Welcome to the Jungle

Dec 18, 2012

We arrive at Koh Ra and immediately realize we are in a different place. We take a long concrete path from the pier deep into the jungle, wehre it has just rained and everything is damp and green. the path turns to brick, then eventually dirt and as we approach the structures of the Koh Ra Ecolodge we have the feeling we are watching an episode of Lost. The jungle sounds are all around us and we are shown to our bungalo, which is just back from the beach but nestled right up into the jungle. The accommodations are sparse and rudimentary, but this is what we signed up for after all. We meet the rest of the staff and guests at the sala and proceed to converse and socialize over dinner. Amanda makes friends with the troop of resident dogs. We retreat to the bungalo and prepare our mosquito nets and find a snake in the bathroom. Just a small one, but not being sure what it was, we summoned Lorie the manager and she removed it for us. We looked it up in a book the next day and think it was a Malayan Bridle snake.
In the morning I spotted a bat hanging from our ceiling and tried chasing it out with a broom but it just kept flying from one side of the room to the other.
I set out on a self guided jungle hike on what was supposed to be a loop trail system but ened up getting lost about 3/4 of the way in due to a poorly marked trail and no signage. I was able to backtrack ok, but was a bit frustrated and disappointed. Along the way, I managed to spot a few interesteing jungle creatures like an 8 inch long millipede and a giant bird eating spider.
We found that despite the mosquito nets, somehow we still managed to get totally attacked. I ended up with dozens of bite marks on by ancles.

The next morning we say our goodbyes to the dogs and staff at Koh Ra Ecolodge and hop on a longtail boat back to Kura Buri. We are picked up by Karen at Andaman Discoveries and she takes us to a Burmese school that they work with so Amanda can meet some of the children. We visit the classrooms and interact with the schoolchildren and they were all very friendly and pleased to meet Amanda. We grab some lunch at the roadside open market and hop in a taxi to take us to the next phase of our trip in Khao Lak, about 1.5 hours south.