We had yet another spectacular camping weekend with Jane and Andrew and it just keeps getting better! All four of us confirmed that National Parks are the best parts of Thailand and should be the main focus of anyone who wants to see beautiful parts of Thailand on a budget without the presense of speedo clad, obese tourists (most of the time, but every once in a while one sneaks into a national park). Jane and Andrew learned about Sam Roi Yot (300 Peaks Park) a few weeks ago and actually went the weekend after the Khao Yai race weekend (while Eric and I rested in Suphan). After staying in Suphan for a weekend, Eric and I were defintely ready for another weekend trip and were stoked when Jane told us how amazing it was and that they wanted to go again. So they picked us up in a slightly improved hooptie Friday after school and we were off!
The park is about 50 km south of Hua Hin, which is probably one of the most horribly touristy beach cities in Thailand. I haven't actually been there, but was appalled when we drove through on our way to the park. Helloooo fat whities! Get me to a national park! It is about 5 hours from Suphan so we didn't get there until 10 when it was sufficiently dark and creepy at the parking area. We pulled up in this abandoned looking neighborhood (which wasn't actually abandoned in daylight) and were greeted by 10 or so of the scraggliest looking and smelling stray dogs I have seen. Jane and Andrew pointed to where we were headed which was up up up into the dark. Luckily they had been there before or this place would have been impossible to find. We hiked the 1 km up and over a hill (pretty much straight up, but with stairs) and descended onto a rare sight--an empty and beautiful beach!
There were some cabins, a restuarant (that was closed that late), nice bathrooms (with toilet paper!), and swept paths. We pitched our tents and walked towards the water contemplating a late night swim. Eric is always enthused about swimming in the ocean so he went for it while the rest of us stood at the edge and contemplated getting bathing suits on. A few minutes after Eric went in (it was shallow for a long time so he had walked out pretty far) we heard a yelp of excitement and Eric called to us to get out there. I assumed he was just enjoying the water (same old), but waded out to him in my t shirt and jean shorts. As I was walking out I noticed there was something different about the water and checked to see if my headlamp was reflecting on the water. It wasn't and as I got out to Eric he splashed some water around to reveal one of the most amazing things I have ever seen and like to describe as shiny horses running on a wave. Whenever we moved the water, it would cause a trail of light making the ocean sparkle. We splashed in the water looking at the different ways we could make the water light up. It was enchanting and my shorts were definitely soaked in momentarily sparkly water by the time we walked out of the water. Look up bioluminescent or phosphoresence to learn what we experienced (although evidently there are a lot of forms of it).
After the viewpoint hike, we followed signs to one of the big caves in the area and did another hike to reach it. I fell in love with caves at summer camp in Colorado and I have loved "caving" even since then. Caves and waterfalls are probably my two favorite things found in nature and Thailand has an abundance of both! This cave was waaay bigger than the ones in Colorado with crazy stalagtites and stalamites. We explored the cave until our stomachs were growling and drove to a restaurant on the side of the road that a Thai man we ran into recommended. 
We ordered all seafood dishes and were not disappointed! Squid with garlic and pepper, fried fish, squid salad, sea food and vegetables, and something else amazing and we were filled up! We ended our day's exploration by putting me behind the steering wheel for the first time in over 4 months, with the steering wheel on the right side of the car, driving on the left side of the road. It was touch and go for a minute, but I got us back to the parking lot in one piece (and we saw trucks full of monks on their cell phones on our way in). We relaxed on the beach for the rest of the day and Eric and Andrew made a bonfire on the beach for our evening activity.
We woke up Sunday morning after being feasted on by mosquitos and I enjoyed a lovely beach run before breakfast. There was another cave near our campsite (that didn't require us to drive) that Jane and Andrew talked up a lot. Eric and I laced up our running shoes for yet another steep uphill hike and left the other two to relax on the beach. We were amazed when we walked into the cave filled with trees and bushes and crazy cave walls, ceilings, floors, etc. Then we realized this wasn't even the cool part of the cave and walked into the main section that houses a beautiful temple (picture at the top of this post). I think magnificent is the best word to describe it. It is gorgeous in photos and it is even better in real life. We took our time soaking in the beauty and exploring the cave. I think it is one of my favorite things I have seen in Thailand yet! More tourists started to find there way to the cave so Eric and I headed out to enjoy a little more beach time before making our way home. I could easily spend a week in the same campsite in Sam Roi Yot exploring the park and hanging out on the beach and am looking forward to going to more national parks the rest of my time here! |
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