Crabs, Spiders and Bats (beware the squeamish)

Interesting title, huh? Well, that's the fauna I experienced inside the Cave in Khao Sok National Park. When I booked myself into the 2 days 1 night on the lake guided tour, I was especially looking forward to spending the night on a bamboo hut floating on the Khao Sok Lake. It looked idyllic and peaceful. I was also loooking forward to the trek through the jungle and the trek up to the viewpoint. Then, there was the "Cave". I kind of let that one pass cause I figured they slipped it into the tour as a filler. I pictured yet another touristed cave, with a well trodden, man made path, flourescent coloured lighting, dampness and more stalactytes etc.

But, here's my lesson about "expecting" things. Sometimes it's better to ask....and sometimes, it's just better to sit back and let myself be surprised. So, let me tell you about "The Cave" at Khao Sok. Communist fleeing oppression hid there during the 1970's cause it is so well hidden and so big. We traversed many a river through the jungle before arriving at the dark cave entrance. We had been warned to bring as little as possible save a bathing suit, a flashlight and some strap sandals to prevent the water from carrying our footwear astray. I followed instructions but, I decided not to bring my flashlight cause I wasn't sure it was waterproof and figured there'd be enough lighting anyway, right....I mean, caves, no matter how dark, are still pretty well lit.

As it turns out, the cave was "wild"!! There was NO lighting, NO man made, well trodden path, and there was A LOT of wildlife within! As we approached the entrance, we took off our dry clothes and gave them to the guide who would "climb" through one of the wet crevices to ensure they didn't get wet. We would be in the cave at least one hour. Flashlights on (except for mine), sandal straps tight, bikini well double knotted, we entered the dark hole. The first thing we noticed was how our path was pretty much the body of water that traversed the cave. It was shallow enough...1st obstacle passed...or so I thought. As we entered deeper, I began to realise this was no ordinary cave. A sudden stench of bad B.O. invaded my nostrils and I thought my partner in front (who I was sucking up light from like a leech) had forgotten to put on deodorant. However as I began hearing comments from others, (including my partner - "ha! what a nerve" I thought!) we were told it was the smell of the crap from the hundreds of bats that were perched upside down right above our heads!!!!!! The flashlights all pointed above and indeed, there they were. The worst bit was that if you lit one of them long enough, it would wake up and fly out....at you seemingly! We would see them all the way through our cave trek...and we were advised we would encounter 4 different varieties. Once I assimilated the fact they would be everywhere, both in body and stench, I did look more closely at them and indeed encountered the pig-looking bat, which does indeed look like a pig due to its pinkish colour and round pig-like snout.

The cave widened and narrowed. It was pitch black, save the light from the flashlights, and it was somewhat hard to keep my balance, walking sometimes in water, pebbles, or slanted limestone. Next up were the crabs. They were small and did not really grab your finger so much. The guide picked one up and I mustered the courage to touch it. I felt at ease...if one decided to crawl over my toes whilst I walked, it would at least not pinch me! (After the ass spanking and general groping I've been subject to, I find myself very aware of people/things wanting to touch/pinch/bite/spank/squeeze me, etc. )

Oh Spiders! I've never really minded them. In fact, after reading Charlotte's Web in 5th grade I became very fond of them and of course, since mosquitoes seem to love sucking blood out of me, the fact that spiders are their death trap was always appealing. However, the spiders I had seen were always small and harmless. The ones in the cave were quite large; some that had antennae like buffaloes, and some the size of the palm of my hand!!! Assured that they were 'mostly' harmless, I quickly moved on anyway. My lack of personal flashlight and the awareness of so many creepy crawlies was making my skin tingle.

The cave had narrowed to a crevice with the water running high and slowly cascading down past pools, crevices and more pools of water. In order to move on, we would need to swim; our toesno longer touched bottom! I looked around at the 10 flash lights within the vastness of this dark, damp cave. The echo of our voices and the sound of the running water kept me company, but the adrenaline running through my body was unavoidable. The excitement and thought that nowhere but here would I experience such a wild adventure, kept me going! My nervousness led way to uncontrollable laughter as I slowly immersed my body in the cool water. I swam....forgot about potential floating animals, and laughed some more...I feel through a few cascades and let the water was fall on my head and trickle down my face. I then had to climb somewhat and turn.....and eventually, I began to see a faint light at the other end of the darkness. I emerged into the sunlight, surrounded by bamboos and twisted tree trunks, more running water, my body wet, my blood pumping fast, a huge grin on my face and the willingness to gladly do it again!