Here in Thailand we do not have the privilege of having American Holidays off, like Memorial Day. We do however have the advantage of having off some of the Thai Holidays. Visakabucha Day being one of them. It is a Buddhist public holiday, this year it was held on May 17th. The day commemorates the birth, the enlightenment and death of Buddha.
Unfortunately for John, he still had school; the International School of Bangkok is an American based curriculum and follows US holiday schedule. Fortunately Ron did have it off and so we took advantage of the nice HOT weather and decided to get outside the city and explore....
Erawan National park is about 2 1/2 hours away and with a driver it was fun to play games on my iPad and leave the driving to someone else. The major attraction of the park is Erawan Falls, a waterfall named after the erawan, the three-headed white elephant of Hindu mythology. The seven-tiered falls are said to resemble the erawan.
You can walk to the top level and back in about 2 hours, it is a fair trek which is slippery and tricky in sections, but it’s well worth it if you are up to it.
You can reward yourself with a swim in one of the beautifully blue pools on the way back down, however I couldn't resist and jump in to one of the pools on the hike up to the top. There are harmless little fish that live in the pools along the trail that nibble at the skin on your feet, this makes for a slightly less relaxing swim but an amusing experience as laughter rings out all around.
The hike was not hard compared to some of the hikes I took in Hong Kong, but it had the familiarity of being back in that beautiful hiking terrain. One of the things I miss most from my time in Hong Kong is the ability to hike everyday. This little get away was well worth the 2 1/2 hour drive for me...
Unfortunately for John, he still had school; the International School of Bangkok is an American based curriculum and follows US holiday schedule. Fortunately Ron did have it off and so we took advantage of the nice HOT weather and decided to get outside the city and explore....
Erawan National park is about 2 1/2 hours away and with a driver it was fun to play games on my iPad and leave the driving to someone else. The major attraction of the park is Erawan Falls, a waterfall named after the erawan, the three-headed white elephant of Hindu mythology. The seven-tiered falls are said to resemble the erawan.
You can reward yourself with a swim in one of the beautifully blue pools on the way back down, however I couldn't resist and jump in to one of the pools on the hike up to the top. There are harmless little fish that live in the pools along the trail that nibble at the skin on your feet, this makes for a slightly less relaxing swim but an amusing experience as laughter rings out all around.
The hike was not hard compared to some of the hikes I took in Hong Kong, but it had the familiarity of being back in that beautiful hiking terrain. One of the things I miss most from my time in Hong Kong is the ability to hike everyday. This little get away was well worth the 2 1/2 hour drive for me...
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