Khao Sok National Park

Our accommodation at Khao Sok Paradise Resort, was a wooden room in a tree. It was almost like sleeping in a tent, as we left all the windows open at night and kept the mosquito/bug net over us. We could hear the bugs and even had fireflies in the room. The bathroom was interesting. The shower on the right wall is the conventional one, but the water could also come out of the tree branch. There was a hole in the roof too, so if it rained you could shower in the rain!
We had a resident frog that caught the ants that came in for the water. A really cool place to stay near the entrance to the park. Great food too.

 Our walk into the park was interesting. There are no roads in the park so hiking into the jungle or walking along the river are your choices. We took the path to the closest waterfall, 3 hours there and back. We did not get there, its very hot and humid and we had an enemy we gave in to eventually....The Common Leech! Its not a painful bite but due to the anti-coagulant it injects, the wound does not stop bleeding for ages. After one bite between the toes, my foot looked as if I had been stabbed. Its not easy to get them off either. They suck your blood and expand quickly eventually falling off.
I stopped for a second to get a photo, the Leech is about 5 cm long here and has suckers on both ends with 3 saw like teeth on one end. They sense heat so as soon as you stop they are on you!

Before we gave up the 'battle in the Jungle' we did get to see some of its treasures. This fern had blue edged leaves and the Mushrooms were really pretty.

This is a very old tropical rain forrest and I think it would be really interesting to do one of the long hikes deeper into it. 

The best for me was hearing the Gibbon apes 'singing' in the mornings. The species here is the Lar Gibbon or 'white handed' Gibbon. They live high up in the top canopies of the forrest. Its wonderful to know that they are still living here and not yet extinct.