A short bike ride from our homestay is Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park and Botanical Garden, a main attraction for the island, which we visited every day, partly for the birds and nature, and partly because our favorite restaurant, Deep in Bang Kachao, sits right along the edge of the park. Not only are the food and drinks delicious, but the prices are great. For $18 we enjoyed 4 meals, an appetizer and 5 drinks. They also serve Pani Puri, a fried ball thing which you smack with a tiny spoon and then fill with a potato mixture and sauces, then pop the entire thing in your mouth at once! So fun!
Yes, I know mango sticky rice is technically a dessert, but it meets my dietary restrictions, so I ate it as my meal whenever available.
We saw a few monitors, and many birds!
The park also has a birding tower, though we found it more useful for taking funny photos.
The birds along the trail and even a long the entrance road were really incredible. My favorites were the Green-billed Malkoha, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Indochinese Roller and the Blue-tailed Bee-eaters.
We also spotted Monitors, geckos, and skinks at ARTTRA and the park.
I found the rooftop at ARTTRA to be the best spot for birding. One night Journey and I were on the roof at night admiring the view when I saw something big like a large heron flying overhead, but it wasn't a bird at all, it was a bat! Journey couldn't believe it and questioned me, "bats aren't the size of eagles!" And I said here they are, which is why they call them "flying foxes"! Ever since I laid eyes on one at a zoo, I've been fascinated with giant bats. How exhilarating to see one fly overhead in the night! (Soon we would see tons of them in Cambodia!)
On one of our bike rides, we stopped by a Hindu temple that features a giant elephant statue, and Journey spotted a bird stuck in something. A closer look revealed the something to be a snake's mouth! This Indochinese Long-nosed Whip Snake, harmless to humans, found itself a meal of house sparrow!
