After driving through some small towns (Phrae) and shortcuts provided by google maps we get to Phitsanulok. We (I) decide to stay in a classy joint since it had been a while ($12/night in CM), and to prepare for the following days excitement. It turns out to be a huge dud. Some strange wellness centre, we merely slept and left the next morning. Prior to checking in we stopped at an epic night market in Phitsanulok on our way through. A thousand times better than any Chiang Mai market. We were the only tourists, great takeaways and typical authentic chaos.

The next day we continue on our way south/east. The roads get significantly better (after getting worse) as we near the National Park and it starts to feel like a North American highway. I try again to find us a nice place to stay and succeed this time. We stay at Kirimaya. Which feels like an abandoned 4 star golf course hotel. Abandoned referring to the lack of other guests, not the grounds lacking in any way. The morning we left we were the only people at the breakfast spread, which was staffed by half a dozen workers and enough food for a small army. Which I’m hoping they ate after we left.

So on to the excitement.

We’re getting through the gates of Khao Yai just as they’re opening for the day. I had read that your best chance to see elephants is dawn and dusk as they find it too warm to do much of anything in the heat.  Relatable.

We spent the morning on a few different nature trails in different areas of the park. We were driving along when some suspicious monkeys surrounded the car, so we had an impromptu photo shoot with them for a while, which was satisfying. During the second self guided hike we did actually find wild elephants. There was a small group of them foraging and eating but the bush was so dense it was hard to really see them. Plus it was super unnerving being on foot with these huge animals within trampling distance and I was generally hiding behind trees. We stayed with them for about 20 minutes, not disturbing them and just observing. Eventually a group of farangs with a noisy guide showed up and chased them away. Then we got lost on the way back to the car. Fun times.

So like 3 hours later… mid afternoon by now. We find the car park -evading death, luckily it’s slightly cooler in the mountains, or at least that’s how my memory retains it. So we’re parched and head towards the museum/gift shop to find copious thai teas. We see another couple there that we had seen earlier, they were on a scooter and told us about their close encounter with a large male elephant. While they had stopped along the main road to remove a spider from one of them they looked up to see the elephant staring back just in the brush at the edge of the road! I can’t remember exactly but either it took off or they zipped away on their scooter, not wanting to get stomped.

So we were über jealous. Figuring we had at least seen the group in the wild earlier, it was still worth it.

Then, literally just up the road from the gift shop, 10 minutes, we get cut off by a very large male elephant just as we were leaving. He easily blocks the narrow two lane road and finds little interest in our car as he meanders past us. It’s all very surreal. Eventually other cars and tour trucks arrive. We pick up on their elephant viewing tactics. Never go at them head on. Always have an escape route. One of the tour trucks (open back, full of farangs) got themselves too close, in my opinion, to the point where the big big ele was annoyed enough to charge at them with his ears flapping and trumpet going. He almost caught up to the truck as they jolted away. Not quite sure what he would have done if they had stalled, but we weren’t hanging around to see.

We continued along, stopping again twice to watch the elephants on their way home. The last group was 3 adults and a baby, they stopped traffic for a good 15 minutes before disappearing into the lush rainforest.

We spent that night on the outskirts of Bangkok, had dinner beside the freeway and flew home the next morning.
Khao Yai was in the top spot with Koh Kood. And it was already decided we would be spending a few weeks back on the little island the next year. Which says a lot coming from someone who proclaims his distaste for all beaches.