The hiking sucked, literally, not figuratively

In Battambang, we constantly followed the situation in Bangkok. We had purchased train tickets south from the city, but the civil/political unrest in the city was approaching its crescendo. And the train station was only a kilometer from where the protesters had dug in.

But we decided to take our chances. The bus would enter the north side of the city. We would taxi down to the south side to grab the backup camera to replace the one we had lost, and then into the center of the city to catch our train. We made it out without incident. The next day, the situation in the city climaxed. The protesters left their stronghold and parts of the city burned. We were safely south, but hoping the best for everyone back in the city.

We arrived at Khao Sok national park, which one of our friends had said was his favorite place he had visited in Thailand. We managed to find a reasonably nice and cheap resort ($8 a night and a hot shower!) and spent two days hiking. The first day we did a hike that was about eight kilometers each way. The first six were easy, but the last two heading in were a constant battle against gravity, friction, and leeches. We had to keep pulling the slippery, slimy little things off of our legs and backsides.

The next day we were fairly exhausted, but did test our luck by venturing far beyond a “Do not enter” sign.

We then went to a giant lake that was created to generate hydro power. The guides told us there are villages down at the bottom that were covered over when the lake was created. We stayed in some quite interesting but quite rickety raft houses; I was a little surprised that I never fell through the floor of our bungalow.

The highlight of the trip was a hike in a river that cuts a couple of kilometers through a mountain. We had to wear headlamps to provide light in the complete darkness. We spent most of the time in the mountain in the water, though only a few stretches required swimming. We saw huge numbers of bats and spiders, as well as toads, frogs, crabs, and catfish.

After the park, we climbed aboard a night boat to the island of Koh Tao, about seven hours from the mainland. The boat featured a sleeping space for each passenger, but we were amazed at how narrow they were. Lying on my back, my shoulders were wider than the mattress. Fortunately, it is low season, and the boat was far from full.

I am now typing from the deck of our bungalow, which is also quite cheap ($12 a night) and features a completely unobstructed view of the bay. Sinead will be scuba diving for several days, and other than that it is nothing but relaxing for the next week.

Beer is expensive here, though. Just thought I’d let you know in case you thought my life was completely perfect at the moment.