Anyway, now that you’ve made peace with the leeches you’re truly ready to go camping (ไปแคมป์ปิ้ง). First, you select a good spot and pitch your tent (เต้นท์). A high dry sunny area is great to avoid leeches. Then you splay out your sleeping bag (ถุงนอน). You might go collect some dry wood (ไม้แห้ง) and prepare it for the nights’ fire, or if you’re in a family camping ground you might have a gas stove (เตาแก๊ส) and some candles (เทียน) for fire-like lighting. If it is a family campground, it’s likely you can rent (เช้า) or buy (ซื้อ) anything you need when you get there (including tents and sleeping bags).

Just when you think I’ve finished listing the animals to watch out for, I’ll tell you a few more. Lets start with the monkeys (ลิง). You’ll easily see dozens of them, and hear them quite often. And if you haven’t seen wild monkeys before, they’re a nice treat for your trip. However, the braver ones have tried stealing my clothes off the wet clothes line, and one greedy little critter discovered I had food in my tent . . . good thing he couldn’t figure out the zipper! Then there are the deer (กวาง) . . . you’d think they aren’t dangerous, but these sneaky guys roam around your campsite at night obviously conniving evil plans!

Now that camp is set, it’s now time to go hiking (เดินเล่น) in the forest (ป่า). If you’re like me, you’ll probably bring some trail-mix with you (อาหารเดินเล่น). If you plan to be out in the sun a lot, it’s perfectly normally to use a small portable umbrella (ร่ม) to shade you during the trip. You’ll probably see a waterfall (น้ำตก) at some point, always a highlight of my trips =)

After your day’s hike, as the sun is going down (พระอาทิตย์ตก), don’t forget to check your tent for leeches and such. Maybe even your sleeping bag . . . Speaking of nighttime, this is when you sit around your fire (ไฟ) and relax from a day of fun.

Now before I list the vocabulary, I’d like to treat you to a fun video a friend of mine made of our trip to Khao Yai.

vocabulary (คำศัพท์):

ไปแคมป์ปิ้ง                    go camping

เต้นท์                              tent

ถุงนอน                           sleeping bag

ไม้แห้ง                           dry wood

เตาแก๊ส                         gas stove

เทียน                             candle

เช้า                                 rent

ซื้อ                                 buy

ลิง                                  monkey

กวาง                              deer

เดินเล่น                         hike, take a walk

ป่า                                 forest

อาหารเดินเล่น             trailmix

ร่ม                                 umbrella

น้ำตก                            waterfall

พระอาทิตย์ตก             sunset

ไฟ                                 fire