Khao Yai National Park, Thailand

Sunday, 9 April 2017

On my way to Cambodia and beyond on what will become a rather long trip, we stopped at the Khao Yai National Park, 170km north-west of Bangkok in Thailand. The park has a wide variety of vegetation types in part because it sprawls over a range of altitudes.

▲ During our brief stay we saw monkeys, deer, some rather large water monitors swimming by in the river and, just sitting in the café at the park information centre, this family of porcupines scurrying purposefully by along the road past the café.

▲ We also encountered rather more leeches than needed. The information centre outfitted us with these very neat combination socks and leggings to keep leeches out of your shoes. These were very persistent leeches, however, and back at the centre after a 45-minute circuit walk I was still fighting off this final leech trying to find a way on board to enjoy my blood.

▲ Finally we stayed at the very flash Dasada Resort just outside the park boundaries, it would have fitted in very comfortably amongst Bali’s swish boutique resorts.