dangered), hundreds of different plants (including the huge flower, Raffelasia, the largest stemless flower in the world with 2-ft. bloom!), thousands of (uncharted) insects and lizards (new species are found regularly in the park) and has big wild mammals like elephants, tigers, and sun bears. The park also has several cool waterfalls, but remains relatively untouristed and badly kept up by the Thai government, who have carelessly let dozens of bungalow operations and crummy bars playing loud music spring up around the park H.Q. in the last 5 years.We stayed at the long-established and well-run guest house, Art's Riverview Lodge, which is keen on preservation of the rainforest and the creatures inside (but unfortunately has terrible food, even though their staff is excellent). We spent four awesome days there relaxing, reading, and doing a few day-long hikes. One day, while we were resting at a nice waterfall with nobody around, I kicked off my shoes and decided to dip my feet right into the cool, clear waters of the pool just above the falls. A minute or two later, Justine (who was near the bottom of the falls) started screaming bloody murder, and as I turn to look, I cought a glimpse of an enormous creature swimming in the water just across the river, about 5 feet away. Upon closer inspection, I realized I was staring at a 6-foot long King Cobra (no joke... he was massive), swimming down the river, DOWN the water fall, and into the pool where J was watching (from the shore, I might add). I sprang into action, leaping down the rocks bare-footed to snatch my camera as J was filming the whole fiasco. She cried out "OH MY GOD!" and the
snake turned, looked at us (no joke... it's on the video which is too large for me to upload from here), and made a giant u-turn in the water, probably realizing for the first time that other large creatures were stirring in the river besides him. So up he goes, straight back up the cascade he had so gracefully come down seconds before, slithering up a 2-ft. drop and then off to the side to some rocks, and back into the pool where my feet were resting when we first spotted him. He swam a bit further up before disappearing under a rock, never to show his gorgeous mug to us again. Shortly thereafter, we continued down the trail and some long-tailed macaques (a kind of monkey) started barking at us and threatening us. A large male came down from the trees to just above our heads and began pounding his fists and shaking a branch in front of him. It wasn't too scary b/c even that large guy was only about 30 lbs., but still... I'd never been threatened by a wild monkey before. Guess we were too close to the feeding grounds and the babies (who were super cute, by the way).Anyway, the park was great, and we saw some amazing creatures, and I even spotted a HUGE hornbill as he was flying overhead (see pic below). At this time of year, the females are literally holed up in a tree or cliff wall, while the males look for food to bring and feed the girls as the incubate the eggs. He passes the food through a tiny hole in the nest for several months to his life-long partner. So cute, and really a beautiful bird. I would guess his wingspan was something like 3 feet!
Enjoy the pics!
-mike
Macaques in the mist.
Blue ferns in the forest.
Tall, buttressed trees.
Bang Leap falls.
Great Hornbill flying fast!
Giant centipede about 8-in. long... ick!
Flying lizard, biting our excellent Night Safari guide, Dam, who showed some Harvard botanists around the park a few months ago and claims to have a walking-leaf insect (which he pointed out to them) named after him.
Cute frog on a leaf, blending in.
View from our room at Art's.
Our trusty sleep sheets covered by a mosquit net.
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