300 Peaks National Park, Thailand

As I mentioned here, we went on a short boat ride to arrive at 300 Peaks National Park.  Or Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park for short.  When we arrived, there was a sandy beach and a little visitors center where you could get a bite to eat or sit in the shade.

There are many things to do here, but one of the items I recommend is to check out some of the caves nearby.  So you walk up a mountain on one of the well marked trails.

And once you've walked up, you can start to walk down into one of the large caverns.  The trail is well defined, but be careful with loose rocks as others may be walking on the trail below you.

And when you arrive, you just might see a little something like this inside.  It is huge inside of here.  And yes, that is a bunch of trees growing inside of a mountain.  Check out the people walking in the middle of the beam of light to get a better idea of the scale of this place.  I had never seen anything like it before in my life.  Our group was giddy as we walked around and checked it out.

According to what I've read, there was a service in this space which was attended by the king.  He was bit by a mosquito and died of malaria shortly after.

Transportation in Thailand

You may remember an earlier post that talked about a trip to Thailand.  After the wedding was over we still had a couple of days to enjoy the area.  So we drove to a nearby town, about an hour away, and found a little fishing village.  This photo is of the fishermen bringing in the day's catch.  It was in the early afternoon, and the temperature was in the 80s, but it was January so wool caps and gloves were in order.

We wanted to get to a nearby park and the easiest way was by boat.  So we asked these guys to give us a ride over.  We were a large group so we split into two boats.  We were dropped off on a sandy beach with a promise they would be back a few hours later.

Part two, tomorrow.

Calming thoughts and Hua Hin, Thailand

A dear friend was married in Hua Hin, Thailand and I was so lucky to get an invite to the event. Hua Hin is located about three hours south of Bangkok by car and is located on the Gulf of Thailand. The place we stayed at was amazing with comfortable rooms and a beautiful pool area that overlooked the gulf. On one side was the king's summer palace... and on the other side was this Golden Buddha and a temple (out of frame at the top of the mountain).

So my friend and I took a walk to explore. We walked up past the Golden Buddha to the white building where a monk was sitting. As we started to walk by he waved us over. He said some words and asked us to make a wish as he tied a piece of string with a knot around each of our wrists.

Later that night, my string fell off my wrist while we were eating dinner; my wish was already true. The string around my friend's wrist was still secure. He finally cut it off after returning from a trip traveling around Southeast Asia for more than a year.

Sometimes it is important to remember that those things you wish for are often things you already have.