The Underwater Greenland Trail

On a sunny weekend, a group of about sixty Bangkok expats set off on an excursion to a very special hike; a trail which is completely underwater for all but three months of the year.

Nakhon Nayok is a province in the central region of Thailand; a relatively easy day trip from Bangkok. We arrived at a wilderness preserve attached to a dam and reservoir which butted up to the southernmost portion of Khao Yai National Park (the oldest and most famous national park in Thailand).

This was the "Greenland Trail", a stretch of Thai countryside that looked much more like Greenland than Southeast Asia! It was also one of the greenest spots I've ever seen in my life. Though the river was dry, the ground was richly verdant and blooming in wild grasses. It was a difficult hike, but I felt extremely lucky to be there. Not many people get the chance to see this rough and untamed stretch of wilderness on the far southern border of Khao Yai National Park each year. The landscape here didn't look anything like I would have thought possible in Thailand. It's no wonder that people claim that Nakhon Nayok Province (about 2.5 hours out of Bangkok) is the "greenest province in the kingdom!"