Day 8: Golok, Pa Phru Toh Daeng Peat Swamp

Hello to my fellow Malaysians from a foreign land...
haha yes I'm only in Thailand but still... It's same yet different here...
Every time I return I discover more things to love about these people
Currently I'm in Golok... will write about it more when I leave
(it's not that I'm scared someone will read and hunt me down but I'm still waiting to photograph some things)
for now you will have to be satisfied with my report about this lady...
yes, if you didn't know people come to Golok to find women... and I am of no exception.
This lady has definitely been around... and she has been taken advantaged of by people of every nation
and yet I love her so...
her name is mother nature :p

yes unlike most guest passing through here I came to be a tourist..
I purposely made a trip to this place called a Pa Phru Toh Daeng Peat Swamp

You try saying it... I had such difficulty explaining to the bike riders the place... he kept asking if I was looking for ah moi... *sigh*

I did not know what to expect.. and rightfully so as when I first arrived I thought it was just swamp.. no building no information!
thankfully I was wrong though 

not so sure about the information portion as most of the signs is in Thai 

and even after they translate it's in broken english.
I arrive about 2+ Thai time... and man was it hot...
but cannot complain as I was leaving it was cloudy and actually rained on the way back...
And the rain felt like small stings too...
About the place I still have no idea what a peat swamp is but I wanted to visit this place after I read that a species that was thought to have been extinct was discovered here..
not that I got to see it... but I can see why it would survive here..
unlike most Malaysian nature preserves.. this really seems to be that...

Nature is everywhere... 

 and even the walkways are built around the trees.

It seems like the whole place is over run with nature...

I say over run because one portion was under maintained so much so that the walkway was rotting...

and being the silly me I didn't acknowledge that the plank across was meant to deter visitors..

I walked on..

(and to think this was suppose to be the conservation of some princess path)

eventually though I came across a obstacle I was not daring enough to traverse...

so I had to turn back...(yea I'm chicken that way)

hopefully the work to repair will be done soon
One thing about Golok is I'm not sure if Sunday is a weekend or a weekday but I suspect they treat it like most of the world treats monday because even the working lady's (at least the better looking ones) seem scarcer
but odder still was there was no one in the offices 

(except for this army bus which I think was having some meeting)
and I had to face many closed doors... 

but somehow it was not all locked.. so I wandered on my own...
discovering much though not a very colourful experience 

(even tho natural.. the flag pole was made of wood!)

with this exception

but it was pseudo educational.. I think I've learnt more about sago that I care to forget..

but good effort on their part especially with the diorama's
but some were underkept...

and some were just freaky (floating half bodies.. with blood?)

but over all this was a good experience.. 

(too bad my picture cannot join these school kids and teachers on the walls)

and it's nice to see sufficient information displayed...

even if it's in Thai

next time you come by this way.. .consider making a visit here.. 

even if some parts look like a marijuana farm

it's a huge place..

 nice walkways

lots of shaded areas

even by the trees

but since there's an army base nearby explains the barb wires

and I wonder if can get a boat ride through since it has 2 piers

and not sure what the spectator stand is for

nor did I see any cattle?

 I didn't manage to finish rounding it even though my trip there and back was a bout 3 hours 

(and cost me 300 baht)