|
Jan 2009
 Ray and I visited Wat Khao Look Chang, which translates to Baby Elephant
Temple. The temple on whose grounds the Wildlife Rescue Center is built
on top of and around a small hill of huge granite boulders. The Wat,
which has been at this location for many years was named for the
resemblance of the boulder arrangement to baby elephants.
At the top of the hill is a huge reclining Buddha. It is impressive and
it does have a gold robe but it is not the Golden Buddha of Bankok fame.
There are numerous small temples on the site, each with its own Buddha,
plus a golden baby elephant.
There is an interesting story behind the location of the Wildlife
Rescue Center. The current Abbot of the Wat spent his early years at Wat
Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, in Bangkok. He wrote a thesis for his PhD
from a monastic college on the plight of animals in Thailand and the
practise of leaving unwanted dogs at temples. When he heard that Edwin
Wiek was establishing a Rescue Center, he invited him to build a center
on the Wat property. Apparently when the Abbot and Edwin agreed to this
arrangement the Abbot stated that he would take care of the Monks and
Edwin would take care of the Monkeys. Thai property law does not allow a
foreigner to own land, so the Abbot of the Wat is the official owner and
Edwin is a managing director. This seems to work very well. The Center
has expanded since its opening in 2001 and now includes two additions
adjoining the Wat property.
Karst mountains near Cha-am |
the bats exit each night |
Each Wednesday night a huge market opens in Cha-am. This is a
popular outing for the volunteer staff. 18 of us took taxis into town
last week. We had a bonus stop on the way to town. One of the large
Karst mountains near Cha-am has a cave near the top of the hill that is
filled with bats. Just like Mulu National Park in Borneo, the bats exit
each night just before sunset to go for their nightly feeding. Guess
what? They performed as advertised!
We arrived at a house facing the
hill just in time to assemble on a balcony to witness this daily
phenomenon. A thick rope of bats twisted and turned out of the cave and
across the sky just above our heads. At times they were no more than 3 M
above us as they flew to the best insect feeding grounds. We all watched
fascinated for about 20 minutes until the last bat was gone. It was
worth witnessing.
 By the time we left the Bat Cave we were all hungry and the Night Market
was the place to be. Besides a huge assortment of stalls selling
clothing and household goods, there was fresh Thai food. There were
sweets, fruits, meats, fish and everything to satisfy your appetite.
There was even one booth selling fried baby frogs, cicadas, grubs and
other tasty insects for those brave enough to sample them. I just took a
photo this time.
I chose some spring rolls, chicken satays, some Jack Fruit, and veggie
squares that looked like a type of Fritata. Once we had made our
selections, another volunteer and I looked for a place to eat our meal.
The perfect place was a beer garden area with tables and chairs
conveniently outside. We shared a table with a friendly Dutch man who
was spending three months with his wife in a rented home near the beach.
The rest of the volunteers soon joined us for a beer before returning to
the center.
 On
our first day off Ray and I took a taxi to Cha-am
and spent the day on the beach. The town has become a favourite winter
vacation spot for northern Europeans who all love to bake in the sun.
The water was a bit chilly today so not many people took advantage of
the mild surf on this 2 km stretch of sand. Everyone, like us, rent a
beach chair under an umbrella and then fight off a continual stream of
T-shirt and jewellery vendors. Ray and did have a nice lunch at one of
the beach side restaurants and then bought a juicy papaya from a vendor
for our desert.
We did more than care for the animals at the Wildlife Rescue Center. On
our days off we visited a few of the sights in the area and the Center
arranged a few expeditions for us.
The women especially liked
visiting the Petchvaran Resort, about 19 km from the Center. The resort
will send a driver to pick up any visitors. On one of our days off I
joined two other women, Hannah and Claire, for a relaxing afternoon at
this upscale resort and spa. Beautiful Thai-style cabins are set amongst
gardens and pools. A large glass sided restaurant sits beside a huge
swimming pool with comfortable lounge chairs and umbrellas. The three of
us had a swim before lunch in the restaurant. The other two took
advantage of the special massages on offer while I was content to sit by
the pool. We had the resort almost to ourselves. I don’t know how they
stay open as there have been few guests whenever any of the volunteers
visit. It is almost as if they cater exclusively to us.
Kaeng
Krachen National Park, the largest in Thailand is about one hours drive
from the Center. Every two weeks a special evening trip is arranged to
see elephants in the wild. About 16 of the volunteers piled into two
pickup trucks for the trip. We arrived at the park gates shortly before
sunset, hoping to see elephants as they made their way to their evening
resting spot in the forest. The main route for the elephants is across a
busy road crossing the park that serves as the main commuter route for
Thai workers. We stopped to see elephants in three different spots
ambling along the road pulling branches from the trees for their evening
snack. Most of the volunteers were in the back of the open truck but I
was inside the cab. We stopped close to one elephant and I opened the
cab door and stood on the running board to get a good view. Suddenly the
elephant sensed we were watching him and made threatening moves towards
us. One of the volunteers has a good video of the elephant approaching
us with audio of her saying, “Jeanne, get back in the truck!” It did get
back in quickly and we drove on without incident.
After our
prearranged dinner at a restaurant on the edge of the park, we returned
on the same road in the dark, travelling very slowly, hoping to get
another glimpse of an elephant. We did see two by the side of the road,
still munching leaves. One was a big bull, complete with long tusks that
seemed disturbed by the traffic. It ambled along the road and out in the
middle without regard to oncoming traffic. All the vehicles had to stop
and let the elephant pass safely. You don’t mess with an animal that
size.
We wished we had enough time to make a daytime visit to the
park. Some of the volunteers left the center at 4 AM in order to be at
the park for sunrise. That is when you have the best chance of seeing
the wild gibbons, langurs and other animals. There are also a large
number of birds for enthusiasts and a waterfall at the end of a two hour
hike. Maybe another time will be able to visit.
On another of our
days off we walked around the lake in front of the Center. It was a
pleasant one hour walk, passing by lime tree orchards and several small
farms. We had close-up views of some of the gibbons living on the
islands in the lake and watched one of the Thai workers row out and fill
a basket with food for the gibbons and haul it up on a rope to the
animals waiting in the trees.
Chinese New Year was announced with
fireworks starting at dawn and continuing all day as children set off
small charges. It was a two day national holiday. Ray and I had a day
off on the second day of the celebrations and planned to spend it at
Cha-am beach. Boy, was it a larger crowd than the first time we were
there. Traffic was brought to a standstill in Cha-am as all the Thai
families from miles around headed to the beach. We did find some chairs
available under an umbrella next to the water and settled in to watch
the fun. The big bananas were doing a big business hauling kids back and
forth in the water. The swimming was great as the water had warmed up
considerably from our previous visit. The beach is shallow for a
distance from the shore making it perfect for small children. They
played in the water with life preservers on or inside big inner tubes. I
must say they crowd was very orderly, just enjoying a family time.
|
