Four Girls, A Khao Yai National Park and a Couple of Road Races

A couple of months ago we started looking for a road race and we had 7 takers. Two had an accident on their scooter (ok, but one with a broken elbow and the other broken collarbone) and one got the flu so we were down to four. 

The destination was Khao Yai National Park, which is 1-2.5 hours north on Bangkok depending on which part you are going to. We were fortunate enough to be lent a house by one of the parents which came with two scooters.

Team #1: Megan and Colby

Team #2: Darcy and Myself

The House.

The tree-house next door which we cooked in.

Spirit house in their yard. We see lots of these.

The guard dog.....not too scary and so ugly he's cute. 

The hotel/condos being built beside the house which upsets the owners for obvious reasons.

We got in Friday evening and on I got up early on Saturday and went for a bike ride to check out the area.

What a back drop!

There were some very unique themed places which look very new like this one called The Castle.

This sign made me laugh though. What is a test run?

Saw 4 elephants chained to trees as people paid money to feed them and I imagine ride them also. Easy to pass judgement with a Western perspective but the riding etc is being reduced more and more. It was interesting because a conservation area is nearby. Maybe they were from there...who knows.

Glad to see that they are prepared for us.

This is how you ride a scooter at night when you don't have a headlamp that works. Iphone flashlight to the rescue.

We took the scooters to the registration area which was also the entrance to Khao Yai Park so we decided to take a drive in and check out a couple of trails.

Park Entrance and also Start/Finish line.

We barely made it up some of the hills on the way to the Visitors Center (17 km) but we got there eventually. The way back was way faster. 

 Relaxin' 

By process of elimination we decided that this must be the waterfall.

Ouch! 

Safety does not seem to be an issue.

A few animal warning signs.

Beautiful view into the valley.

Monkeys are menaces

Our day ended at a winery which we thought was local. We were incredibly under dressed but they ushered us in anyway. We were actually the only customers and we felt very civilized eating fantastic italian food and sipping wine with a view of the gardens. 

This is what we were there for.

The logo....

Us posing as the logo.

Each race has the usual exhibitions that we have in N. America only they are outside. Great deals are to be had and we popped in for a bit. We were looking for matching shirts for our group of runners and we were successful!

Here we are, post-race in our new shirts. Four farangs (foreigners) in matching shirts make for many photo ops.

Megan and I ran the 1/2 Marathon which started at 5:45 which means that you get to see the sunrise on the way back to the finish. It is really very dark at 5:45 am.

A little bit of interesting information. This is the 1/2 M which I ran in December in Ayutthaya....came 2nd in the 50+ (running is not the same caliber here).

Take a look at the picture from this run....I came 3rd this time but two of the women in the top 5 are the same. I guess the running group here is small but it's fun seeing the same people.

I realized afterwards that they had recognized me.....and wanted pictures. I guess I'll see them again and perhaps a little fun rivalry. 

The post-race food that we are used to in N. Am. is bagels, bananas, oranges, yogurt etc. Although, there were bananas, I cannot get used to....

Noodles

.

Deep fried dough dipped in hot sweet soy milk. Although, the soy milk is good.

That's the weekend......