Khao Yai: Day 2 (Scenical Splash Park, Farm Chokchai, GranMonte Vineyard).

We spent the second morning in Khao Yai once again exploring the park (hoping to see wild animals in the early cooler early morning air).

Unfortunately, although we saw (and heard) many signs of animal life we did not see any animals.

After two days of hiking we decided that the boys probably needed a nature break! On our way out of Khao Yai we stopped at the new Scenical Splash Park, Farm Chokchai and the GranMonte Vineyard.

Chad and I do not like water parks…but Sammy LOVES them. The park was located approximately a quarter mile from our hotel and admission was included with our hotel stay. So, we figured we could give Sam an hour at the park. He did not want to leave. Scenical is what you expect of a water park. It has larger slides and rides for adults, a wave pool, lazy river and children’s area. Because it is new and partly unfinished it was not at all crowded. We spent the entire time in the kiddy area, letting Sam go down slides over and over again. The kiddy area is great for 3-6 year olds and I would recommend a quick stop if you are in the area. The water park is built on concrete and has little shade so be prepared for some sun exposure (and try to snag a chair with umbrella before they will up)! Also, it is 200 baht for a towel so bring your own or be prepared to pay. Although no food or drink is allowed in the park we did sneak water (and milk) in.

Next, we started our trip back to Bangkok down Route 2. The plan was to stop at Farm Chockchai and some vineyards on the way home. Farm Chokchai is located directly off of Rte 2 while GranMonte vineyard is about 7 miles off the main highway.

Farm Chokchai is a large organic dairy farm known for it’s fresh small batch organic ice cream. The farm is open for tours and other activities seven days a week. The tours start at different hours throughout the day which was not readily apparent to us when we looked at the website (I am still not sure where these times are posted but they are frequent enough that you should not have to wait too long for the next tour to start if you show up unannounced like us). Near the main tour area is a large museum, an ice-cream shop, souvenir store and several large food stalls which could occupy your time while you wait. We opted to make ice cream vice going on the full farm tour because Sam and Jack love ice cream and the “ice cream workshop” is shorter than the farm tour (1 hour vice 2 hours). Making ice cream was Sam and Jack’s favorite part of the trip. They chose to make made cookies and cream flavor and left with quite a lot of fresh made treats. The cost of the full farm tour was 180 baht. To do ice-cream you had to have a minimum four people and the cost was 1400 total (380 per person/about 11 USD).

Finally, we took a detour to GranMonte Vineyard. Khao Yai, is known for its agriculture and vineyards. GranMonte is just one of the many vineyards located in Khao Yai valley. In addition the the vineyard, GranMonte also has a restaurant and guest house. It would be an excellent place to stay if you were interested in touring Khao Yai’s many wineries. The food was excellent and the wine was fantastic.

A great website describing an ideal crawl through wine country is located here: http://www.travelfish.org/sight_profile/thailand/northeast_thailand/nakhon_ratchasima/khao_yai_national_park/2470. We would have done the entire trail of we had more time. Maybe next time, Khao Yai!

Scenical Splash Park: