Picture taken in 2010, on a jungle trek in Koh Sok national park, Thailand.
carnal shades from leafy maw -
the cave a gateway.
These jungle treks in Koh Sok national park in Thailand are an experience I will never forget. I won't lie, being of northern stock with Irish ancestry the heat was a challenge. I spent half of the trek leaping in jungle pools fully clothed... anything to stay cool 😂
Struggeling through the mud I decided to just fall back and embrace the cooling waters, Koh Sok national park, Thailand.
At the heart of my memories of this stay in the jungle lies an underlying thirst for adventure. I'm pretty certain that the Thai rangers leading the trek viewed the whole thing as just another day's work, but this is all part of what makes travel so rewarding. Sharing their knowledge of the plants and animals in the jungle, particularly the millions of critters that could kill me, opened my mind to what lies at the beating heart of the jungle's ecosystems. They don't call it the law of the jungle for nothing!
There is so much life thrumming in the air of a tropical rainforest like Koh Sok, you can almost taste the chlorophyll in the air and smell the trees growing.
Pictures taken one morning when I took a canoe and stalked wild monkey in Koh Sok national park, Thailand.
The title image, and haiku inspired by it, are a metaphor for what lends travel its mystical feel. During the trek we passed through a cave system that started near to the top of a hill and emerged at the base of the valley. Delving into the darkness felt like passing into another world, cool and silent after the cacophony of the forest, our only companions roosting bats and giant cave spiders.
Picture of one of my travelling companions who joined me stalking wild monkeys, and our jungle accommodation 🌿
This passing from one world to another describes what many feel through adventure travel on a metaphysical level. In many ways it is a passing from one state to another, a journey that indelibly transforms you, like the jungle caterpillar entering the chrysalis to emerge finally with golden wings.
“Travelling - it leaves you speechless then turns you into a storyteller.”
― Ibn Battuta
I have decided to challenge myself to post a daily Haiku on Hive. Each week will have a different theme based on a picture prompt.
This week's broad theme is The Wonder of Travel.
To read more about the aesthetics of true haiku, and the difference between haiku and senryu, please check out my post: Haiku Vs Senryu - The Aesthetics of Form
I would like to give a big shout-out to @stickupcurator (and @stickupboys) for their amazing contribution to supporting music, art, imaginative writing, and all things creative on hive. If you haven't already, you should go check out their account for music, crypto podcasts and much much more 🙂👍
All media used is either my own, CC license or designed and created by me. If you have enjoyed this Haiku, please check out my homepage @raj808 for similar content. Thank you.
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I can almost believe you on the "Smelling the trees grow!" that shit must be surreal!
Not going to lie but this sounds like a hell of a journey! I'd likely also just jump in the water non stop! I'd be suspicious of every damned insect on me! Like I don't mind insects at all but if they are poisonous I want to shit my pants! Heck I'd have an adrenaline rushing pumping through that jungle! IMAGINE!
Yeah, the Jungle is a surreal place in many ways.
The noise is something that is a bit of a surprise. In the morning, around 6am, everything just starts making a racket... birds, monkeys, a mad insect called cicada that make this high pitch rattling sound. Lol, it is a good thing that the smell of chlorophyll in the air seems to energize... because it is early mornings all the way.
It is a great experience though... apart from the insects 🤣
You can't have your bread buttered two ways right!! Also yeah the insects are a buzz!! Imagine being able to experienxe the jungle without those buzzing sounds... just the light rain and birds cawwing and chirping! It can be momentous!
ha ha, well I'm from the UK. So that low-insect-low-impact woodland is familiar to me 😂
I love going for walks in the woods of North Wales almost as much as Thai rain forests.