Chapter 3: Destination c/- Google Earth

Our trip to Thailand was conceived only about a month before we left. B and I planned a lot of it over the phone – us both browsing the internet for destination information and me with a few travel books on my lap.

Our second destination had to:

• have waterfalls


• have rainforest


• be off the tourist trail

What better way to search for this destiation than opening Google Earth and looking for a big green patch?
It worked. Our second destination showed me a different side of Thailand to what I had seen in modern Bangkok and tourist loving Krabi area. Our hotel was charming. The food was fantastic. The market was not in the guidebook and didn’t sell souvenirs. The history was interesting and the temples beautiful. The people were genuine and we were motivated to learn and use some more of our limited Thai vocabulary. It was non-touristy enough for one young Thai boy to ask for a photo with us!

The destination was Nakkon Si Thammarat.

We spent one day hiking to Krung Ching waterfall in the Khao Luang national park. The journey started with a haggling session with a group of Songthaew drivers. We negotiated a driver for the day and commenced our cow-spotting journey into the mountains surrounding NST.

Although I had my eyes peeled for one of the rarer local inhabitants (Tapirs, monkeys, snakes… anything) we instead saw a lot of butterflies and a few birds. The waterfall itself was beautiful, in a really powerful way. B scared me a bit when he took a dip, the spray from the waterfall was almost knocking me off the nearby rocks! I was too much of a chicken to go for a swim.

We did stumble across some old traps built by some communists who were hiding out in the jungle at some point, which consisted of a series of pits with wooden spikes in them. I can’t find any more information online about them or the communist operations in this area – I might have to buy another history book to satisfy my curiosity.

I fell in love with one city just over 3 years ago – that was Berlin. Berlin’s energy overpowered me and it was a difficult place to leave. On that trip I had the freedom to extend my stay to get to know the city (which didn’t make it any easier to leave!). I think both B and I had a similar feeling about NST, but a flight booked for us to return to Bangkok forced us to leave before we were really ready. We both think we’ll go back someday.

We returned to Bangkok so that I could drag B around my favourite market – Chatuchak (JJ). I am not sure he was enjoying himself watch me buy scarfs, jewellery and homewares, but a little happier once we discovered a street full of interesting t-shirt shops. B returned to Sydney on Sunday night – another airport farewell!

I flew up to Chiang Mai to experience hill life and solitude. That’s the next post!