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December 30, 2003 I had 2 days free after I finished one of WFCC mission then I decided to go to see a thousand years old cycad in the deep forest as Mr.Natas Suwan once told me about it when he accidentally first discovered it during the patrol many years ago. On the morning of December 31, 2003 I and Ko with other 3 rangers started off to search for the old cycad with GPS, compass, map and a piece of paper written its location right after we finished our breakfast. The beginning part of the route was so difficult for we had to climbed up one steeply mountain which took 2 hours to the summit, then we followed ridge of the mountain with the helped of a map. We spent half of the day till we reached the shoulder of the highest mountain of that area, then lunched under the shade of a tree and I had half an hour to rest my legs for I got cramps along the way on the ridge of the mountain. In the afternoon we walked up on the plateau on the mountain which small valleys scattered around, I checked the location from the GPS knowing that we were near and we were 1,100m above sea level. Finally we set a camp by a tiny well where underground water poured out from under the rock just before the sun disappeared from the sky. There was an old poacher camp near our camp, the rangers were angry then destroyed it and put it in the fire. The rangers made a bonfire for us, after dinner we sat by the fire to keep warmth because It was very cold that night , the thermometer read 7 degree Celsius at 10 pm. The rangers told me about the new road cut at Jakae village to Mae Jan village through northern part the wildlife sanctuary , which made me much worry because road cut was considered to be no.1 threat to nature and wildlife. The rangers and Ko went to deep sleep, some snored , others lied still in the hanging hammock but not me. I lied in a hanging hammock thinking of finding ways to stop the new road cut and forgot all about the old cycad I searched for, it was like there was a hot big fire flaming inside my chest, I could hardly went to a sleep I tried forcing my eyes closed but failed. I could not remember when and how I lost my consciousness that night. It was 2 degree Celsius at 5 am on January 1, 2004. After watching first sunrise of the new year day then I left the rangers and Ko at the camp, with a coffee cup in my hand I headed southward to the camp searching for the old cycad which should be somewhere nearby It was not difficult to find the old cycad for it size was easily noticeable when I browsed my eyes through grassy valley. I slowly walked straight to the old cycad without caring of my steps on wet dense grassy ground and left a coffee cup somewhere on a rock, I unintentionally hold my breath when the old cycad tree was an arm reach in front of me , it was like a dream to see it. I then reached my hands out and touch the trunk of the old cycad and felt its time , I moved my hands a round it then hugged it, tried to imagine how could this old cycad survived in the location through hundreds of years or more than a thousand years... who knows?. This cycad must be the greatest cycad I had ever laid my eyed on though the time of my life, it was about 12 meter in height with the size of 3 men rounded, charcoal bark at the bole of the old cycad due to hundreds of natural fires which occurred each years through the time of hundreds of years. The cycad is that old to witness the rise of the Kingdom of Thailand starting from Sukhothai period some 700 hundred years ago, and sees the falls of Ayuthaya period, welcome king Naresuan the Great when he lead the army to Mayanmar and stop at Thungyai some 400 years ago , watches king Taksin the Great riding a horse expelling Mayanmar soldiers out of the frontier, rejoices when King Rama 1 the Great builds Bangkok some 200 years ago and yet it is still living and seeing the world as we do. I then stepped back for a distance picked up my coffee cup sat sipping the cold coffee without turning my eyes away from the old cycad. At that moment of time, I forgot all the whole world. I let my imagination traveled back through the time as long as one of the rangers voices woke me up calling my name from a distance away. We spent more 2 hours inspecting the old cycad and its surrounding, rechecked the location with GPS and photo shot as well , then said goodbye to the old cycad, promised that I would return and took care of itself. We walked cut through the grassy valley and climbed up to the ridge of another mountain in the opposite way we came, then we found another poacher camp at a straits during the way down hill, the rangers surveyed the area and destroyed poacher shelter. We spent 2 hours walked down the steep mountain to the Songtai stream. We had lunch by the stream with bamboo leaves laid on the rocky ground as lunch table, one tuna can and a small plastic bowl of chilly sauce and some boiled rice which left from breakfast were enough for everyone. Along the way back down the Songtai stream was not normal as expected, for we had seen part of the most beautiful forest which never been told of before. At a distance of about 1 kilometer there were lots of big pieces of stones collapsed down from the high cliffs on both sides scattered in the stream, some pieces of rocks were bigger than a ten wheels truck, some were on top of another making a wall blocking the stream and turn itself to small water falls. We followed the stream and passed another place where the bed of the stream was rock bedded and melted to be one long rock piece with marble color. We walked a little further and surprised when suddenly the water disappeared into the rock bed of the stream, not any drop of water left. Before we followed the stream which lead us back to Maharaja wildlife protection station, we were rewarded with another nature gift of a scene of a dense evergreen forest with bushy palms. The old cycad expedition was really another unforgettable trip and one of the most valuable experience in my life. Surin / reported
photo
album of the search for 1,000 years cycad
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