Today - Feb 26 - finally accomplished a goal I had been wanting to complete since I arrived on the island, that is hiking to the high point on the island, called Khao Ra. I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to get around to doing the hike, although i have been busy with yoga, swimming and snorkeling, touring the rest of the island, and doing all others kinds of stuff. Been a while since I had done a long and rather challenging hike, probably since doing the hike to Bottle Beach about a month and half ago. Today's was much more difficult as I was hiking uphill to reach the summit of Khao Ra - 627 meters above sea level. The weather was beautiful starting off and throughout the hike, with lots of sunshine and plenty of time in the trees to keep cool. The weather for the past several days on the island had been lots of rain during the days and nights - not the most favorable weather to be hiking in. The trail was quite slippery in spots from the previous days precipitation, and would have been that much more if it had been pouring during the hike. Wasn't too much of a factor hiking to the summit, but descending I had to be extra careful with my footing to avoid slipping and falling on my ass, which happened a couple of times.
I was able to summit the peak in about 2 hrs, the standard time suggested for the hike too take. The trail was fairly well marked with plastic water bottles, although at the beginning I wound up off trail for a bit until I bumped back into the trail walking through the woods. Wasn't able to see any wildlife save a few lizards along the way. I would imagine most wildlife and reptiles are scared off by hikers and the noise and vibrations they create moving along. I only saw 2 hikers along the way up. I had the summit all to myself when I reached it and was able to get some nice pics of the island from the top with the ocean in the distance. There were alot of misty clouds moving in veru quickly and this had the effect of obscuring much of the vista available at the top. Took me much quicker to get back down the mtn and back to my motorbike, only 1 hr. I didn't have any problems losing the trail on the way back and seemingly had the mtn to myself as I didn't bump into anyone on the descend.
I may have one more hike ahead of me on the east side of the island which I am considering in the next few days. Otherwise my next hikes to come will most likely occur in the northern Thailand and Golden Triangle Area and promise to be quite epic. Northern Thailand is very mountainous and forms the very early foothills of the Himalayas several countries off. In speaking with others who have been in northern Thailand and the Chiang Mai area there are numerous tours, treks, and hikes available in the region. Some can last for upwards of several wks and can include hiking deep into the forest, possibly riding on elephants if I choose, an experience promising to be exciting. Still a faint chance I may take a train down to Malaysia and do some trekking in the jungle down there, the next country south of Thailand. Would be amazing but doesn't fit into my budget and schedule very well at the moment.
I was able to summit the peak in about 2 hrs, the standard time suggested for the hike too take. The trail was fairly well marked with plastic water bottles, although at the beginning I wound up off trail for a bit until I bumped back into the trail walking through the woods. Wasn't able to see any wildlife save a few lizards along the way. I would imagine most wildlife and reptiles are scared off by hikers and the noise and vibrations they create moving along. I only saw 2 hikers along the way up. I had the summit all to myself when I reached it and was able to get some nice pics of the island from the top with the ocean in the distance. There were alot of misty clouds moving in veru quickly and this had the effect of obscuring much of the vista available at the top. Took me much quicker to get back down the mtn and back to my motorbike, only 1 hr. I didn't have any problems losing the trail on the way back and seemingly had the mtn to myself as I didn't bump into anyone on the descend.
I may have one more hike ahead of me on the east side of the island which I am considering in the next few days. Otherwise my next hikes to come will most likely occur in the northern Thailand and Golden Triangle Area and promise to be quite epic. Northern Thailand is very mountainous and forms the very early foothills of the Himalayas several countries off. In speaking with others who have been in northern Thailand and the Chiang Mai area there are numerous tours, treks, and hikes available in the region. Some can last for upwards of several wks and can include hiking deep into the forest, possibly riding on elephants if I choose, an experience promising to be exciting. Still a faint chance I may take a train down to Malaysia and do some trekking in the jungle down there, the next country south of Thailand. Would be amazing but doesn't fit into my budget and schedule very well at the moment.
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