After one more fabulous breakfast in Rai Lung Tuy, we headed back to Kui Buri National Park, aiming to get there around 2pm this time. On the way we stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant shed, where our table on the raised balcony overlooked a large rabbit enclosure. On the approach to the park (this time we knew the way), we stopped to take pictures of weaver nests in one of the trees, and then discovered that the nearby pineapple field was full of sunbirds of two different species, in brilliant yellow, blue, red and crimson colors.
The tour in Kui Buri was a big success. Merely 5 minutes after we left we spotted a group of two adult females, two younger adults and two baby elephants very close to the road. We watched them grazing until they crossed the road and disappeared in the dense vegetation. In the long ride that followed, we saw many Gaurs – the world’s largest wild bovine – from a significant distance, at two observation points. However, we found no more elephants, although on the second observation point we heard some elephant calls from the distant trees. Finally, on the way back to the ranger station, around the same area where we met the first group, we saw another elephant – this time a large bull – working on a large tree, shaking the whole canopy in the process. The sounds of another elephant could be heard on from within the trees on the other side of the road, but we didn’t see it. Our driver, for reasons unbeknownst to us, positioned the vehicle in a way that minimized visibility of the elephant, and stayed there for a long period of time, keeping the engine running for our pleasure. When he finally decided to move ahead, he quickly passed by the point where the bull could be clearly seen and rushed forward before we had a chance to take a picture or observe it clearly. The reason the guide gave for this peculiar behavior was that “the elephants can move very fast if they are angry”, but we doubted the reasoning, since another car stood at that area minutes before without seeming to enrage the elephant or draw its attention in any way. Oh, well…
After leaving the park we headed to Hua Hin, where we had, for the first time, reserved an apartment in some modern complex (for lack of better options, or so we thought). It was already getting dark, so Lilach was searching google for recommended restaurants along the way, as I was driving, a process that turned out to be extremely nauseating. By the time we got to the nearby restaurant we found – a strange place right by the highway, with lots of goldfish aquariums between the tables – she already had a well developed nausea, that stayed with her all through the rainy ride to Hua Hin. The apartment complex we reached after riding through twisting narrow alleys had a modern design with a central swimming pool, and a key tot he apartment on the 5th floor was waiting for us at the “Juristic Person Office”, as the message from the owner put it (we later saw the same strange term used on signs in the elevator). The apartment was small and modern, and we found its sterile air-conditioned atmosphere totally depressing, not to mention the fact that it only had bed sheets for one bed… In the short while before we all went to sleep in improvised sleeping arrangements we made up our mind to shorten the stay there to one night, and spend the next night elsewhere.
In the morning, we found a nearby place that served coffee, and watched a local family eat a gigantic breakfast of fried fish and seafood outside while I waited for the owner to go buy milk for our coffee, and Lilach and the kids went to a nearby restaurant where we hoped to find a slightly lighter breakfast. With careful supervision, very basic Thai and lots of hand gestures, I managed to get ice coffee that wasn’t sweetened to death, and we drank it alongside rice, omelettes and stir-fried vegetables. After breakfast we went to the Baan Sillapin Artists’ village, an artists community established in 1998 by an artist that moved here from Bangkok. It currently houses the open studios of around 15 active artists, with shops and galleries displaying the work of additional artists. We enjoyed an exhibition of watercolors and drawings by artist Aood Ampawa and when we saw that he was actually present and willing to draw portraits of the visitors we immediately asked him to draw the kids portraits. He did a wonderful job catching Daniel’s expression, but with Tamar’s portrait something was amiss, perhaps because she shifted positions slightly during the sitting. Anyway, when she saw the end result she said “he drew Daniel very nicely, but I look like the fat aunt”. It was interesting to see the artists working in their studios, and the kids enjoyed a long session of drawing and painting in a small workshop with lots of art materials.
We had late lunch in a vegetarian restaurant downtown, which served a variety of dry curries, soups and noodle dishes, and was very reasonable and incredibly cheap. After lunch we headed to the place we booked in the morning – a cute place not far from the sea, with nice modern bungalows and a swimming pool set in a lush garden. Tamar immediately took a picture of the bath towels set in the shape of two swans, while Daniel rushed to the pool. We closed the day with excellent dinner by the sea, in the beautiful restaurant of a local boutique hotel.
Family Trips 