One of my closest volunteer friends, Brandon, lives in a village that is a pretty well-known Thai tourist destination in Khao Koh, Petchabun. Last year, some of the teachers at my school were talking about taking a trip there at the end of bpit term, but it never happened for whatever number of reasons. However, I did get to make my way there this bpit term since Brandon invited to his house.
Khao Koh is beautiful. In spite of the famousness of this place among Thais, almost no foreign tourists make it there. Spouses of Thai nationals are the exception. After having lived there for over a year now, Brandon knew exactly where to take us and what to do at the house to give us the best experience possible.
The first night we were there, it rained. Which was glorious because it make the weather so wonderfully comfortable, even though it rarely gets blazing hot in Khao Koh because of its mountain locale.
National Forest
What was not so glorious about the rain is that is scares away the jellyfish. Yes, in a single location in the river that runs through Khao Koh, there lives an endemic species of freshwater jellyfish, supposedly the only freshwater jellyfish in Asia. We took the boat ride to the location, but didn’t see any. What we did see was a swarm of butterflies. The locals spread this rock with a salt and honey mixture to lure the butterflies there and the guide was careful to mention that it is not harmful to the environment.
That evening, we built a fire and made s’mores.
The Most Beautiful Temple
The next morning, two friends needed to return to their sites, so we all took them to the bus stop which happened to be a short drive from Wat Paa Son Gaeow. This wat is probably the most beautiful wat I have been to in my time here and I don’t think that there will be one that tops it. It’s located in a beautiful mountain setting, first of all. But then, it’s not a traditionally designed and decorated place – it’s covered in tiled mosaics. Any description I attempt to make won’t do it justice and the photos barely do. I could easily see myself doing a meditation retreat at this wat.
That evening we danced, made cookies and watched a movie, getting in our last little bits of farang time before splitting up again. Overall, it was a glorious trip, and we didn’t even get to do everything there is to do there.