2012 Biennial of the IPS - Part 1: South Thailand Pre-Tour

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Forest Pandanus

Nice filler plant, id?

Neat little bromeliad

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I pointed this Calamus seedling to Paul Craft (Licuala) and immediately more members gathered around it to attempt to id. No ID was produced. It's going to be very large. Could it be a young Calamus scipionum?

Note the neat arrangement of the spines when young

I noticed that at that point a beam of sunlight was highlighting it for us, adding more impact to the find.

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Back to chasing Calamus longisetus

Better keep an eye on the ground too, when chasing Calamus sp.

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Furry red caterpillar

Blue ferns make a neat groundcover

Calamus seedling

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Spent the last two days trying to find the best possible ID for this Calamus. Sorry, I can't even produce a guess...

We continued crossing many streams that interrupted our path.

And here it is, our first encounter with our new friends, Leeches! These were not as numerous than when we wore the socks later on, but certainly were bigger.

Guide Anders knows exactly how to get rid of them with little effort.

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Caryota seedlings against variegated bamboo

A larger Borassodendron machadonis

Plectocomia elongata

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Borassodendron machadonis

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Seed of Borassodendron machadonis.

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12:14 PM: We found our first Licuala seedling, too small to ID.

This one on the other hand matches the description of Licuala hirta.

Note the leaf divided into 11 segments, middle one attached by subpetiole.

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That leaf is so photogenic.

There were more nearby

Somebody apparently snatched the middle segments off this one

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To the left side of the path, the river roared

A chameleon

[Cindy Adair]

I'm enjoying all your new posts as it's sleeting outside in Virginia. Thanks!

[Walter John]

It's like being there, great reporting Frank...

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Glad you're enjoying the sleet Wal! Oops, is late and I'm tired... I'm glad you're enjoying the trip Wal and Cindy, as I enjoy posting and reliving it.

Back in warm Khao Sok...

12:30 PM: Some members took a break at the furthest point that we walked to, where a nice cabin by the river awaited our tired feet.

Borassodendron machadonis

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Very tall individual. It was hard to take a good picture of one due to its liking of a deep forest habitat.

Close to the cabin is where I came across the nicest individual of Licuala hirta.

A view of the cabin, adorned with some nice Pinangas.

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Leeches' first casualty of the Biennial. Ramón sustained heavy damage to his left foot.

This was certainly not the end of the road. There is much more to see and walk to.

I took the stairs towards the river when I felt my hand knocked down from the rail something soft. Only unknowingly I would touch something so strange looking.

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Here I was testing my abilities with the camera to picture water flow. All the failures are of course not posted.

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As in any good auto mechanic book, "installation is the reverse of removal", here the trip back was basically the reverse of what you saw before.

1:42 PM: Back in the village. Photo session continues with Cyrtostachys renda.

"Sawasdee Kha"

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Enjoy it while it's above forty!

[mike in kurtistown]

Wonderful reliving the experience. Thanks, Frank. BTW, many of Hodel's Licuala ID's in his book are now considered synonymous with other species. L. hirta is now referred to as L. merguensis, I think. Your last photo is better than any of mine, so I saved it in my files. Hope you don't mind.

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You are right Mike, L. merguensis, now I remember. That's the one. At least I ID'd correctly, with an older name.

Borassodendron machadonis resembles a giant Sabal mauritiiformis.

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Khao Sok's secret Thai massage. How did I miss that?

1:59 PM: While some of you were all fast asleep (2:59 AM back home), the Biennial Pre-Tour walked fast to lunch, among the towering Areca catechu.

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Our lunch destination for the day was the Khao Sok River Lodge.

In the Land of the Smiles and adorable red dimples.

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A table by the river in one of the nicest settings I experienced in the tour.

Chicken Massaman curry was served first. Mostly made from chicken, potatoes and peanuts.

Then a tasty salad.

What Singha? Chang is my choice Thai beer from that moment on. Chang is the Thai word for "Elephant". Slightly stronger than Singha.

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The frozen fries blended surprisingly nice with the authentic Thai entrees.

This was member Grant Stephenson (palm a grant it) who was overcome by a siesta.

The place had wooden corridors decorated nicely with wooden forms and hanging plants

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The river next to the restaurant. This river eventually leads to the main river which flows into the Gulf of Thailand at the Surat Thani city to the east.

3:17 PM: We finally left Khao Sok and stopped shortly after for a nice panoramic view from the road. On the road we almost ran over a cobra, which was unsettling to know but at least we were in the bus already.

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There were some of us who did not feel like getting out, but also enjoyed the view, taking pictures or attempting to imitate something. This was one for the embarrassing/fun moments of the Biennial Pre-Tour. And like I said in the relevant thread, whoever rode on that bus knows what happened here, I'm not telling...

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3:35 PM: A few miles down the road we had no choice but to stop. There were elephants by the side of the road! That is something we don't see at all everyday. For the Biennial, it was our first contact with this amazing creatures (outside of a circus).

The elephant, symbol of Thailand, very abundant (and dangerous) in the wild, but tame as a horse when domesticated, and VERY intelligent, as you will see later. The map of Thailand resembles an elephant face, as our guide Steven pointed out. In the past were important in battle, with kings mounted on elephants fighting the Burmese to defend Thailand on many occasions. This is one species of Indian elephant, the other main species is the African elephant which has bigger ears.

With variegated noses

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The palapa pickup truck. I can't envision a more laid back transportation method (other than an elephant ride, maybe). I want one!

4:26 PM: We arrived at the Kantary Beach Hotel in Khao Lak. Hotel staff rushed to start unloading all the luggage and offer orange juice. Since we had full view of the open and spacious hotel lobby, we were amused by the staff's surprised faces when we started walking out of the bus all covered in mud.

It took some time for the "muddy group" to be assigned our own bungalows.

The villas were arranged in a small neighborhood setting with a front garden, separate living room and bedroom, in a very open, light, and fresh setting (60 sq mts). This was in my opinion the best hotel of all the Biennial PRE Tour.

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Good to know this. Beware the fourth wave of a set!

The villa neighborhood that the Biennial Pre-Tour mostly took over.

The beach was only a short walk away.

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Catharanthus roseus

(Madagascar periwinkle)

The most beautiful beach I have ever seen

There was a serene, melancholic ambiance to this most perfect place.

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No words to describe such a beautiful place. Only a postcard can begin to.

The lack of beachgoers was remarkable. We sadly found out the hard way why it was not "beach season". I had a great time in the water, so did my wife, until she was bitten hard by tiny jellyfish.

6:15 PM: Back in our apartment villa, I noticed I was not alone. There were some pretty neat Licuala grandis planted in full sun. Looks like some of them are struggling but I guess they can grow out of it.

I also noticed a nice grove of Nypa fruticans (mangrove palm). This was looking towards the back of the hotel property (east), in the opposite direction from the beach.

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Night fell fast. Everyone of us took showers and jumped into clean and comfortable clothes then answered the summons for nighttime dinner.

7:20 PM: Paul (Licuala), Anders, and Patty waited outside of the dining room at The Similan Restaurant, Kantary Beach Hotel, while guide Steven gathered our emails and worked on his video compilations.

Members chill out in the pleasant night sea breeze waiting for the doors to open.

Inside, a very elegant pair of tables was set for us.

Since there were still some minor preparations to be made by the staff, we all had the opportunity to order drinks and chill out even more at the small bar in one corner of the room.

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I ordered a concoction which name I can't remember and Yenny opted for the red wine.

Jasmine rice and Thai egg rolls with Bird's eye chili (พริกขี้หนู) or Thai chili peppers, were served first.

Then came the steamed Thai fish ("Pla nueng manao").

Finally, dessert! I was like a little kid exploring the new flavors and colors of the Thai desserts. Thai sweets ("Khanom Thai") have unique, colorful appearances and distinct flavours. The art of Thai desserts have been passed down through the generations. Some of today's Thai desserts are on record as far back as the Sukhothai period, almost 800 years ago. The main ingredients are flour, palm sugar (Borassus, Arenga, Nypa), and coconut, hence a very palmy food. Layered cake (Khanom wun), pudding (Khanom mo kaeng), cassava pudding with coconut topping (Tako mansapalang), Tong yord (ทองหยอด) (Round egg yolk tart) served on an artistically cut plantain leaf.

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Last and definitely not least, fruit art.

Needless to say, everybody was happy and well fed and drunk (some, maybe).

[Walter John]

ah, look at you two...

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The hotel was kind of in the middle of nowhere but by the beach, and at night there was nowhere else to go but chill out in the lobby. But still by far the best PRE PRA hotel IMO.

The events of the day by Steven