After six weeks of nearly non-stop boat work, my birthday gave us a good excuse to get away for a few days. Typical of this cruising lifestyle of ours, we've been so busy with refit projects that we had yet to see anything outside of Phuket and its raunchy beach tourism. So we rented a car and drove across the bridge to the mainland, then headed north for a couple of hours to Khao Sok National Park, one of Southern Thailand's chief eco-tourist destinations. We hoped to hike, canoe and swim in a lake, visit caves, and see the wildlife. According to our Lonely Planet, Gibbon monkeys, hornbills, elephants and tigers are native to the area.

We didn't think to check the forecast before we left, since the weather has been consistently dry with only occasional afternoon thunder showers. Monsoon season is supposed to be a month or two away. But it was overcast when we left and got progressively worse as we entered the rain forest. Just after we checked into our riverside cottage it began to rain. And rain, and rain, and rain. Thank goodness the tin roof was covered with thatch to dampen the sound of the torrential downpour. Later we learned that snakes like to nest in roof thatch!

We spent a sleepless night under the mosquito net, wondering whether the shallow stream next to our cabin would swell and overflow its banks, floating us downriver in the night. Instead of counting sheep we practiced alliteration: The rushing river, roiling with reptiles, rose relentlessly, resulting from recurring rainfall, with rangers ready to rescue us from the rapids ...

Just as we were finally getting sleepy at dawn, the tropical world awoke noisily all around us: exotic birdsongs, the loud ribbit of frogs, and then a strange, hollow clap-clap sound, right outside our window. Burger said maybe it was the satisfying smack of big bird lips, swallowing a juicy frog.

I got up and looked out the front porch as soon as it was light enough, and saw that the river had indeed risen precipitously. It was swollen, muddy and angry-looking, but it wasn't close to overflowing the riverbank. Burger assured me that our weathered-looking cottage, built on sturdy stilts, had evidently withstood several monsoon seasons without being swept away. We finally got to sleep.

Photo: Thai raingear on motorbike with sidecar