After 3 great nights are Erawan, I was ready for my next park, Sai Yok National Park. I took the 12pm bus to Kanchanburi. As soon as I arrived at the station, the next bus I needed was literally pulling out. I managed to get on though, there were hardly any seats left. I got the last one behind the driver where a guy was taking up 2 seats. Thankfully he got off shortly and I had the 2 seats to myself. It took about 2 hours to reach the junction for the park. From here a staff member at the restaurant on the corner gave me a ride on her moto the last 5km to the park. I went into the park HQ and it was really relaxed. They didn’t want my passport or need me to check in. They just directed me to the camping area. As I learned, the 2 waterfalls of Sai Yok are very popular for busloads of package tourists. This meant that they walked through camp to get onto a huge floating raft pulled by a boat. None of them lingered in camp or hiked any of the trails in the park. As they passed I heard them speaking Russian. Seems after Erawan, they come to Sai Yok. The 2 waterfalls of Sai Yok are not that huge or impressive and pale in comparison to the Erawan. I was more interested in the park than them.

Most of the campsite was on level ground under huge teak trees that were nearly leafless. This meant hardly any shade. I managed to find a shady spot on a small island, just before one of the falls emptied into the river. It was a really cool spot away from the HQ and parking lot. My own private island with the bathroom and shower just a minute away.

Across from the HQ are a row of food and drink stalls. Unfortunately only one of them was serving any substantial food and I was forced to eat there every night. After dinner I did a short nighthike but didn’t see anything. I lie on a table in the picnic area stargazing. It was a super clear night and I saw a satellite and a few shooting stars. For all the water around, there were surprisingly no mosquitos.

Day 2

I ate a greasy omelette and had a terrible instant coffee for breakfast. After I hike 1.5km to the bat cave. Sai Yok is home to the world’s smallest mammal, the Kitti’s hognosed bat. I really wanted to see this little guy, with a wingspan of just 4 inches (10cm). I went into the cave and was shortly surrounded by large bats. They were perched upside down but began flying around as I got closer. The air was filled with the ‘wind’ type sound of the bats flying around. It wasn’t a huge cave and the bats were flying right past me! These were way to big to be the hognosed bat and I found some smaller bats hanging on the wall. I got a photo of them and a guide at the park identified them as the Stoliczka’s trident bat, still not the hognosed. These were the only 2 types of bat I saw though the guide said there were 4 species inhabiting the cave. Not far into the cave the passage became long and very tight. I wasn’t quite in the mood for extreme cave exploration and turned back.

I hiked the few nature trails in the park. A lot of the vegetation was bamboo and much of it had been recently burned. Some of the larger dead trees were still smouldering. Not exactly prime habitat for wildlife. I didn’t see any animals but I did see a deep sinkhole and old remains of a Japanese bridge from World War II. The infamous ‘Death Railway’ ran through the park. There are also remnants of old Japanese cooking stoves.  A natural spring comes right out of the limestone mountain and it was this water that I drank the whole time in the park. Water doesn’t get much cleaner than coming right out of a mountain!

There was a small stall called Coffee Corner and I went there for lunch. The woman made a mean ice cappucino. One of the best I’ve had. I had some ice cream and chips to go with it. I know, not the healthiest lunch but I wasn’t that hungry. The HQ was also kind enough to let me check my email on their computers. I was ecstatic to see my Golden snubnosed monkey spotting from China was chosen my National Geographic as Spotting of the Week on their Facebook page. This is the second time one of my spottings was chosen. The first was just a Giraffe necked Weevil I saw in Madagascar. My dream job would be to get paid to be a spotter for Project Noah/National Geographic. In the meantime, though, I’m more than happy to keep self funding my own explorations.

I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring around the island that I was camping on. I walked and swam in the water and looked for any cool creatures. Besides being home to the world’s smallest mammal, the park is also home to an endemic regal crab, a small red, white and bluish crab discovered in the 1980′s. I saw a few of them but they were deep in their holes. I figured the evening would be a better time to look for them when they are out and about. After dinner I did just that. I walked around in the water with my camera and found plenty of crabs of all sizes. I was able to get close and photograph many of them. As I learned the next day, none of them were the regal queen crab. They aren’t found in this area of the park. Either way it was cool to see them and a frog. It was also the first time I’ve spent a nighthike wandering around in shallow freshwater streams.

After my night wading, I relaxed on a picnic table. I went back to my tent to get my pillow and was thrilled to see a gorgeous black snake with yellow bands just a few steps from my tent! I ran back to get my camera and got some good shots. It’s only the second snake I’ve seen on this trip. There are a couple of tokay geckos living in the men’s and women’s bathrooms. Tokays are bluish in color with large red spots. At 1′ (30cm), they are one of the world’s largest geckos and I never tire of seeing them or photographing them.

Day 3

With the sound of rushing water all around me, it’s easy to sleep in. I go to Coffee Corner for breakfast and have an excellent ice mocha and instant rice porridge. I check out Kaew cave after, a small cave which is also home to Kitti’s hognosed bat. The entrance to the cave is very narrow. I hide my back in the bushes and go into the cave with just my camera, macro lense and tripod. A couple of steel ladders bring me into the cave, all still very narrow. It finally opens into a medium size chamber. I look around for the passage. There is only one way to go. I’m very cautious while exploring any cave. I definitely don’t want an accident to happen in here! I follow the passage to another chamber and then don’t see another way to go. There is a small map of the cave at the entrance and it doesn’t appear that large. I must be at the end. I saw a lot of cave crickets, spiders and tailless whip scorpions but no bats. I didn’t smell, hear or see any bats at all. This was disappointing. Just before I left the cave I looked around and found a cave dwelling gecko which was very cool.

I went to HQ in the afternoon with camera to see if they could identify any of my photos. Turns out one of the guides was extremely knowledgeable and had a few great books to translate the Thai name into the latin. In all, he identified 10 species for me! I won’t know if they are all correct until I research them at home, but it’s a great start. He pulled out a big cardboard sign with the mammals of Thailand on it. He pointed out which species were in the park and where they were found. He said pangolins and civets can be seen around the bat cave at 9pm. So that evening that is exactly what I did. I left for the cave around 8pm. I got there at 8.30 and watched an episode of Simpsons while waiting and listening. At 9, I slowly walked back to the campsite. This was the area of forest I walked through yesterday which was burnt. I didn’t expect to see anything here and I didn’t. Only saw a sleeping bird on the ground. Oh well, nothing lost in trying. I’ve always liked nighthiking but now I’m beginning to really love it and feel comfortable and have no problems hiking at night in the forest for hours.

The next day I left for Ayutthaya.

Comments (2) Feb 24 2012

I took a minivan from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi, about 2 hours away. I spent one night here and then the next day took another bus for the 65km trip to Erawan National Park. The park is famous for it’s beautiful 7 tiered waterfalls and is very popular because of them. I arrived friday afternoon and it was really busy. Could have been because it’s the weekend but I do think the park is fairly busy most days. I set up on my tent in their spacious camping ground, grabbed a mango shake and wandered over to the falls to check out some of the lower levels. Since it was after 4pm, most of the visitors were leaving the park and I was the only one going to the falls.

I checked out level one and two and there wasn’t too many people there. I was able to get a few photos without any people. Level 3 was totally empty and I got some great pics there. There are pools at the base of nearly every decent size falls in the park and most people come to swim in the torquoise water. Though the falls are very picturesque they are not totally unique. I’ve seen similar waterfalls spilling into pools the same color in 2 different places in Laos. Erawan has more levels though, than the other ones I saw and that was one reason why I came here. I also came because I knew I could camp. I’ve been carrying my tent around for 3 months and although I had used it in Cat Tien national park in Vietnam, my plan was to use it a lot in Thailand. I also knew there were a few nature trails I could hike in the park. I waited for 2 people to be out of frame at the second falls for a while but they weren’t moving, so I left. My plan was to come back early morning before the hordes arrive.

After dinner I hit the nature trail for a nighthike. It’s a fairly quiet night. I see a cool little moth and a few giant grasshoppers. Actually one of the giant grasshoppers startled me a bit when it jumped from the ground right at me and hit me in the chest! I was expecting that! Tomorrow night proved to be a very exciting nighthike, more on that in a bit. Later that night while relaxing in my tent, I heard commotion in the large trees around me. I only saw a long black tail but I think maybe a civet was making its nightly rounds.

Day 2

The next morning I have a huge breakfast before going to the falls. Mistake! By the time I got to some of the falls there was already a few people there ruining any perfect photo. Tomorrow morning I won’t waste anytime and go straight to the falls. At the sixth level there were some pig tailed macaques around. These monkeys are notorious in the park for being aggressive bag and food snatchers. I always keep a respectful distance from these types of monkeys. It was very cool to see them though, as the usual mischievous primates are long tailed macaques. I was really surprised to actually see some of the monkeys swimming! The large alpha male of the group was particularly fearless and bold. He would sit on a vine or tree right near the main trail, just a few feet from visitors walking by. The park had 2 dogs that kind of kept watch on the monkeys. One of the dogs barked and jumped up at the monkeys while the monkeys swung down and tried to swat the dog! It was quite a scene!

I finally made it to the top seventh tier. It wasn’t as impressive as some of the lower levels and actually had a lot of bees and butterflies flying around and a lot of visitors! I thought the bees were the harmless stingless sweatbees but I found out the hard way, not all of them were! Something stung me in the soft fleshie part under my arm between my armpit and elbow and left a huge stinger behind. The bite hurt a lot at first but after the pain went away, the area stayed hot to the touch for days. After the sting I had had enough of level 7 and went lower.

While walking on the trail I noticed a large, nearly 3 inch (10cm) caterpillar just on the side of the trail. I stopped to photograph it and put my foot in front of it so no one would step on it. Just as I stopped and stepped a bit off the trail into the crunchy leaf litter, a black crested lizard ran out of the undergrowth right towards me! Maybe I was in its territory or something but it ran at me and then made a quick left turn to a tree beside me. I didn’t know what to photograph first, the caterpillar or the lizard! I finished up with the caterpillar first because it was moving fast. Next I turned to the lizard and managed only good shot before it climbed high on the trunk of a tree.

The second level is the most developed with a few food and drink stalls, plus lockers and lifejackets for rent. There isn’t a lot on offer food wise and instead of walking all the way down to the parking lot were there are more options, I just had an ice cappucino and sticky rice in bamboo for lunch. After photographing the falls and the animals around them for hours, I finally went in the water after lunch. It was so refreshing to wash the days sweat off. The water is crystal clear and is inhabited by a large type of carp fish. They range in size from 3 inches (10cm) to over 14 inches (35cm). They are also use to people and are fearless and bold. They have no hesitation coming up to you and taking a little nibble from you. They don’t waste any time either. I only had to be still for a few seconds before I would feel them start to bite. The bites didn’t really hurt, they were more startling and ticklish.

Russia has invaded Thailand! Spread the word! It’s true, most of the visitors are Erawan are Russians on a package tour. Apparently they go from Russia straight to Pattaya,  a beach city known for sex and sand and then onto Erawan (and as I learned later, onto Sai Yok after Erawan). They come by the busloads, many of them in their bathing suits and speedos burnt to a crisp from the beach in Pattaya. I didn’t really have any contact with them but I found most of them to be very unfriendly.

Despite the crowds and the Russian invasion, I was still really enjoying Erawan. The staff at the little place I eat at in the row of stalls in the parking lot are very friendly. They gave me a plate of watermelon and a bunch of finger bananas after I finished my meal.

I was ready for my second nighthike. There way leading to the falls begins as part trail and part small road, until the second level anyway. After that it’s all trail. I took this road to the falls tonight. Before even leaving the camp I spotted a large chocolate brown treefrog hopping along the ground. A few minutes later while walking on the the road, I spotted a masked palm civet just about 15 ‘ (5m) in the crotch of a large tree. It was very interested in me and stared down at me intently. Even when he tried to walk away, he came back to look at me again when I made kissing sounds. Once I got to the second level I stopped for a bit and lied down on a bamboo bench to look at yesterdays photos. It was so cool to be around the falls at night, absolutely no one was around. This same area was packed nonstop all day. Thankfully most Thais (and maybe most visitors?) are afraid of the forest at night. Even in reception they told me that animals were going to jump out and attack me at night! Hahaha! They couldn’t be more wrong. I wish that was the case!

I take a nature trail back. It was my first time walking it. Up a hill off the trail I see some blue eyeshine on the ground. Behind the eyeshine, I see red/orange eyeshine up in a tree. Wow! I can’t believe I’m seeing 2 different animals at the same time! I have a strong feeling that the animal in the trees is a civet ( my first thought is always a civet when I see eyeshine in a tree) but I’m not sure what the animal on the ground is. Could be a type of cat, wild pig, pangolin? I’m not really sure that’s why I move in for a closer look. I make a bit of noise climbing up the hill and the animal on the ground moves away but then stops and I see it in the distance still checking me out. I see the animal in the tree and it’s a civet for sure but I never did figure out what the animal on the ground was. My headlamp is very broad and great for detecting eyeshine, even at a distance but it’s not good for making out details of something far away. This is where a nightscope would come in handy. I’ve been debating buying one for years. I think it’s time to get one once I get home this year. The slope I climbed up was totally covered in dry bamboo leaves. I didn’t realize how slippery it was until I went back down and slide on my feet and ass nearly the entire way down!

The trail was easy to follow and relatively flat and a few minutes later I saw my next animal. I saw red eyeshine near the ground but whatever is was noticed me right away too and disappeared in a flash. I didn’t hear or see which way it went, it was just gone.  Just before I finish the trail, I see my last eyeshine of the night. It’s high up in a tree and I think it’s a sleeping monkey. It just moves a little and then sits back down. I don’t disturb it long and leave the trail. I also spotted a very cool sleeping butterfly. Unlike most that I see during the day, this one was not moving and easy to photograph.

Back at the campsite, the main area is packed with 45 tents for a Toyota employee retreat. Thankfully I they aren’t that loud and I can’t hear any of the noise from my tent.

Day 3

I’m up at 7.30 and go straight to the fifth tier where some people were in the way of my perfect shot yesterday. No one is here this morning and I get the shots I wanted. Just as I leave, the first visitors arrive. I go back down and have breakfast and hang around camp for a while. I go to the fourth tier in the afternoon and swim there. As I walk back I’m always on the lookout for anything interesting. Even though Erawan is packed with visitors, the waterfall trail still goes through rainforest and some creatures are still around despite the heavy traffic. I step off the trail to photograph a flower and again, a brown crested lizard runs out of the bush towards me! I must be in his territory. He goes up a small tree but stays near the ground. He lets me approach extremely close and I get some great macro shots of him. The lizard is so cooperative that  I ask a passing French couple to take our photo together. The lizard and me, not me and the couple! The lizard moves up a bit higher but I’m able to stand right underneath the branch he’s on and get a good shot. Earlier I had a small butterfly land on my ear and got some shots of it. Later on another butterfly landed on my face, right near my eye. Instead of wave it away, I gave my camera to a young American guy I was chatting to at the time and he got some fun shots of it on my eye. I’m having great luck with the animals here.

On the walk back I take the nature trail I took in the dark last night to see what it looks like in the day. It’s mostly clumps of bamboo and very dry. Not much going on but interesting to see during the day. Back in camp my tent has become the home for a few insects. Some really cool spiders have already made little homes for themselves. I don’t mind at all, as long as they stay outside the tent!

As I’m leaving for my nighthike, I meet Bank, a young Thai guy. I tell him I’m going for a nighthike and he says he would love to join me. I welcome him to join me. He doesn’t have a light so I give him my UV flashlight to use. We take the road to the falls, the same way I began last night. We see a civet near a small parking lot. Bank had never seen one before and didn’t know what it was. We stopped at the second falls and Bank looked around with the UV light. He found some glowing things on a tree. They turned out to be scorpions! A whole bunch of them. I had known scorpions glow in UV light, I’d seen it on TV and it was so cool to actually see it in real life. I carefully pulled back a bit of the bark and a few of the scorpions landed on the ground. I took a couple of shots of them with the UV light on them and then with the flash to see what they really looked like. I must say, scorpions are one animal I would not say I have seen a lot of, until now. I could honestly say I remember every single time I saw one because there were so few times. There were at least a dozen or more scorpions on the this tree and now I can finally say I’ve seen a lot of scorpions. Most were 2 inches (5cm) or smaller and a deep rich blue color.

Bank was tired from a 5 hour busride and had just arrived at the park before our nightwalk so he went to bed and I carried on my nighthike alone. I took the nature trail back that I had taken my first night. It was quiet and I didn’t see anything. When I finished the trail I realized I left my lens cap on the ground where we saw the civet, so I went back to get it. Well, wouldn’t you know it, the civet was there, resting on a tree branch and I got some good shots of it this time. A great end to 3 nighthikes, as tomorrow I was planning on leaving the park. It cooled down a bit tonight, down to 21C instead of the usual 25C. Of course it was still warm. These nights camping were the nights I had been dreaming about while sleeping in my near freezing hotel rooms in China. They had finally come!

Comments (0) Feb 23 2012

The plane landed in Bangkok around 11.30. I got my visa on arrival, my luggage and met my friend Thai friend Thip. We had met on my last trip to Asia 2 years ago. We took the train and then a taxi to her place. She had to go back to work and I took a nap at her place. She lived in the town in town area of Bangkok, about an hour from the city centre. It was a okay area though. There were many shops and internet cafes just a few minutes away and a huge student population with Bangkok university just down the road.  I spent a couple of days here and then took a bus to Kanchanaburi, where I am now. Today I will go to Erawan National Park. I can’t wait to camp there and get back into the forest after a few days in Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok, I’m more than ready to get back to nature.

Comments (0) Feb 16 2012

Feb 13

My last full day in HCM, I just decide to take it easy. Blair left early in the morning for a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels but since I already saw some of the tunnels around the DMZ, I decide to skip the tunnel tour here. I sleep in, get breakfast and then spend hours online updating my blog and on Project Noah. Blair gets back in the afternoon and I’m shocked to hear he got a bit sick on the tour. He’s feeling a bit better now but just wants to rest so I go out for lunch alone. For him, it’s good timing to get sick. He goes back to Canada tomorrow and it’s not ruining any of his trip.

Linh, Blair and I go later. Linh takes us to a supermarket where I buy some of the Vietnamese coffee percolator type cups and Blair buys coffee. I already have a few of these cool coffee cups but buy 2 larger ones for home. They are fairly unique to Vietnam and most of the coffee brewed here uses them. They aren’t the fastest but produce a great blend.  Blair isn’t quite up for dinner, so Linh and I go out to eat. I have a delicious meal of grilled pork and rice noodles. It was great to see Linh again and to have a friend in HCM. I would have liked to stay longer and hangout with Linh more but my Vietnam visa expires tomorrow. Plus, after what happened to me on my last night, I was more than ready to get out of HCM.  Read on.

My last night in HCM at about 3am there is a bunch of noise and commotion outside my door. Someone even knocks on my door. I think they have the wrong door and I don’t bother to answer. Well, 10 minutes later there is knocking again. Now I’m pissed off and angry. Who knocks on a strangers door at 3am? I answer the door and see no one. Just across the small hall, is a guy with his door nearly closed and is peeking out at me. I ask him why is he knocking on my door. He comes out of his room and asks if I am alone and then tries to force his way into my room! I immediately and strongly push him back and close the door. In the process though, my left hand gets caught in the door and I scrap and bruise it. The guy was obviously gay but I’m not sure what he wanted. Was he trying to rob me? Trying to get me into bed? I don’t know. Who does such a thing? Either way, it ruined my night as it was hard to get back to sleep with my hand throbbing. It was a terrible last night and I couldn’t wait to leave HCM.

Feb 14.

Blair and I have breakfast at 7am and I leave for the airport at 7.30 for my 9.45 flight to Bangkok. It worked out perfectly for Blair and I, as the day my Vietnam visa expired was the same day he was flying back to Canada, just a few hours after my flight. It was great traveling with Blair and having a friend from home who could handle and enjoy everything that I suggested. How about a 15km walk in the jungle Blair? No problem! Also Blair was kind enough to take all my souvenirs and everything else I didn’t need for the rest of my trip. This lightened my load by probably 5kg (10lbs) and saved me some worrying about my things. This helped huge and gave me a ton of room in my pack and made it feel so much lighter again. I was used to it being really heavy and now it seemed so light, even thoug it was still 18kg (40lbs), according to the airlines scale, it seemed easier to handle. My flight left a little late but only took and hour and a half to reach Bangkok.

Now I’ve spent 75 days in total in Vietnam and really felt I’ve visited and seen most things I wanted to. Yet I would come back to explore more of Cat Tien national park. It’s one of my favorite parks in SE Asia. It still has many secrets to unlock. Also I would come back to visit Linh and spend another night in Crazy House.  So many things to do and see, so little time!

Comments (0) Feb 16 2012

Vinh Long is about 130km from HCM and a good place to see the delta. We’re in a small 15 seat van going there. As we get close, Linh asks the driver where we are. Turns out he didn’t know that we were going to Vinh Long, even though it’s printed on our tickets and Blair and I do stand out! We were now going in the opposite direction of Vinh Long. So Linh asked for the driver to let us off and we had to take a bus back the other way. This is exactly what happened to Blair and I going to Cat Tien. We’re both glad Linh is here to help us this time. We take a bus to the Vinh Long station and a taxi from there to the waterfront. We will be doing a homestay here. Linh arranges transport for us to and from the homestay, which also includes a 2 hour boat trip the following morning.

Vinh Long is a popular place and there are a lot of large package tour groups here. We get our own boat to our ‘homestay’. I put the quotes around homestay because it is not like any other homestay I have done. To me it’s not even a homestay in the simplest terms. The home has built a second floor of rooms and bungalows to accomodate visitors. So technically we are not even staying in their house. They also have a huge dining area and are able to feed tour groups of up to 50 people. Not exactly a quaint homestay! Also the guidebook says experiencing the hospitality and eating with your hosts is part of the delta experience. Except our hosts cooks our food and brings it to us but does not talk to us at all. To me this is more of just a regular guesthouse than an actually homestay. The food is delicious with fish and make your own spring rolls.

The Delta is a vast network of waterways and canals and is very lush and fertile. It produces enough rice to feed Vietnam and also grows much of its tropical fruit. Rivers and canals are the main forms of transport here.

It’s a quiet night at the homestay but the next morning the canals are alive with boat traffic and it’s surprisingly busy and noisy. We have breakfast and wait for our boat. We wanted to get the boat at 8 or 9 but it couldn’t come till 10. The boat takes us to the Cai Be floating market which by the time we arrive, is nearly over. We go ashore for a bit to see a place where they make rice paper and another where they make coconut candies. In order not to get back to HCM too late, we have to leave to go back to Vinh Long to catch our bus.  There is 3 hours between buses and we decide to take the earlier bus. We arrive back in Vinh Long just in time to get the bus.

It’s much faster going back and only takes 2 hours. Blair and I go back to Hotel 97 and Linh goes home. We all meet up again for dinner later. After our dinner Blair shops around the area and Linh and I go to the cinema to see Sherlock Holmes 2. It was a decent movie and the cinema huge, modern and very nice.

Comments (0) Feb 16 2012

Ho Chi Minh (HCM) was just as I expected it, busy, dirty, chaotic, huge and polluted. Thankfully it was only for a few days. Blair wanted to visit a town in the Mekong delta and we would go there tomorrow. We both took a room at Hotel 97 right in the middle of the backpacker area of the city. Pretty much anything you need is in this small area and its full of foreigners. I call Linh, my friend from Tuy Hoa. She lives in HCM and meets us for dinner at 7. She takes us to a local place and we have delicious pho, Vietnamese noodle soup.

Although Linh has been living in HCM for 11 years, she hasn’t spent much time in the Mekong delta and is going to come with Blair and I. The next morning she meets us at 8am and we go for breakfast. We take a city bus to the bus station and get tickets to Vinh Long.

Comments (0) Feb 16 2012

Feb 10

Blair and I are up at 4am. Breakfast is served by candlelight by Gunnar, a German volunteer who will be coming with us on the trek. It’s a great breakfast of instant noodles, fruit, yogurt and coffee. We meet our local guide at 5am. We walk down the road and then turn into the forest. We get to a spot with a large fallen tree and wait here. We are waiting for the gibbons to call so the guide knows where to look for them. The family we are looking for, the Hao family, was released from the rehab/rescue centre near the park 8 years ago.

The guide has heard a call around 6 and we are off. He’s scanning the treetops and sees a lone primate at the top of a leafless tree. He thinks it’s a lone male gibbon that broke away from the family. He hangs out near the river and calls to the females at the rescue centre on an island in the river. We watch it for a bit. Just as I’m watching it with the binoculars, it gets up and jumps away. It’s then I see a long tail, it’s not a gibbon at all. Gibbons have practically no tail at all. It’s actually a douc langur, one of the primates I was really hoping to see here.

A few minutes later our guide spots the actual gibbon he thought he langur was. The lone gibbon is on the move and we don’t see him for long. We keep searching, most of the time off trail. The ground is flat and the vegetation is not too dense, making it easier to trek offtrail  than some forests I’ve been in.

We walk for a few minutes and then the guide pauses and listens and scans the treetops. We hike till 8 but have no luck. Then before I know it, we are back at the park HQ. We didn’t find the family of gibbons and it was kind of disappointing. Sure we saw one langur and one gibbon but I was hoping for much more. The way Gunnar put it, he said there was a 90% chance to find them. I guess we were very unlucky. It just hurts more when you pay $60 to see an animal and don’t find it. There is no refund here.

We plan on going to Ho Chi Minh city this afternoon but still have time this morning so we visit the rescue centre, which is included as part of the gibbon trekking. The centre comes and picks us up on their boat and we go to their large island in the river. An older British woman shows us around and explains what they are doing. They provide homes for 25 gibbons and some other primates. The plan for most is to release them back in the wild but for some that can’t be released, the centre just provides a better home for them than where they came from. Usually they are rescued from a hotel or private individual who had them as a pet. It’s great work they are doing here.

Back at the park, Blair and I have another breakfast and pack up. We get a bus from the park right to Ho Chi Minh city.

Comments (0) Feb 16 2012

After having breakfast and sorting out our gear, Blair and I began the 15km hike to Crocodile Lake. We were able to leave whatever we didn’t need for our 2 night stay there at the park HQ, so that really helped. I managed to go very minimal and fit everything into my small daypack. Usually visitors to the lake take a jeep for the 10km road journey and then hike the last 5km to the lake through the forest on a small trail. The HQ was really surprised when I told them we wanted to walk the whole way! Turned out to be a great walk. As I said before the road is a goldmine of butterflies and some were even cooperating with us and landing long enough for some photos. We saw a lot of the same species all along the road but then would come to a section where there would be species we didn’t see anywhere else. We stopped a lot and walked slow and it took us just over 3 hours to reach the trail,

Once we entered the forest it was much cooler and there was plenty of shade. We stopped for lunch and then continued. We stopped for photos at a huge 400 year old tree that I stopped at last time I was here. It is a truly gigantic tree, probably the largest in the park that is accessible. After about 2 hours on the trail we finall reached Crocodile Lake. All the accomodation and HQ at the lake is raised on stilts. There was no water below us but I suspect there might be during the rainy season. We got our simple room and I took a nap.

Dinner was a huge feast of fish cooked 4 different ways, with a bit of greens and of course, rice. It was all really good. After dinner we got ready for our nighthike. I was really excited to get out here at night again. I had some good success last time I was here, seeing a mouse deer and a civet in just one night. Crocodile Lake is nearly in the middle of the park and deep in the forest, unlike the road we’ve been hiking at night, which follows the river border of the park.

It didn’t take us long at all until we saw our first set of eyeshine. We didn’t see it close up but I suspect it was a civet. Later we saw 2 sets of eyes close to the ground. By the way they ran away after noticing us, I’m thinking they were mouse deer. We had a large animal run away from us in the bush before we even knew it was there. It must have heard us coming and gave us a bit of scare as it ran away. It sounded large so I’m thinking either a sambar deer or maybe a wild pig. We walked to the 1km marker and turned back. We saw more eyeshine and this time could tell it was a civet as it climbed up the tree. All the civets we saw, we usuall spotted on or near the ground. Once they knew we were there, they always climbed a tree to get away but would always stop halfway up to look back at us. Their behaviour is a lot like our raccoons back home. I spotted a very cool leopard type gecko as well. It was a very good night for spotting animals, as we saw the 2 mouse deer, had a large deer runaway from us, the leopard gecko and spotted at least 5 civets.

I got up the next morning around 7.30 and let Blair sleep in. He got up an hour later and we had breakfast. Today we just planned on an easy and relaxing day around the lake. We’ve been hiking 15km or more everyday since we arrived and wanted just a chill day. After breakfast we walked around the lake and little and saw a few birds and butterflies and a very cool jewel bug. It was only the second jewel bug I had ever seen. During the afternoon I just hung around outside our room. There was a few different species of bird all hanging around a small area and I watched them and photographed them for an hour.

At 4:45 we went to take the canoe out on the lake to paddle around before sunset. The edges of the lake are choked thickly with water hyacinth. We both had to use all our upper body strength to get the canoe through these dense clumps. We both wanted to give up but kept on and finally got onto the lake. We let the wind blow us around for a while and then headed back to the HQ just before it got dark at 6pm. We checked the lake last night with a high powered flashlight and looked around today but we still didn’t see any crocodiles at crocodile lake!

Dinner was another largely fish based feast, all caught fresh from the lake. After dinner, Blair and I left for another nighthike. We spotted a civet right away up in a tree. I got as close to it as I could and took a few photos. They turned out to be the best civet photos I’ve gotten so far. It’s been difficult to get good photos because the animals have been far away and neither my light or Blairs or the camera flash could illuminate them well and it’s hard to focus but not this time.  Further on we heard something foraging in the leaf litter. It was making a lot of noise and didn’t seem to know we were there. When it did realize we were watching it, it made some snorting and puffing sounds and stomped its feet. I don’t think it was happy! It sounded like a deer to me. Minutes later we heard 2 more deer, one on each side of the trail. Blair was getting spooked. Both deer were snorting and stomping their feet. I said lets wait here to see what happens. I think we both thought they would going to come out of the forest and attack us but in the end, nothing happened. They just disappeared deeper into the forest. We turned back again at the 1km marker. In the end we saw about 5 civets and heard 3 deer. I got photos of 3 of the civets, with one being really clearly a common palm civet. Another very successful nighthike. Just before we got back to our room it started to rain, perfect timing.

The next day we walked back to the main HQ. We never did end up seeing any crocodiles at the lake.  We saw 2 pig tailed macaques on the ground on the walk back to the main road. The main road was still popular for butterflies and I was able to get good photos of 2 butterflies that had been eluding me all week. One of them always closed it’s wings when it landed but I finally caught it with it’s wings open. The other stayed very still while it was feeding on some civet droppings and allowed me to get really close.

We shared a really nice room and got some lunch. They offer special gibbon trekking here to spot these rare primates in the wild. At $60, it was expensive but  I thought it would be something great to try and Blair agreed. We paid and organized this for next morning before we leave to go to Ho Chi Minh city. Breakfast would be at 4.15am the next day so we didn’t do any nightwalk our last night here. We just relaxed after eating dinner. Blair saw a big black snake on the road as he came back to the room. We went back and looked for it but it was gone.

Comments (0) Feb 15 2012

After breakfast Blair and I decide to hike the road to the left, into the more of the grasslands of the park to see what we can see. Before we leave Blair spots a small biege snake on the road as he goes to pay for his room. It calmly stays fairly motionless as I get close to photograph it. It raises its head and neck almost vertically, like a small cobra but doesn’t appear to be aggressive. After some good pics, I usher it into the grass on the side of the road where it will be safer.

As we walk on the road huge clumps of bamboo on the side of the road provide some shade for a while but further on the trees are more sparse and we are walking in the hot sun. We reach a small 2 level viewing tower and rest up here in the shade for a while. We carry on until we reach another viewing tower, the same as the one we just rested in. We come across some locals here that live in the park, cutting and bundling up thick stalked grass. I’m not sure what they are using it for. We have our lunch in the tower and rest during the heat of the day. Unlike the last tower, this one has quite a few ants on it. At first they seem to be scared of us and avoid us. I’m even able to lie down with my shirt and shoes off without being bothered but that doesn’t last. I end up being stung by an ant on the arm, my finger and the bottom of my foot! I watch the one on the bottom of my foot and I can see it inserting it’s stinger as opposed to it biting me. I never know if an ant is biting me or stinging me for sure. I’m not sure if some ants can bite and sting or just one or the other. Now all my bites are beginning to swell. It’s a bit of a pain to walk back on the foot that was stung but it’s not too bad when I have my boots on. We arrive back at HQ just after 4pm. Another long day of hiking. We must have covered at least 15km again.

After dinner we decide to skip the nighthike tonight. I tweaked my right foot while walking in Dalat a few days ago and it’s still a bit sore. This coupled with my sting from today, I decide it’s just best to rest tonight as we have a long hike ahead of us tomorrow. I decide to go to the pavillion near my tent again to write in my journal. This time I’m aware of the leeches in the grass and ready to check for them. Except tonight, leeches aren’t the problem. There was enough light from a streetlight to see my way to the pavillion so I wasn’t using my own headlamp. Just before I get to the pavillion, I feel intense pain in my feet. Ants! I quickly run to the pavillion and brush any ants of my feet but it’s too late again. They’ve bitten (or stung, not sure with these ones) my pinkie toe and third toe on my left foot and my second toe on my right foot. The ants were so small I could barely see them. Now 4 of my toes are swollen up and rock hard. All this to go with my tweaked right foot and the ant bite I sustained earlier. Man, were my feet taking a beating! After writing I walk back to my tent but keep my eyes on the ground to look for ants. Well, this turned out to be a stupid idea, because I got bit again after stepping down onto the grass and couldn’t even see the ants in the grass! I should have just run right away and not bothered to walk and look for the ants. It was a hard lesson to learn! I went back to my tent and lied down and listen to some music and hoped my feet would be okay for our long hike tomorrow.

Comments (0) Feb 15 2012

After breakfast, Blair and I take the road in the park to the right, into the forest. We brought some snacks from Dalat and a lot of water as we planned to hike the whole day. Shortly after leaving HQ, Blair spots a longtailed macaque on the ground in the bush just a few minutes down the road. It’s kind of strange to see just one monkey but I don’t see or hear any others around. First we take a trail named the Botanical garden trail. Not sure why it’s called this as the trees or plants are not labelled. The trail is a concrete path and the level ground makes for easy walking.  We take this trail which eventually leads to back to the road. Then we take another trail that leads to a huge strangler fig. The trails are clearly visible and it’s great that we can hike without a guide. Well, Blair says that I’m the guide!

We stop at an upmarket lodge called Forest Floor for a drink and some lunch. We carry on after to a dirt road leading to Heaven rapids. These roads in the park are basically just large trails and can still be a great place to spot plants and animals. The road is actually a goldmine of different butterflies. There’s tons of them! Unfortunately some of the most spectacular ones don’t seem to ever land. I just chase them around but they never land. We reach the rapids that aren’t much to look at but a nice place to relax for a bit. We walk back and arrive back at HQ after 5pm. We hiked for nearly 9 hours and must have covered at least 15km. A great first full day in the forest.

After dinner we hike the road in the opposite direction than last night for our nightwalk. We see a cool caterpillar and some eyeshine up in the trees. Probably another civet. The side of the road is lined with a huge ant trail. At times it crosses the road in the cracks. I try to avoid them but as I step near the edge of the road to look at something, I accidentally step on their trail. I don’t realize until I’m struck with sudden and intense pain on my toes. I immediately get back and brush off the ants but its too late, they’ve already got me. I’m not sure how many bit me but my middle toes begin to swell up. We keep a very close eye on the road on the walk back and thankfully don’t have any more incidents.

Comments (0) Feb 15 2012