My family's still in Thailand, but this little period of nigelisation at home gives me time to pause and reflect. This holiday trip was... different. My parents have 'let go' a tad, it could be said.

Flying kites, combing for seashells on the beach, or frog-hunting at night are safe-enough activities... they don't present much of a challenge. I wanted more. We stopped by the tour agency for brochures, and most of them promoted jungle-trekking, river canoes, bamboo rafting, elephant rides, and the likes. Khao Lak and Khao Sok were two large patches of mountainous national parks, and they were nearby. I never knew that my parents would allow it, let alone be game for it. My mom went, "Why not?" and my dad didn't disagree.

So it went that we hopped into a safari jeep and had our local guide take us to the largest national park in southern Thailand... to Khao Sok. There, through the drizzles and the downpours, we were paddled through the river in canoes, ate out at a village hut, and witnessed in awe the strong resemblance of the misty Thai mountains to the ones in Chinese poetry. We trekked through the wild jungles on the backs of elephants.

It was wild, by my family standards, and it was heaps of fun.


Sunset from Khao Lak beach

posted by Husky @ 7/30/2004 03:08:07 PM  |