To End with Elephants

I arrived in Bangkok late on the 23d. The day was gone but next day I had to figure out what to do with my remaining time. Chang Mai was out. Too far to travel for such a short time.

I could see Ayuthaya though it is heavily tourist and not the best of Thailand’s medieval sites.

I could do nothing. Just do a lie in and a bit of shopping.

Finally, I could do Kao Yai, a park that had been recommended for wildlife. This was the most appealing but practical information was scarce. LP SE Asia doesn't even mention the park. I ended up scouring the Internet and finding little, asking Tourist Information and getting better than nothing but still close to nothing. I even read guide books in the book store, which I am sure the owner appreciated. I took me most of a day to conclude that should go there, sleep somewhere outside the park, probably book a tour, and mostly wing it.

At over 1150 Baht (~$28) for a 1.5 days, the Garden Lodge's tour was pricey by regional standards but only 3 days remaining, I no longer h ad to worry about my remaining budget being wiped out by later, unforeseen expenses. I also thought I might stand a better chance of photographing gibbons if I had a guide.

Unfortunately, the tour was not run as effectively as I would have hoped. The first half day consisted of some caves (yawn), watching the bats come out (not bad, but Mulu was better), and a night drive. This was probably the least competent spot light trip to date. The ranger kept moving the vehicle, and moving the light. Focusing is hard without light. All of us dumb tourist saw only barking deer and samba deer though "officially", we saw a civet as well.

Next morning we started off bright and early at .... 8:30am and went straight out to the ..... visitor center. We reached the trail to the observation tower at something after 11:00am. The guide told us they see animals here in the early morning. (So why are we here at noon?) By the time we diverted to see the "The Beach" waterfall in mid afternoon, the wildlife count had reached 1, a hornbill seen on the drive to park HQ.

At the waterfalls, I learned that the couple who had done the "extra hiking" tour had seen some gibbons, albiet at extreme range. And independent travelers had also seen gibbons on a trail some 2k from the falls.

The wildlife count reached 3 when, during a raging downpour, two samba deer came into camp. After the rain, we went up to top of the mountain to see fog that lay between us and the valley below. Coming back we say a particularly lazy serpent eagle (it wasn't particularly pleased by our presence or the noise we made but it couldn't be bothered to fly very far.

Further on down the road, we heard news: Elephants crossing the road up ahead. I felt the tug of acceleration as we sped toward an encounter with the great gray beasts

Elephants ahead. Elephants in the bush on the side. There must be more than a dozen. Baby elephants! Please stop moving the vehicle! (no effect). . Shutters snapped. A few flashes went off by mistake. One Darwin Award candidate drove past the stopped vehicles and elephants, and got out of their truck to get a picture. Alas, they only qualified for honorable mention

As the light started to dim and elephant to disperse, I heard a familiar hum. The film has reached its end and was now returning to the start. I felt a sense of completeness. Previously, I had toyed with the idea of visiting one of Bangkok's inevitably overtouristed sites. But that now seemed wrong. A rushed viewing of an overcrowded temple in a polluted city was not a fitting close for an epic Asian adventure. Better to stop here, at the last frame of the roll. To end with elephants.