I had suggested a few days ago that we could lighten the burden of shifting camp every day by staying a couple of nights in one place, and so today over a breakfast of instant oats we all agreed to have a rest day here in the Salawin National Park. we had stayed just the one night at the campsite just out of MHS – there was no shade or shelters there to protect us from the burning sun and the ponk from the toilets was quite blah so it was an easy decision yesterday to move on, but Salawin was quite nice – Mike had located a thatch-covered area that had a table and few chairs, and power to charge our electrical equipment from.
Karen did some work on her blogs and photos, I looked at some maps and around midday Mike and I rode back to Mae Sariang to get some food for lunch and dinner, returning also with some ice creams that fortunately didn’t melt in the midday heat.
In the afternoon I was bushed as I hadn’t slept well the night before, so I lifted our air mattresses out of the tent and set them up underneath a fan in the covered area, and as we snoozed Aad and Mike saw a 2m long snake slithering nearby us in the dirt just to the side of the concrete pad we were sleeping on. Karen was freaking out a little bit at this when she was told about it, and later that afternoon she saw some snakes swimming in the dam that our tent overlooks, so no wonder she dreamt of snakes later that night.
Dinner was cooked under the fluro lights of the covered area – noodles and baked beans – this time Mike was the chef, and Aad did the dishes. Karen and I were still tired and so we were in bed early – maybe 7:30pm – but it was pitch black outside and the air again wasn’t moving, so again I pulled back the tent fly to encourage some air flow. It’s fascinating lying so close to the jungle and listening to all the animal calls at night-time – a truly beautiful experience. Give it a go sometime !!!
Footnote from Karen: Today was Loi Krathong, one of the most vibrant and stunning festivals in Thailand. On the 25th November, people all over Thailand float their Krathong (small floating boats made from banana leaves with candles to make them into lanterns) down a river to pay respect to Buddha and seek forgiveness from the goddess of water for any misdeeds against her. The Doctor I saw in Mae Sariang told me she went to it……she goes every year!