After Railay and Koh Phi Phi it was time for me to say goodbye to the beach and head inland towards the jungle. My destination was Khao Sok, one of Thailand's many national parks and an area of pristine rainforest that has been thankfully largely untouched by humans. In the darkest depths of the forest lurk tigers, along with an immense variety of other animals and tropical plants.
I had only a couple of days in Khao Sok so I didn't have the time to go on a tour to the more remote regions. Instead I decided to do a couple of day-walks from Khao Sok village to some of the nearby waterfalls and natural cavernous swimming pools.
Being in the midst of the forest, surrounded by the din of the insects and birds, confronted by innumerable shades of green, and assaulted by the mingled aromas of life in the jungle, I was reminded heavily of my time in Los Cedros in Ecuador, and I smiled to think of how similar some parts of the world are, even when they are about as far away from each other as it's possible to be. My walks took me to various waterfalls, and at each available point I jumped in to the water (clothes and all) to cool off from the oppressive humidity of the forest.
After my first day-walk I treated myself to a traditional Thai massage. It was surprisingly brutal but also relaxing and invigorating, and at the end of it my limbs felt lighter and less strained, despite the lengthy walk I'd done earlier in the day.
After the second day of walking it was time to leave Khao Sok for Bangkok on a night bus. We were taken by minibus to the nearest large town, Surat Thani, from where everyone except me was told to get off and wait at a travel agent for the coach which would take them overnight to Bangkok. I was told that I needed to be taken to a different travel agent as I had booked my ticket through a different company. At first I was quite annoyed by this and I thought I was getting messed around. I'm very glad that I was moved, however, because I later bumped into an Austrian couple on the other bus who had had things stolen from their bags while they were asleep on the bus. My coach also had the advantage of having hardly anyone on it, and I successfully claimed all five back seats to lie down on for the trip.
Here in Bangkok I'm staying on the legendary Khao San road in the backpacker's mecca of Banglamphu. Khao San road is a heady mix of bars, street food vendors, internet shops, guest houses and the all-important counterfeit CDs, DVDs and t-shirts stalls. The atmosphere is unique here and I feel it's a great place for me to end my trip.
Today I walked into the historic royal quarter of Ratanakosin, a very different destination in Bangkok but one that's no less dizzying, decked out as it is with splendid royal palaces and ornate Buddhist temples. I visited Wat Phra Kaew, the incredibly ornate complex within the Grand Palace which houses the temple of the Emerald Buddha. I also visited Wat Pho, the home of the deservedly famous Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Here there is basically a very large (30m long more or less) gold statue of the Buddha reaching Nirvana. It's an impressive sight.
Today is my last full day in Bangkok, but before my flight tomorrow I'm going to brave the public transport system of Bangkok (which, incidentally, includes the world's largest bus network) to explore some more of the city. I'm also going to buy as many dodgy CDs as my overflowing rucksac will allow.
