Around the Plateau

Phu Kradeung is a massive plateau some 60 kilometers square.

There's a lot of points of interest at the top of the mountain, and tons of winding trails to explore.

After breakfast, we set out for a walk along the cliffs. It was a cool morning, but it grew warmer as the sun rose in the sky.  All the fog from the morning had long since disappeared, and it was promising to be a beautiful day.

The plan was to hike 10km along the cliffs, then return along a trail through the interior of the plateau back to the campsite.

We were told by one of the ladies who runs a restaurant at the campsite that sometimes - maybe a few times a month is you're lucky - you can look down from the top of the cliffs and spot wandering wild elephants far below in the valley.

We kept peering over the side of the mountain to look, but never saw any. We did see relatively fresh elephant dung on the path leading out of the campsite, so they are definitely around!

Soon, we arrived at the Dang Cliff...

... ("dang" means "red" in Thai, but I thought it was a very funny sign).

And then, after a few hours of walking in the warm sun along the beautiful, well-maintained, and blessedly flat trail, we came to the Lomsak Cliff, the most famous natural feature at Phu Kradeung National Park.

The cliff is very popular in the evening, when campers will rent bikes and cycle along the dusty trails to catch the sunset from the famous outcropping. In the afternoon, there were just a few people around.

We rested there for about an hour. Even though the trail had been easy, it had been long, and my feet were already starting to feel a little tired (especially after the hard climb the day before). Fortunately, there was a little rest area near the cliff where they sold snacks and cold drinks.

We cut "inland", then. Instead of continuing along the cliffs, we trekked into the interior of the plateau through an ever-changing landscape. Sometimes it appeared to be a lush jungle, other times a pine forest, and sometimes a fern-covered scrubland.

In the afternoon, our walk took us to the Thamsornuo Waterfall. Even though it's the winter (the dry season), there was still some water trickling down over the rusty brown stone of the waterfall and falling into a murky black pool far below.

The nearby Anodard Pond was more beautiful, and it was still relatively full despite the dry weather. It's a small pond, but quite different from the rest of the landscape at the top of Phu Kradeung. I was really surprised by how much there was to see up there at the top of the mountain.

We passed a small Buddhist shrine just outside of the campsite and stopped by to take a look. It was the sign that we were almost back, and my feet (not to mention my legs and my back) were so happy!

In the end, we walked some 30 kilometers that day. I was doing ok until the last 2 or 3 kilometers when my feet began aching terribly. I was moving very slowly and limping when we finally returned to the campsite. It had been a super fun day, but I was running on fumes.

Taking off my hiking boots to change into the sandals that I was so happy to have carried up with me, I found a few small blisters on my poor aching feet.

I bought a painkiller tablet from one of the shops at the campsite, drank a bunch of water, and laid down in my tent for an hour or two. After not so long, I was feeling better.

Karl and I had dinner at our favorite camp restaurant, and in the evening, when the sun went down and the temperature plunged, we enjoyed a hot cup of Ovaltine to warm up.

Although the day was easier than the day before, the walk was far harder, and I felt more tired than perhaps ever in my life! I was extremely proud of what I had achieved, and though we would be descending the mountain the next day, the adventure was still far from over.