Thailand - Day 12, Khao Sok National Park

 Today classified as a free day and there was a list of optional activities that included hiking, biking and boating. About 10 of us opted for the boat trip on the lake.

Ammy sent us a list of things we needed to take with us, breakfast and then piled into the vans again. At the lake there were a few shops (more on the need for bananas later).

 

Of course there was a mandatory bathroom break and then down

and into a "long tailed" boat

for our ride past the dam and up the lake.

It started with just glimpses of the scenery to come.

Our boat had a canvas tarp along the side that prevented most of the splash from getting us wet.

Sometimes

we went close to the shore to see the cliffs

and rock formations.

Ammy has particular areas that she likes to take either group photos or portraits.

We weren't always into it (as you can tell from Nics face in this shot) but we usually went along with it. It was an area of discomfort for me. I don't like having my picture taken anyway and then having it taken of me alone after all the couples, emphasized my singleness. I usually declined.

After quite a long boat ride we came to an area of floating buildings. These are the cabins but there was also dining areas, washrooms, a kitchen and floating docks.

Most of us took kayaks out and explored the bay that we were in.

Lunch was provided with beer, pop or water (wine is expensive here as it is all imported)

Afterwards we relaxed and swam and

just enjoyed the sun, the water and the scenery, with no place to hurry off to.

Just this one picture from the ride back. The wind had picked up, white caps on the water and we were heading back fast, so the sides no longer protected us and we all got absolutely soaked. I hadn't changed from my bathing suit but some had, and wished they hadn't.

On the way back we stopped at the "monkey temple"

That's why Ammy had bought those little bananas. This guy climbed up my leg and grabbed the banana out of my hand before Ammy told all of us to throw the bananas not hold them.

They were all hanging out around the statue of a monkey and a pond.

Lots of photo opportunities. And what about those pants, you ask? Well by the end of the trip almost all of us had bought "elephant pants". Harem pants style, for men and women, often with an elephant motif, soooo comfy, like wearing pajamas.

These are Long Tailed Monkeys.

Long-tailed macaques, also called crab-eating macaques and cynomolgus monkeys, are widely distributed across South Asia, including in Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, India (Nicobar Island), large areas of Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam. from primateconservacy.com

 

There were young ones who were very entertaining.

Also at this stop a cave with a Buddha,

and a crematorium 

but

the monkeys were the main attraction.