse but with a toilet rather than a wooden seat. To "flush" the toilet you throw a pot of water down the hole--yeah, really. There is virtually no privacy. Power is provided by a generator in the evening until about 10:00pm. It may be turned off earlier if fewer people are staying at the bungalows. You do get a lantern to get around at night. One of the real hardships for AlteCocker on this tour was hauling herself up to the toilet in the dark. Because the bungalows float, the small "bridge" to the toilet was constantly being moved and footing could be trecherous. Everyone should bring a stick--even mountain goats. When it rains, and you are in a rainforest, the footing can be slippery and the steps are always too steep to avoid having to build more steps.
AlteCocker was sick--which meant she was heavily coughing phlem. Rather than leaving dirty tissues about, she expectorated a couple of times into the water. Better to have the phlegm broken down by the microbes, she thought, than to infect everyone. What happened? The Spanish man admonished her--and so did the Brits for her unsanitary habits. They had not yet bothered to notice that the shower water was going right into the water with all the soapy leftovers. AlteCocker was not satisfied that the long drop toilet was really a self contained septic system. It made an awful lot of noise when flushed. Well, she is not a septic tank expert but she dearly hopes it is secure. In the future, AlteCocker only expectorated in the water when they weren't looking. If they caught the cold, too bad for them. That put me off my feed with those folks for the rest of the trip. Thais routinely throw biodegrable waste such as banana peels into the water to be consummed while holding out other stuff for trash cans. Give AlteCocker a break or apologize later? Of course not. AlteCocker did hear the Brits tell the guide that, when they went out by themselves once in the kayaks, they went over to a neighboring island because the water was better without the shower runoff. What is standard in Western countries in National Parks is just not the same in SE Asia.
The first paddle took place after we arrived at the bungalows and settled in. She is not certain which set of bunglows we stayed at but all these accomodations are somewhat similar.
Each paddle was pretty much the same. They were done at sunrise and sunset to maximize the best chance of seeing animals. Each was projected to last 1-3 hours depending upon conditions and desire. The animals seen were gibbons, monkeys and lots of birds (but many of the same species). However, the setting was just the best. There you are miles from home in the middle of a wilderness of water. OK, you have to go to an outhouse and take a cold shower, but when are you going to have the chance to see this scenery?
Meals were taken communally at the bungalow "dining room" and they were very good. They gave you choices for an American style breakfast (omelet, scrambled eggs, fried eggs or pancake). You could even have two choices if you wanted them. Food was not a problem on this trip.
When the bungalows are relatively empty, things could be quite nice. But, when they get full, there are predictable problems with toilets--and noisy people drinking too much beer and keeping everyone else awake. You are in the wilderness so bear with it. The mattress was lumpy and the pillows were like lead, but AlteCocker is glad she did this.
December 28, 2014: The Second Day Deluge
We do a 6:30am paddle. Then it is back to the bungalows for breakfast and down time. AlteCocker loves the down time. The mountain goat couples get ants in their pants and swim. On the third day the Brits go out on their own to find the previously discussed "better" water. AlteCocker just gets wet. In getting into the lake, she has to know in advance how she is going to get out of it. She does not want emergency rescue and she is still very much under the weather.
The afternoon was supposed to be a highlight--and it was in a way, but not the way planned. It was supposed to be a long paddle to some rock formations. Well, we get in the long tail boat with the kayaks to go over to the jump off point (the pier at some other bungalows). By the time we got there, we were in the middle of the a colossal rainy season downpour. This is a rain like no other. It comes down in sheets--and AlteCocker was already sick. Some of the others had jackets. AlteCocker never dreamed she would need one in the jungle and did not pack it. She took only hand luggage down leaving the big luggage in Chiang Mai. She got soaked. Moo gave her a life jacket--to put on her head. Rule of thumb for anyone doing this trip: Bring windbreakers that will keep you dry if the heavens open up.
So the rain lets out, we go out and well, we never made it to the rock formations. We got drenched again (same life jacket for hat). When it lets up again, AlteCocker tells Moo she has had enough. She is already down with a cold. She does not need pneumonia. Back to the dock where AlteCocker wrings out her clothes. The others soon follow and do the same.
The afternoon was supposed to be a highlight--and it was in a way, but not the way planned. It was supposed to be a long paddle to some rock formations. Well, we get in the long tail boat with the kayaks to go over to the jump off point (the pier at some other bungalows). By the time we got there, we were in the middle of the a colossal rainy season downpour. This is a rain like no other. It comes down in sheets--and AlteCocker was already sick. Some of the others had jackets. AlteCocker never dreamed she would need one in the jungle and did not pack it. She took only hand luggage down leaving the big luggage in Chiang Mai. She got soaked. Moo gave her a life jacket--to put on her head. Rule of thumb for anyone doing this trip: Bring windbreakers that will keep you dry if the heavens open up.
So the rain lets out, we go out and well, we never made it to the rock formations. We got drenched again (same life jacket for hat). When it lets up again, AlteCocker tells Moo she has had enough. She is already down with a cold. She does not need pneumonia. Back to the dock where AlteCocker wrings out her clothes. The others soon follow and do the same.
December 29, 2014: The third Day Wimp Out
AlteCocker is up early for the 6:30am paddle. Monkeys high in the trees and the usual assortment of birds. Then it is back to the bungalows for breakfast and more reading. She has long since finished the book on John Hay. She is now working on "Cape Cod" by William Martin and a book on the Flatiron Building in New York City. Vegging out is a good thing with a cold. When it comes time for the afternoon paddle, AlteCocker has no desire to repeat the deluge of the day before. She bails out. Of course no deluge happens because she stayed "home", but it is cold and damp and she has had enough to say she has done it. She really needs to be in Chiang Mai in her relatively cozy appartment nursing her cold. She reads while the others are out. When they come back, it is inevitable that they should report monkeys that came down from the trees to the water's edge, but AlteCocker does not care. The photos turn out not to be much either. For her the paddle experience was ending.
Then there was the inevitable tummy trouble that results from a cold medicine concoction of stuff--and possibly an over indulgence in pineapple. Nothing like having to spend a long time in the outhouse in the dark.
Then there was the inevitable tummy trouble that results from a cold medicine concoction of stuff--and possibly an over indulgence in pineapple. Nothing like having to spend a long time in the outhouse in the dark.
December 30, 2014: AlteCocker Sleeps In; Sightseeing
AlteCocker was told that the paddle trip would leave the bungalows at noon after the morning paddle. The others were told the same. The others, however, want to leave earlier--which would leave AlteCocker with hours to spend at the Phuket Airport. She hates people who pull this sort of stuff on package tours. The tour is about the common itinerary. It is not about manipulating the timing so you can get your hot shower in early while someone else has to wait extra hours for her flight at the airport. She would never pull this stuff. They back off when AlteCocker confronts them. We compromise on 11:00am. AlteCocker would like to have a hot shower too but her reservations cannot be changed without penalty (assuming it would have been possible--which it would not have been). The end result is that she is dropped at the airport with 4 hours to kill--not fun.
On the way out of the Khao Sok National Park, however, the highlight of the whole experience awaits. We take a tour of the rock formations. These limestone formations are enormous. You can even see stalagmite and stalagtite formations on the outside of the rocks. Some have caves, but in the longtail boat, we are not going to enter any. The star rock formation is what are called the Guilin Rocks. China has similar rock formations and the Thais simply call theirs by the same name. When we get to the rocks, there are a lot of boats waiting to go through the rocks. AlteCocker is astounded by what she sees. The rocks are just so huge that a photograph does not do them justice. She takes a series of short videos that she will have to figure out how to post once she gets home.
Then it is off to have lunch. AlteCocker is the first drop off at the Phuket Airport. She has 4 hours to wait for her flight "home". When she gets there, she enjoys a nice hot shower and the sound of the toilet flushing. She goes to bed happy.
On the way out of the Khao Sok National Park, however, the highlight of the whole experience awaits. We take a tour of the rock formations. These limestone formations are enormous. You can even see stalagmite and stalagtite formations on the outside of the rocks. Some have caves, but in the longtail boat, we are not going to enter any. The star rock formation is what are called the Guilin Rocks. China has similar rock formations and the Thais simply call theirs by the same name. When we get to the rocks, there are a lot of boats waiting to go through the rocks. AlteCocker is astounded by what she sees. The rocks are just so huge that a photograph does not do them justice. She takes a series of short videos that she will have to figure out how to post once she gets home.
Then it is off to have lunch. AlteCocker is the first drop off at the Phuket Airport. She has 4 hours to wait for her flight "home". When she gets there, she enjoys a nice hot shower and the sound of the toilet flushing. She goes to bed happy.
Paddle Tour Evaluation
As you can see, AlteCocker had some problems with this excursion. Problems were a cold, her ongoing back problems--which make getting in and out of kayaks difficult and difficult people. She was a bit in over her head on this one. Looking back on the whole experience, she is glad she did it. She is not getting any younger, you know. However, she would inquire of the tour company the actual likelihood of seeing animals other than monkeys from a distance and the same handful of bird species day after day. Much can dempend on the season when you go. December is just the wrong time. You need to go at the height of the dry season--which Moo said was in September. This is a rainforest. If you get a deluge, the animals will be less likely to come down to the water's edge to drink because they don't have to. They will come down if they need to.
If AlteCocker ever returns to the Andaman Sea, she would choose a less ambitious itinerary than she did. She was really in over her head. Friend Mary planned this one and she really didn't look at the details--such as what "communal facilities" meant. That can mean one thing and it can mean another thing.
All and all, she was satisfied, but she would have had a better experience if she were a bit younger and fitter, but better to have gone and seen than never to have gone at all.
If AlteCocker ever returns to the Andaman Sea, she would choose a less ambitious itinerary than she did. She was really in over her head. Friend Mary planned this one and she really didn't look at the details--such as what "communal facilities" meant. That can mean one thing and it can mean another thing.
All and all, she was satisfied, but she would have had a better experience if she were a bit younger and fitter, but better to have gone and seen than never to have gone at all.