A trip to heaven.. on Earth

The Khao Yao National Park was declared a World Heritage Zone by the United Nations mid-2006. And this is where I was heading to on Saturday evening after the close of work. My hosts were my ex-Boss, his wife and a friend from my previous place of work.

The drive up North took about 2 hours but the time passed by so fast since we were chattering all the way, catching up with the gossips of not just each other but others as well.

The last time I was at the same location, it was exactly one year ago and at the time, I was with my closest friend, her boy friend, Uncle, and his daughter. Regardless of the company, arriving at Khao Yai and the residence we were going to stay in, was just as serene and calming as can be.

The house belongs to a friend of my ex-Boss, and it serves as a weekend get-away only. And he is also kind enough to have guests coming in and out at any given time and day. The owners of residences in the Khao Yai region are usually the elite and this is evident when you come across the architectural splendors dotting the hills.

With a sumptuous meal on the terrace and an in-house concert at Bulgaria, we retired.

My alarm woke me up at 6:45 a.m.! Luckily, I’d forgotten to turn it off! Waking up looking through the glass doors and into the green hills of Khao Yai was more or less like a part of my dream! But there I was, wide awake and walking right through the glass doors and into the fresh air of the hills.

The only other person awake at that time of the morning was my fury friend who’d stepped right into the pond to have a sip. (This photo is what I now have on my desktop).

After another short nap, we finally woke up and went in for breakfast. Breakfast was rather long as Madame was giving us advice on marital life. How to please a guy in a life time (10 days isn’t just enough)!

We then drove downhill, a few meters down to the on-going construction site of my ex-Boss, who expects to move into his own abode by the beginning of next year. Then, we would actually have 3 hosts within the same radius of 500 meters. The 3 friends had actually got together and decided on purchasing the adjacent lands at the same time.

With lunch back at the house along with another van of friends and half the neighborhood, we headed out to discover the hidden residences of Khao Yai. I was most astonished to see the extremely incredible architectures hidden within the forests of the surrounding Khao Yai. It seemed that everyone knew everyone around the neighborhood.

There was a German village, which actually comprised of some houses built by Germans having Thai partners. Another village was a complete replica of the US log cabins! There were of course, several pioneering “Moo Bans”, or housing estates, which are individually owned but are let out for visitors where and when required. The owners would visit over the weekends and with a special arrangement, they can sublet during the week to interested visitors to Khao Yai. We also came across a house with a Balinese roof and a staircase, which costs 80 million Baht alone. Sorry, I didn’t dare take photos of this house as I’m pretty sure, he can afford to have security cameras in the trees as well!

With a drive through the hills and the discoveries of the day, we headed back. One can never get enough of Khao Yai as it is one place where you find the peace and serenity that is lacking during the hustle and bustle of daily life.