A lot has happened since last night. I was originally going to spend the night at the Khao Sok Hill Top Resort but when it was time to go to bed and I finally got in to the tent I noticed a lot of ants and long black hairs on the mattress! The ants is something the resort can’t do much about I guess (well, they could at least have warned us for them, which they didn’t) but the long black hairs (definitely not mine) meant that the mattress had actually not been cleaned after the previous occupiers slept on it! So I complained to the staff and they were sooooo incredibly rude! In front of maybe 15 people sitting in their restaurant the lady owner (who for some reason knew German) called me a lot of very familiar German swear words, then the same in English and Thai. She called me a liar and tried to make me look bad in front of the other guests. So I calmly explained to the people present there that I was complaining about long black hairs on my bed and that I thought that was a reasonable thing to complain about. Lady owner kept shouting and then told me I had to leave the resort. I’m Dutch so I demanded my money back and for them to arrange something else at the same price and to arrange transport to get there. They got on the phone, talked to someone for a while, hung up the phone and told me it was arranged. I got my money back and packed my things. Then I got told they would not arrange transport after all, simply gave me the name of the place I needed to go to and told me to walk there. In the dark. So I started walking, in the dark, with my stuff, not knowing how far it would be. And how safe. Luckily after 10 minutes a car came from behind me, neighbours of the resort who by sheer coincident happened to need to go the same way, they offered me a ride, asked what I was doing there and I explained everything, the driver told me the lady owner of the resort was a bit crazy in the head, I was dropped off at the new place and I went to the empty reception desk. When I finally spoke to someone I figured they would know about me – as the crazy Thai lady had (allegedly) been on the phone with this resort – but that turned out to be a big lie, they never talked to this new place at all. Luckily at this new place – the Khaosok Island Resort – they were very understanding and offered me a room at this late hour at the same price I had booked the tent for at the crazy place. Faith in humanity restored and I could finally go to bed in the cute little bungalow in the photo

It was a short night because it’s another early rise, I want to do some nature hike

But what’s that on my balcony? A monkey! How cute!

They’re everywhere

They know where to find the food scraps in the bins

Little rascals!

No littering, monkey!!

This is the reception/restaurant of the Khaosok Island Resort, breakfast was good!

I’m at the entrance to the actual national park and of course an entrance fee needs to be paid

The Rafflesia

Map of the hike

Lots of bamboo here

Shade is very welcome because temperatures are already soaring

Heeey, another monkey

A whole family of them

They are cute

They seem to be looking for food

I have no idea what they actually eat

Lots of young ones

Supervised by their elders

The river

Approaching the endpoint of this hike

I have a drink here and try to get my t-shirt to dry (to no avail)

The view is ok, you can go beyond this point but only if you pay for a guide to keep you safe from all the dangers (like trees and leaves and sand)

Some moth (butterfly?) with a very long tongue, I wonder if it’s normal to hang out of its mouth like that

A snake, I’m guessing it’s the Yellow Bellied Black Striped Tree Snake

A wild elephant!

Just kidding, it’s a monkey

Finally one that’s willing to sit still and allows me to come close

So I can take some photos of it

That are sharp

Ok, last one

More bamboo, did you know some species of bamboo can grow up to almost 1 meter per day?

Back from the hike, I have a look around here at the park, there’s some Youth Camp here

Even a campground

They seem to be doing good work here with conservation and such

Main street through Khao Sok village

Back to my resort to pick up the rest of my stuff because later I’ll be taking a minivan to Krabi

Nice decorations on the houses here

I get offered another little ride in the back of a ute

I think these kind of mountains might be unique to Thailand, I’ve not seen them elsewhere

Main street again with all its restaurants and whatnot. I’m leaving for Krabi now. Bye!

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