Jungle for dessert

Good holiday, in my opinion, as a decent dinner, consists not only from the main dishes. Dessert is not required, but it will not be superfluous. Therefore, widowed and drowned away from thousands of sincere smiles at the Thai Island Phuket, I resolutely went to the local travel agency "For delicious". Dessert offered a two-day trip to the Khao Juice National Park, absolutely wild jungle somewhere on the border with Burma.

If there is a man’s leg, then infrequent. After all, it is impossible to get there not only on the jeep, but even on an elephant. The only way to the park – on the lake at high-speed boats. Adventure hunters turned out to be only four: besides me, to deprive itself all the benefits of civilization for two days, married couple from France and Japanese girl.

– Wild place – this does not mean that we will have to live on palm trees? – just in case I asked the employee of the agency.
– No, houses on trees are provided only for those who go to the jungle for a long time, – followed quite a serious answer. – And for you, water bungalows are cooked.
– the same as in Polynesia?
– Yes, only five star bungalows, and in our jungle – minus five stars. Primitive colors!

Then it seemed to me that the secret was playing me. Five stars with a minus sign? Can not be! In addition, the fact that the Khao Juice Park is relatively safe in terms of tropical diseases, the chance to catch even banal malaria there, unlike other wild corners of the nature of Southeast Asia, almost zero. In short, I was ready for adventure.

Early in the morning of the next day, all participants in the adventures with an experienced guide at the head of the sitting in a comfortable minibus that rushed towards the Burmese border. In two hours, the car overwhelmed about three hundred kilometers without problems, the road in the wild faces was not at all tedious. In the way the guide entertained us with different bikes. For example, a story about how during the next babble in the jungle, he became a target for leeches – they fell from trees in such a number that he barely managed to shoot them with a knife with his skin. And tourists who were near, for some reason did not touch leeches. Then the conductor intrigued us a possible meeting with an amazing plant – Rafflesey. He has the biggest flower in the world – to a meter in diameter! True, see this miracle of tropical flora is destined only to very successful travelers. At least we have a chance.

Finally, we turned to a narrow primer, which led us to the shore of a huge lake. Here our group was waiting for a giant pie, equipped with monstrous sizes by a motor from a powerful truck. By transferring our belongings into the boat, we prepared for departure. The unreed engine raised the boat on the punch. Never thought that wooden pies can rush with such a mad speed! Features, she exceed 70 kilometers per hour. However, it was quite possible to drive without the risk of clashes with other boats – because there were no soul around.

Already after half an hour, vegetation on the shores became very thick – the jungle began. However, at that moment they were not interested. Growing straight out of the water huge stone blocks height from the skyscraper – the island-giants – they were also almost completely covered with greens. I counted them about a dozen. Driving a boat Tapet persistently tried to talk to us nerves: the cake rushed just a few meters from the rocks. The French were closed, and Japanese squeezed from pleasure.

Rain suddenly began. I used to go for a real tropical shower several times – it pours not the fact that from the bucket, but like from the barrel, – but completely in other circumstances. It’s one thing – when you have time to run under a canopy on the beach and from there you admire the female element. And very differently you feel in the cake in the middle of the lake, when, when weaving to the thread, trying to save from the flood at least the camera. Water was so much that we barely had time to pull it out of pies. Waiting when we completely get out of the forces, the shower instantly stopped. Could continue the journey.

Gradually, the lake began to narrow, and soon the tiny settlement appeared – a floating village. Bamboo huts stood right on the water, meters thirty from the shore.

– Welcome to the tropical hotel, – our guide broke into a smile. – Here you can feel in complete safety, the beasts will not dare to dry into the water.

We lost the gift of speech for a moment. It turns out that an employee of the travel agency did not joke: we really had to spend the night almost in primitive conditions. By the way, in such water bungalows in remote areas of the country, local tribes who have not yet entered civilization still live. We also got a chance a little stern. It was late to retreat, and we unloaded out of the boat on a slippery bamboo marina. It was quite difficult to walk on it: so as not to fall into the lake, I had to move almost crawling.

First of all, everyone went to inspect "Rooms". After the modern bungalow in which I lived in Phuket, the hut shocked by her asceticism. Bamboo house area no more than four square meters was absolutely empty. The only object of the interior is the thin mat on the floor. Of course, no one expected to see a plasma TV and a jacuzzi here, but there was no electricity in the bungalow, nor at least some kind of plumbing! Just in case I looked into the next "room" – same. Looks like conveniences are located in the jungle.

Fortunately, it turned out that some benefits of civilization were still in a big hut for personnel, meters fifty from my apartments. True, every walk "Basic room" on slippery bamboo, especially at dusk, turned into a serious test. Holidays on a rigid mat seemed severe inspection of the body for strength, but after an hour or two we were accustomed to such a level of comfort and even enjoyed the noise of water, which literally splashed under the pillow.

As soon as he was dark, we were invited to dinner to the main hut. Treated fish caught in the lake and boiled rice with pineapples. Here, on the wild lake among the jungle, these dishes looked just the royal delicacy. And immediately after the meal, our team took place in the cake again – the night safari time is. Slept without lanterns, in complete darkness, only occasionally including the motor, – the conductor masterfully controlled the boat with a long pole, which took to the bottom. He knew the way so well that, I think I could lead the boat and touch, with closed eyes. Having gone to the shore, we waited patiently. Tropical forest was filled with hundreds of amazing sounds: the invisible dwellers of the jungle rustled in the grass, shouted with different voices high in the crowns of trees, broken down, as if at the concert of brass instruments. Then the conductor turned on the spotlight installed in the boat and began "Touch" Darkness. After a moment, the beam of light found surprise flock monkeys. Another second – and we met views with a huge, about a meter in length, Varan, which was motionless of confusion. After a minute all grains "dissolved" In foliage. And we went to clean the next sector. There we managed to discover the accumulation of bats (as the conductor said, the colony has no less than ten thousand) and rare woody frogs are incredibly bright colors with expressive eyes with a large coin.

It turned out that we explored the night jungle for more than three hours, and so got fascinated by the search for livestock, that the conductor had to return us almost by force "hotel". The rest of the night we Corota in our huts, continuing to listen to the music of the jungle: the feeling that you are in the very center of life of the rainforest, and it was scary to get out of the bungalow before dawn – suspicious rusties were too close.

After breakfast, we had another adventure – landing in the jungle. Each expedition participant armed with an ax that we can reliably play the roles of pioneers. Believe the word: lay the road in the stuffy (humidity reaches one hundred percent!) Tropical Forest in primitive way – lesson for convicts with experience. It is not surprising that our detachment managed to do among Lian and tree fern tunnel with a length of all meters forty. First gave up, demanding immediate return on the floating base, the French. Then the capitulated Japanese. My turn came soon. Justice Note: The conductor also kept from the last forces. Therefore, the search for a fantastic Rafflesi flower was postponed until the next time.

A good replacement of an awesome butterfly with a pigeon with a pigeon, – Behind them could be observed without getting out of the mat in the hut. Non-PUB grace insects of amazing colors flipped right at the entrance to the bungalow.

On Phuket we returned with some regret. Updated again in modern bungalow with all the amenities, I felt: something is missing. Maybe the fascinating music jungle? Or sprup water under the pillow?