The Border Town Of Dannok - Thailand

Dannok is a small Thai town situated just across the border, opposite the Malaysian side of Bukit Kayu Hitam.

Getting there by road from Malaysia is easy, just drive till the very end of the North - South Highway and you are there.

The town is quite small and every thing is located nearby, "taxi service" by motorbikes is easily available as an alternative if you do not want to walk.

The Ringgit is accepted here, even in their Seven-Eleven stores and that can save you the trouble of currency conversion. Malay seem to be widely understood here too.

Acceptable accomodation is available at reasonable prices but do not expect too much up scale nightlife in this town, besides the few karaokes, disco and massage parlours of all sorts which plays music way too loud for my comfort to the point I have to walk out to get away from it, you might not want to spent more than a night in this town.

For people who are interested in some serious shopping, I recommend going to Hatyai sligthly further north, there is none to be found here.
Any town that serves beer with ice cubes as a common practise warrants moving on.

My jungle walk pictures.

A solitary gibbon staring at a man drenched in sweat.

A cricket with one hind leg missing hiding inside a flower.

A jungle stream that is as clean and serene as it can ever get.

Grasshopper blending in to the environment.

Tea Garden - Bukit Larut

Today was one of those rare days where I manage to hike till the mid point of Bukit Larut, namely the Tea Garden, it is about 5.5 kilometers from the foothills.

An unhabited place, with former worker's quarters abandoned and empty.


I explore the whole garden for about 20 minutes and seen no one.

On the way up, saw an innovative way of using old tyres as flower pots.

My Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill) hikes.

With a bit of time on my hands during this transitional period of my career change plans, I take hikes up Bukit Larut practically almost everyday, in the fervent hope of turning the clock back and making me a fit 20 year old again. I have been doing this for more than 2 months and results are so far quite positive, I lost 2 kilos of fat and feel a lot healthier albeit not any younger.


At the Foothills


There are two options one can take to hike up, the conventional tar road or the short cut through jungle tracks. Between the two, my normal routine would be to use the jungle track up and the tar road while coming down, it’s sort of a compromise, taking the jungle track both ways would be too strenuous for me. I intend to get as fit as possible but not die while doing it.
The destination is to reach the 3rd rest hut, taking about 45 minutes to do that and not to the top which takes about 3 hours, walking at normal speed non-stop.

The Jungle Track






On reaching my destination, the 3rd rest hut, I will normally take a break of 15 minutes to enjoy the cool serenity before heading back down, using the tar road.

Along the jungle track, there is always something new to see with its lush plant growth and rich animal life. I have often seen monkeys, squirrels and the occasional wild boar and snakes.

Today I chance upon a nice butterfly, purple chilli paddy plant and this beautiful red flower.