2 December 2015. Amazing day in Bako Park

I got up early for the 7.00 bus to Bako and arrived within an hour. Everything seemed very well organised at the terminal and I was on my way by boat to the park itself after about 45 minutes, once a boat-full of people had arrived.

Bako villiage is pretty and the trip on the boat is itself amazing with beautiful views opening up.

It takes around 20 minutes and, on landing vistors register for the treks they are going to do. I decided to start with T Paku as it apparently afforded a good chance of seeing monkeys. I set off and quickly decided shorts were  better option than trousers. However this was like presenting the insects with breakfast - a problem fortunately solved with a liberal application of DEET.

Getting to the track is amazing. First I passed some very noisy frogs. Then one walks along a raised boardwalk above the beech. As the tide was ebbing, one could see lots of crabs rushing around.

I made my way slowly along the track, admiring the vegetation.

After about 500 metres, I heard some crashing in the trees. Holding steady I saw the monkeys above quite clearly, though the photos do not do it all justice.

The walk culminates at the beautiful Paku beach - completely deserted and seeming like paradise (aside from some discarded plastic bottles unfortunately).

I returned along the track but the monkeys had gone from where I'd seen them.

By now I had already been some two hours and had just over three left bfore the last boat at 3.00. I decided upon the Lintang 5.8km circuit. In a nutshell, this proved perfectly timed but I had to keep going to manage 2km an hour. There is loads of ascending and descending - sometimes with step and sometimes picking one's way along tree roots.

One of the best part or me was the view one gets at 4.6 km. It really is stunning. I also loved the noisy bits of the jungle and preferred generally being in amongst the vegetation than the rocky bits at the summit.

I got back feeling that my legs were just about done in with all the climbing and happily made my way to the boat for the return - at this stage of the tide this meant walking for some way and climbing in from the sea. The sea itself was choppier and we shot back at about 25 knots.

That evening I went to Top Spot. It was an experience - you choose your vegetable and fish and these are then cooked to order. I had a Coral Grouper which was large and tasty and the whole meal was well under £10. I can see why it's a popular place, though the first visit it seems a bit chaotic and one needs to fathom the system.