2nd day of Khao Yai tour

16th day, 30th June (Monday)
Here are pictures of the lodge the 7 of us resided in. It's kinda bad that my own cam was spoilt, and it's even worse that my cam phone is running really low on battery power since the day before; fortunately, Dad brought along his camera, so I can take loads of pictures.
This was where we had fellowship, or when we want to eat fruits.


View of the lodge from downstairs.


This was how the room looked like... despite lack of air-con, it's still a perfect place for hours of undisturbed sleep, even without the use of a fan. The room also consists of extra mattreses, pillow cases and blankets. :-)


I regret to say that this dumb TV set in the room that Pa and myself used is extremely OBSOLETE!!! Not only is the visual and sound quality horrendous, it features ONLY ONE channel!! Fortunately for us, the TV set downstairs is more yup-to-date, and it's even got CABLE!! I suggest this TV set to be sold to garang guni asap... :-(


This is the room at the ground level directly below the room used by Pa and myself. The kitchen has not been in use, and the TV set got HIGH DEFINITION!! And it's even got cable... now if only the lodge personnel ditch all the old TVs and replace them with HD-type TVs.


That's the portrait of King Rama V, Chulalongkorn the Great, hanging on the ceiling of the lodge. He is the one who modernised the country as well as abolished slavery, so you can say he's the Thai version of Abraham Lincoln. It's nearly 100 years since his passing.



After breakfast at the usual lounge, we went to Thunyaporn Farm to drink grape juice bottles. No funny ideas here please. I know that the word would read something obscene if you remove the word "Thunya" from the title.


Remember the old nursery rhyme... "One two three four five, once I caught a fish alive/ Six seven eight nine ten, then I let it go again"? I did try to catch one really huge fish, but unlike the one who bit the boy (the one in the rhyme) by the little finger, this hungry fish tried to bite off MY HAND!!!


We then went to walk around a certain Scout village founded by Rama VI, King Vajiravudh. Vajiravudh is one of the sons of Chulalongkorn, he was able to translate most of Shakespeare's literacy works into Thai. No offence, but he somehow reminded me of Emperor Napolean due to his short stature. Main purpose of going to that place was for Pa and Uncle Poh Chye to look around the place to see if it is suitable for the boy scouts and girl guides to do their camp programme there.


This waterfall scene looks a bit like something out of an Indiana Jones film or a Tarzan film, don't you think? Could be suitable for baptism...


Ah yes, a portrait of the Chakri Dynasty-era Kings found in one of the huts there (one that displays certificates and memntos)... starting off with Buddha Yodfa Chulalok aka King Rama I and ending with the ninth and current monarch, King Bhumibol the Great (who is the longest reigning monarch, having ruled Thailand for more than 60 years). Stay tuned for an upcoming series of entries on the Chakri Dynasty, to be out sometime after the 13th of July.


Is this a tiger or a bear? From afar, it looks like a bear, but bears don't have tails as long as tigers' tails. Whatever the case is, I feel that the sculptors who molded this statue are rather lousy.


We then went to buy some stuff at souvenir shop at Farm Chokchai. We saw a lot of cows and horses there, but sadly the touring programme to view these marvellous creatures is closed on Mondays. :-(

Then the van made a U-turn and we had lunch at Villa restaurant, at posh price
After lunch, we headed to Tesco Lotus for short break. It was there that I quickly purchased batteries for the digicam.




And then we went to a certain reservoir that features the statue of a certain female heroine... I don't know if she's of royal blood or not. However, based on her hairstyle, I believe she lived sometime between Rama I to Rama III's reign.


That's a portrait of King Bhumibol the Great, the longest reigning ruler of Thailand at over 60 years of reign. He turned 80 about half a year ago, and although he may not be as powerful as his grandfather King Chulalongkorn, he has contributed a lot to the country, he is well loved and respected by everyone in Thailand. And some people say 'he never smiles'??? Thank goodness I didn't buy that book...



Then we went to a silk factory to see the process on how clothes and bolsters are being made. I saw plenty of clay-made animal figurines there... animals like frogs, hens, elephants, buffaloes, hornbills, monkeys, squirrels, etc

We then headed back to Khao Yai, have tom yam for dinner. There was plenty of laughter during dinner, lasting all the way to resort, most of the laughter coming from Pa. Somehow I wonder if he is close to becoming another Joker (as in the character in the Batman comics).

Before heading to another period of undisturbed sleep, I went downstairs to watch some Thai dramas via HD-type TV set located at ground-level room with Ace the driver.