day 9: khao sok national park

well, we were very happy to leave the farang heavy beachside town of ao nang this morning and start our drive into the remote areas of thailand.  our destination for the day was khao sok national park which we heard was not to be missed if you were in the area.  the drive there was amazing, passing through much tropical rainforest, giant karst formations jutting out of the earth, and even many fields of thai orchards with big tall trees all planted in rows.  michael and i had many ponderings as to what the trees were for which i think we finally concluded was for lumber.  the thai seem to be much better about replanting what they cut down apparently.  we decided to take another random detour somewhere along the way and followed another sign to a cave off the main road.  we wound around and could see the karst we were headed for.  eventually we pulled up and got out of the car to find chanting meeting our ears.  at first it appeared no one was around and we were perplexed as to where the monotone sounds were coming from but as we approached we saw an old monk sitting behind the signs, under the rock overhang.  we didnt want to disturb him but he got up right away and i thought for a second we werent going to be allowed in the cave.  but no, he just reached under a table and brought out several jerry rigged lanterns, tested them all and gave us the brightest.  he motioned where to go and we were off to do some real deal cave exploring with just a lantern to light our way.  we could hear the chanting start up again as we entered the cave.  the cave just went back and back forever it seemed and once we were in quite a ways we turned off our lights just to see what it was like and man the darkness closes in fast for sure.  spooky!  luckily no bats to speak of.  lots of glittery rock formations and pools of water.  it was a nice cool break from the heat of the day too.  after a donation to the friendly monk, we were on our way again now to see the big reservoir that boarders khao sok.  there is a very nice park there with great views of the large dam, reservoir, and miles of untouched tropical wilderness framed by limestone cliffs.  it almost looks like yosemite with a tropical twist.  we then drove around probably 40 miles or so to the other side of the park where the entrance is located and found the cutest little place to stay.  it was the khao sok tree house resort and we really did stay up in a tree.  this really nice woman and her husband have built little houses up in the trees in their backyard.  she likes to decorate too so they are really cute and clean with big tree trunks coming through your bedroom and porch.  we dropped our stuff and ran off to the park for a quick hike before dark.  of course it was raining in the rainforest so we got the full experience with lots of different bird calls, thunder, and leeches!  we thought we were getting them off as we went but three had hidden under my sandal straps for a surprise when we got back to our tree house.  i was freakin' out for sure when i saw these big things that had been sucking my blood for an hour (i cant believe you cant even feel them) but luckily michael kept his cool and came to my rescue by burning them off me.  i can see how they would be detoxing for sure if you were into that because i bled and bled for quite a while.  pretty gross!  that was my first experience with leeches sucking my blood and hopefully my last.  thank goodness for michael!  after i was all cleaned up we had a lovely dinner up in the main house.  we were the only ones staying there so we had the place to ourselves and it was full of games and entertainment such as a foos ball, darts, connect four, and uno.  and the sounds of the bullfrogs, crickets, and birds of the rainforest were our music for the evening. good times...