June 4. Ao Nang to Elephant Hills, Khao Lok
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Alarm call at 06.30 followed by an excellent buffet breakfast in another open sided room. A minibus arrived, we boarded and were driven northwards for about two and a half hours, through a mixture of open country, villages and small towns. The photos took on a strange hue when taken through the tinted windows. The roads were good to start with but deteriorated a bit later on. The driving was interesting, with some terrifying overtaking on view but, I am pleased to report, our driver was careful. |
We arrived at a shelter in the middle of nowhere and a diminutive Thai girl introduced herself. Her English wasn't brilliant so we grabbed some of our gear & hoped it would be appropriate for the occasion.
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 Together with two more couples, we walked a short distance to the Sok River and clambered onto a small semi-inflatable. This trundled along the river and into a creek surrounded by vegetation. We spotted a few snakes and I saw an otter in the distance. |
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If there had been a lot of wildlife it would have been frightened off by the roar of a long tailed boat which thundered past us at high speed. It was rather dull, with the light blocked by the undergrowth and the trees all looking the same. After about 25 minutes we turned tail and returned to the main river, then headed coastwards. |
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 Green curry |
We eventually moored alongside a larger boat, where we disembarked with some difficulty. We were given a magnificent lunch, cooked aboard by one of the men. Green chicken curry, fried fish, squid & prawns, stir fried vegetables & rice. The brave ones - everyone except me - then ventured into kayaks and paddled off into a creek, returning after about 20 minutes. I relaxed on the big boat and chatted to our guide whose name, alas, I have mislaid. She was a trainee, very proud of having found a job in her local area after finishing university. |
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When the kayakers returned, we sailed off in the big boat until we reached the sea. We passed a few other boats, a fishing village, a fish farm and lots of undergrowth. At the river mouth, we transferred back into the small boat and got very wet walking from it onto the beach. Unfortunately, it was, by now, somewhat dull & murky so that the beach didn’t look very inviting at all. After a brief swim in pleasantly warm water, we re-embarked and returned to the big boat, where we were greeted with a large tray of fresh rambutans. Beautiful. |
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It took us about an hour to return to the jetty, starting on the big boat to and then returning to the small one. It was very grey and misty and light rain fell for most of the journey. It was so warm, however, that it didn't really matter.
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After a 20 minute drive, we arrived at Takua Pa, where we had been promised a trip round the market. The sights and smells were amazing. Every sort of fruit and vegetable were on display, as well as herbs, spices and curry pastes. Shrimp paste, which I buy in tiny containers, was available in huge sacks. Dried fish were sitting on racks and there was also meat - but the less said about that the better.
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After an hour's drive, we reached Elephant Hills, a fascinating place full of tents and palm roofed structures. As we entered the driveway, we had to scatter many of the staff who were playing badminton and takraw. |
Our accommodation was very smart, a large tent constructed beneath a palm roof with a stone walled bathroom attached at the back. The hot water was off for the first night but that wasn't too much of a problem in the Thai climate. The reception area was very welcoming.
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Luxury tent ... from the outside |
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 View from the terrace |
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After a cold shower, a rest, and a drink on the terrace, we watched a short film on elephants and had a pleasant meal. Not as good as the one on the boat and definitely toned down for westerners. After that we enjoyed Valerie's treat, a durian which she had bought in the market. The staff opened it for us and I have to report that the taste and texture were just as disgusting as the smell. The mangosteens, which she had also bought were, on the other hand, beautiful. We then retired to bed. |
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