Thailand – Khao Sok

I’m getting quite behind with the blog as usual when a lot is going on so this is a language one.

Khao Sok is a huge National Park in Southern Thailand. Cheow Lan Lake in the centre was created when a valley was flooded to make a reservoir in 1987.

What is particularly beautiful is the limestone Karst formations and this is why I wanted to visit. I wasn’t too hopeful of seeing much wildlife.

Roman and Valentina had recommended a hotel which was in a spectacular setting. The hotel was probably a bit highbrow for us and it’s clients were somewhat ‘up market’ and mostly Russian. We did meet a Glaswegian Redhead Goddess and her partner (she had chutzpah for want of a better word).

Also in this hotel we started something of a trend for us we had our first massage. My goodness it was good so, we went back the next day for another one. They cost so little by comparison to home but, as we travel we realise the quality varies a lot. I think Tatjana is addicted to it!

If getting to Khao Sok was an issue, getting around was also an issue, the Grab wouldn’t work although it said it would. The hotel charged exorbitant fees for taxis and we were too far from the park entrance to walk. A little research showed us there is a sort of Taxi Mafia here inflating the prices. The prices are so reasonable here for Europeans but, we felt this was quite wrong. Tatjana suggested we just went for a walk as there was a cafe just along the main road.

It was hot! (never much lower than 29 degrees here in the day). The smell of the tarmac as quite strong and although the road was quiet it, was a fast road. Anyway after half an hour we reached the cafe. Well that was a bonus because the owner ‘Wa’ ran a bamboo rafting experience and offered transport to another National Park, Khlong Phanom (we didn’t realise there were so many). This park was not so much visited judging by the visitors book where we had to sign in and sign out, I guess people can get lost.

We spent a couple of hours in the park walking a very steep trail up and around one of the huge limestone pillars. Once again I was running with sweat and where it was dripping off my chin was getting sore!!

All that said it was interesting and quite beautiful.

We were picked up again by Wa’s driver, had lunch in her cafe and then we took a bamboo raft along a river. At first it was lovely and quiet but we caught up with a group so the serenity was lost.

The next day we moved to a hotel nearer the lake, Wa (I’m going to think of her as the godmother from now on because everyone was related to her) provided us with a taxi at a better price than our hotel would (still a lot higher than Grab though). This was near the dam and the river. We were told the water can increase in volume very quickly as they release water to supply electricity to the local area. We saw this and the rise was quite dramatic about 2 meters.

We hired cycles (at approx 18 pence each!) The hirer thought we were mad because we wanted to cycle to the dam which was only a few kilometres away but over hilly terrain in the heat! She was probably right!

This last picture looks amazing but there was a slick of oil in the water much to our dismay! We told the hotel owner in the hope that she might know who to report it to.

Following on from this we had a day out on the lake with a tour. We had considered staying in the raft houses actually on the lake but, decided a day trip was enough. So we set off in a long tail boat.

Roman and Valentina had warned us about the noise of the boats so we had earplugs at the ready.  The lake was very beautiful and relatively empty despite there being probably 100 boats somewhere around the islands and creeks. The water is that milky blue (calcium carbonate) from the limestone. It was also really warm. The karst pillars were covered in trees and it was something of a lost world, inaccessible because most are so steep.

We had a good lunch at a floating restaurant. Crisped fish, that meant you could eat pretty much everything including fins, tails and small bones!

After lunch we kayaked for a bit. We didn’t have a proper pair of paddles between us and unfortunately I didn’t take my phone so no pictures. We saw clouds of butterflies on the banks of a creek, I’m not sure if they were drinking or getting minerals maybe both! Further on the lake we saw long tailed Macaques (someone had put fruit out). It was interesting watching the babies playing and avoiding a big stroppy male as he was watching the kayaks.

Going back on the boat we stopped at a cave that was pretty precarious to get to. Tatjana and I wondered how many accidents they have had there. A couple maybe a bit older than me really struggled with balancing and then in the cave one had to turn back because she was scared. It was dark and with lots of trip hazards. The best thing though was a bat roost that the guide gleefully showed us, presumably to give us a  scare! I have no idea what they were, insectivorous certainly but quite big and not bothered by the tourists at all.

On the lake there were various birds of prey but, the only kind I could identify with certainty was a pair of Ospreys.

The journey back seemed interminable, my bum was quite numb by the time we docked. Yep one day was quite enough!