Tropical forest trek

Our first full day in Khao Yai included a morning and early afternoon 8-10 kilometer hike that took around 5 hours.  The hike was from the visitor center to Haew Suwat Waterfall. 

We crossed this swinging bridge to begin our trek.

We had a park ranger lead the way because there was considerable off-trail hiking.  He also pointed out interesting facts about particular trees in the forest.

Crossing a shallow stream are Blaire, Franny, and Anna.

Rebecca.

Alex.

We took a 5 minute break part way through the hike.

Stream crossings were good places to get pictures.  Here's Moose.

Annie.

This tree had a large hole around 20 feet up where bees are nesting.  Pictured here are Asiatic black bear claw marks where it climbed up to get the honey.

Low branches are another good place to get pictures.  Gabby.

Max.

Luke.

Emily.

Here I am explaining the ecology of strangler figs.

Here's the strangler fig tree.  It begins by a bird landing in a tree and pooping out the seed of certain fig species.  The seed lands in the bark or an epiphyte and germinates, then begins growing both upward and downward, eventually sending roots into the ground.  Over many years, the fig grows around the original tree to the point that it kills it.  After the original tree decomposes, all that's left is an empty space within the branches of the fig.

Max is walking next to a massive termite mound.

Emily approaching and trying to sidestep an....

...elephant dropping.  These were strewn all along our path.  We estimated they were about 5-7 days old.

After five hours of off-trail trekking, we arrived at Haew Suwat waterfall.  It's the dry season, so not much water is flowing at this time.  If it looks familiar to you, this famous waterfall was featured in the movie "The Beach."