Planes, trains, and automobiles... plus bikes and tuk-tuks.
Making our way through Thailand proved to be a beautiful and trouble free adventure with our good friend Brooke, whom we met in Bangkok fresh off the plane from JFK. Our first stop was in Pak Chong, a small agricultural region a few hours north of Bangkok. In addition to being next door to the giant national park Khao Yai, the major draw is the farms are littered with some of the finest vineyards in Asia.
We were dropped off in the city proper and had to find a taxi to take us to our hotel. Here, the taxis are open air trucks perfect for seeing the country side and having a cold beverage.
We stayed at Phukumhom Resort, where we were the only guests. This time of year most tourist find it too hot, so the pool, restaurant, and beautiful grounds were all ours.
Each room is a separate building with its own private roof top balcony, where we watched the sun set over the temples on near by hilltops and Alcidini Winery next door.
One afternoon we walked over to the vineyards for a wine tasting. One of the owners lived in San Francisco for seven years where he studied viniculture and to be a Sommelier. He told us all about how new the wine industry is in Thailand and how all the wines made there were lighter (even the red wine) in order to be paired with spicy Thai food. Again, we were the only ones there as it was the middle of the week.
To help keep the weeds down sheep are brought in.
A fine Shiraz/Muscat Blu and Recioto.
Khao Yai park was absolutely amazing. There were multiple places to stop to just enjoy the view along with waterfalls and hiking trails galore.
We were able to easily hike down to one of the waterfalls. It was so much fun to climb on the rocks, we were able to sit and relax and take in our surroundings.
Can you spot the tiny frog on the jungle floor?
We were admiring some tiny frogs when we saw what we thought were inch worms. It turns out they aren't inch worms but leeches.
Lauren found one stuck to her foot. Alan took a picture first, then took it off.
Our next task was to hike about an hour to see another waterfall. About 30 minutes in we saw a few signs warning us of crocodiles. Because our path was dense jungle, and hugging a swapped part of the river, we thought it best to turn around.
We never actually saw and crocodiles, but we did see a few lizards.
On the way back monkeys were playing in the trees and bamboo so we stopped and watched them from below.
As we headed out of the park around dusk, monkeys were everywhere in the streets. Coming out in the open to watch the tourist leave for the evening.
At sunset, the GM of the hotel took us to watch the bats take flight over the rich soil of the area. True service from the fine folks at the Phukumhom Resort.
