Year of the Rat
So many holidays! Although I must say this one wasn't QUITE as fun as christmas. In fact we decided that it possibly may go down as the least fun New Years ever, but just that fact makes it memorable. 
Two pics- one of Melissa and Patricia actually laughing, and one of Roisin and Tom making their best "worst new years ever" faces. The best part of the night was when it finally hit midnight and everyone stopped trying to have fun and we made a pile of late night egg & cheese sandwiches. They were tasty.
So two days ago Melissa, Bethany, Jenn & I took a day off that ended up being somewhat of an adventure. The idea was to go to Kaeng Krachan national park early (we left at 4:30am!) to see the sunrise from the top of the mountain there.Unfortunately the minor detail that we overlooked is that it was the Sunday before New Years and EVERYBODY in Thailand was there with us. Everybody. There were literally hundreds of people, and the truck back up was so bad on the one lane, one way road up the mountain that we didnt reach the top until about 7:45. Well after sunrise.
But we did see the spectacularly beautiful "sea of fog" that covers most of the valleys of the park- I put in a picture but the vastness of it was hard to capture. The sky was incredible as well, so I put in a picture of that too. So then the fun started. It all began when some Thai tourists came up to us and asked to take their pictures with us. In retrospect we decided that they may have thought Bethany was a celebrity, but we'll never know. 
Did I mention that out of the hundreds of tourists, we were the ONLY foreigners? Only. No english, and our taxi driver was someone that the wildlife center had never used before, but had been "vouched for" by the guys they currently use. Anyway, we got to talking to these tourists, who offered us some coffee at their truck, and they asked us if we wanted to go on a nature hike with them. Long story longer, by 2pm we were rafting down a river with eight Thais after they treated us to some chicken foot soup at a local restaurant. Pretty crazy day. My camera died while we were in the park, so I only have a few pics of they day. Actually, all of my electronics are on the fritz (of course). I think my ipod sensed I was about to be back in Thailand, and completely died on the plane ride over. 
:( And my camera aint working right and now my computer wont charge (AKA wont turn on). So that is too bad, but since I apparently offended the camera and computer Gods some time in my youth, I am used to breaking such things. ha ha.
The last few days a few of us have been working to get an enclosure ready for a macaque that desparately needs to be moved. It wasn't even started when we got here, but the whole frame went up last week, and this week we have been able to design the cage however we want to try to best enrich the macaque (who has a MULTITUDE of psychological problems- you should see him!).
It has been really interesting seeing the whole thing come together, and though I havent been involved from the beginning, the girls who started the project have let me join in the fun. So stripping wood, staining it, digging holes, fixing beams and tires with wire and rope, hanging nets and food baskets, and generally making a monkey playground. Just so they can break everything in about a week. :) I unfortunately think I'm going to miss the debut by a day or so, but I've been promised pictures and video of the event. The pictures are of about halfway through the project, then one of me up top hanging a tire swing thing. The last picture of the grooming macaques I had to add because they are so entertaining. Sorry for the excessively long blog. Miss you guys!
Two pics- one of Melissa and Patricia actually laughing, and one of Roisin and Tom making their best "worst new years ever" faces. The best part of the night was when it finally hit midnight and everyone stopped trying to have fun and we made a pile of late night egg & cheese sandwiches. They were tasty.
So two days ago Melissa, Bethany, Jenn & I took a day off that ended up being somewhat of an adventure. The idea was to go to Kaeng Krachan national park early (we left at 4:30am!) to see the sunrise from the top of the mountain there.Unfortunately the minor detail that we overlooked is that it was the Sunday before New Years and EVERYBODY in Thailand was there with us. Everybody. There were literally hundreds of people, and the truck back up was so bad on the one lane, one way road up the mountain that we didnt reach the top until about 7:45. Well after sunrise.
But we did see the spectacularly beautiful "sea of fog" that covers most of the valleys of the park- I put in a picture but the vastness of it was hard to capture. The sky was incredible as well, so I put in a picture of that too. So then the fun started. It all began when some Thai tourists came up to us and asked to take their pictures with us. In retrospect we decided that they may have thought Bethany was a celebrity, but we'll never know. 
Did I mention that out of the hundreds of tourists, we were the ONLY foreigners? Only. No english, and our taxi driver was someone that the wildlife center had never used before, but had been "vouched for" by the guys they currently use. Anyway, we got to talking to these tourists, who offered us some coffee at their truck, and they asked us if we wanted to go on a nature hike with them. Long story longer, by 2pm we were rafting down a river with eight Thais after they treated us to some chicken foot soup at a local restaurant. Pretty crazy day. My camera died while we were in the park, so I only have a few pics of they day. Actually, all of my electronics are on the fritz (of course). I think my ipod sensed I was about to be back in Thailand, and completely died on the plane ride over. 
:( And my camera aint working right and now my computer wont charge (AKA wont turn on). So that is too bad, but since I apparently offended the camera and computer Gods some time in my youth, I am used to breaking such things. ha ha.The last few days a few of us have been working to get an enclosure ready for a macaque that desparately needs to be moved. It wasn't even started when we got here, but the whole frame went up last week, and this week we have been able to design the cage however we want to try to best enrich the macaque (who has a MULTITUDE of psychological problems- you should see him!).
It has been really interesting seeing the whole thing come together, and though I havent been involved from the beginning, the girls who started the project have let me join in the fun. So stripping wood, staining it, digging holes, fixing beams and tires with wire and rope, hanging nets and food baskets, and generally making a monkey playground. Just so they can break everything in about a week. :) I unfortunately think I'm going to miss the debut by a day or so, but I've been promised pictures and video of the event. The pictures are of about halfway through the project, then one of me up top hanging a tire swing thing. The last picture of the grooming macaques I had to add because they are so entertaining. Sorry for the excessively long blog. Miss you guys!
posted by meadfried at 6:50 PM
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