Khao Sok National Park (Nov 20-23)

Table of Contents

Day 9 - Thursday, Nov 20 (Arrive Khao Sok)
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Chop, the hotel manager welcomed us, he told us a lot but neither of us understood what he said and we are both not sure why.

We were told we might hear some monkeys climbing on the hut.

Day 10 - Friday, Nov 21 (Cheow Lan Lake Tours)
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https://www.khaosok.com/history/

We woke up at 6. Didn’t hear any monkey or anything in fact. It was very quiet and cool. So it was one of the best sleeps we had during the trip so far.

Had some breakfast which couldn’t compare to Lek’s cooking. But was still decent. Waited for the mini bus to pick us up from the hotel to go to the lakes.

Cheow Kan Lake
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Cheow Lan Pier (Ratchaprapha Pier)

When we reached the Ratchaprapha Dam pier we were met by Andy your tour guide. Who would be taking care of our team Pinnochio

We were taken into a coffee shop where we were given some general information. By Andy and Lochi. Both were very charismatic and liked to tease the tourists. They also told us the story why everyone now has to wear life jackets. As 3 months prior, a boat capsized near the pier and 2 tour guides drowned. https://www.nationthailand.com/news/general/40052792

We were also told about leeches, that Andy even got one close to his balls some time ago.

After 20 minute break we got on the boat. The views were stunning you could see the layers of cliffs behind cliffs.

The boat ride was windy. Because of this all the waves and water splashing was making everyone wet.

Had to hide under our water proof rain coats

I was getting by just fine. My shirt was wet, but not critical. Honestly we should have been told to wear waterproof coats before boarding and putting on our life jackets. But we weren’t. So we had to improvise. Someone even used an umbrella 😄. Anyway, that’s why some of my arm was wet, but everything else remained dryish. My trousers were a bit wet, but they are quick dry, so no worries.

We were told about some history of the dam and that under the water there is 40 meters until the ground and technically there is still a jungle below us.

The lake was made for the dam power to help power southern Thailand.

Phae Saichol แพสายชล
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https://maps.app.goo.gl/HZS7pzLRFKJwUfg26

After struggling to stay dry we have finally arrived to our floating hotel

We got fed on arrival and given our keys. The whole place had a summer camp vibe😄

Kayaking
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We had about an hour for activities, we could either swim, kayak or sunbathe. There was no sun so we decided to kayak

It was surreal kayaking and thinking that 40 meters under you there Is a jungle.

Hike
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After, we had the scheduled activity Hike and Caving

Not much of a hike to be fair, was only about 20 mins of trekking. The only issue was that it was muddy and slippery, but thankfully we didn’t slip or fall.

Tour guides tho kept scaring people with leeches. They were getting a kick from it i swear, they kept laughing. Some people actually were bitten multiple times. I found one full of blood and stepped on it. But thankfully neither of us were bitten. Particularly due to the mosquito spray probably

Coral cave ถ้ำปะการัง
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https://maps.app.goo.gl/AEkwVjWeATZ6bL1NA

To get to the coral cave we needed to take the bamboo raft. Unfortunately we had to wait for the boat for over an hour. As there was a big queue of tourists right ahead of us. For a remote jungle in Asia. It was full of the most “exotic animal” white tourists 😁

We went into the coral cave where Andy explained that it’s called the coral cave due to the rock formations that reminded natives of the corals.

We also saw bats sleeping on the ceiling

Andy was very funny and inappropriate, joking about wishing for the lady boys and pulling out leeches out of a guy’s ***hole.

We rushed back to the floating hotel before it got too dark. Had some food and started getting ready for bed. After the shower something was trying to get through the window of the bathroom. We turned off the light and closed the door just in case.

We layed down on a bed…. wait a minute, why does the bed feel like a rock. Oh wow it’s is basically a rock. Can only sleep on my back tonight :(

Also I feel a bit sea sick as I could feel a slight swaying of the bungalow.

Day 11 - Saturday, Nov 22 (Morning on the Lake)
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Whe whole night was filled with swaying and cracking.

We woke up at 6 to get ready for the Boat safari.

The mosquitos were quite active at night. I was tired enough to sleep OK despite the bites.

Morning Safari
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The safari started at 6:30. Andy has lost a bit of his voice. So it was abit difficult yo hear him. But also funny.

We didn’t see much during the safari. Just toucans from the far and monkeys, which could just be seen by the movements of the branches.

Some of the people who stayed at the camp actually saw Black bear by the camp shore. Lucky them, they saw more than us 😄.

We came back had some breakfast and packed. Still had about 1 hour before our check out so I wanted to just chill and enjoy the views.

While relaxing, the camp got visited by the monkeys.

He hopped on the boat at 9:30 and set out back to the dam.

Andy taking a deserved nap after being the coolest tour guide ever

It was around 16km from the camp to the dam pier

Our Path from the floating hotel back to the pier

After reaching the shore we get herded into the mini van to a local restaurant for lunch.

We sat next to a Spanish couple that lived in Manchester. Had a good chat. They talked about how they are finding UK and why they are thinking of moving back to Spain.

At 11:30 we got back to our mini vans and got on the way back to our hotels.

Back in Khao Sok Village
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We had some 7-11 snacks and planned tomorrow.

Wat Tham Phanthurat วัดถ้ำพันธุรัตน์
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https://maps.app.goo.gl/DKfaXf3NmJ2i2QhM9

We decided to go for a quick walk to a nearby temple.

We were walking on near a major road. So the experiences wasn’t the best. When we got to the temple we saw a few monkeys roaming nearby, they didn’t seem violent.

Found a Buddha statue in the Rock. With some tonels behind it

The tunnel lead to a small opening which looked like a staircase which was going down.

We have read plenty of deadly accidents that happened in the Thai Caves. So we have coverdly (cleverly) turned around and headed back outside.

Outside of the temple staff was shouting for monkeys to come for some food “ma ma ma maaa” Monkey at first run away and came back later with more of their family

Thai Massage
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We have scheduled our Massage for 6 pm. Tho we had to wait until 6:30

We would be getting Thailand full body massage.

My massuse was a very small lady. Who has turned out to be impressively strong when giving me a massage. She walked on me and tired to fold me into an origami shape and squeezed my muscles. It felt very relaxing. The only problem I had after is a headache l, but that’s usual to get headache after massages.

The massage was quite relaxing and therapeutic.

After 1 hour massage we went for dinner. We had our usual 4 dish dinner. Actually not sure why we just have been eating 4 dishes while here every day. The people serving us must be confused and impressed 😄 Chop asked us if we wanted to get some dessert as he said we looked like we wanted some 😆

Day 12 - Sunday, Nov 23 (Khao Sok Village)
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We woke up later today at 8 to let ourselves rest before an activities filled day.

ATV
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We got picked up from the hotel by a pick up track. We had to sit in the open boot, which made me very uncomfortable. As my mind was imagining all the things that could go wrong

Maya met us at the ATV sight. She demonstrated how to start and operate the ATV and shortly after asked us to hop into ours and test drive them around the test drive to see how we did. I went first, I think I got the hang of it very quickly. After a couple of test runs we both got the hang of it and we set off.

Oh we also have been given some blue bags for our legs and feet to keep it dry and clean. But we looked funny wearing it😄 It was hot for the legs. We sweated so much.

It was fun driving through mud

We have driven by rubber trees and saw the substance being collected out of which rubber is made.

The views were very nice. We went through farms and plantations as well as jungle. The jungle was my favourite as there were a lot of mud trails we had to go through.

There was also a cool little girl TaiTai who was helping her older sister Maya with the tour. She took cool pictures of us.

Hike
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After a quick break with some smoothies we got picked up for our jungle tour Oi our tour guide, meet as at the entrance. She was very nice and bubbly. She joked about them having a 7-Eleven inside the jungle. I just accepted it without even doubting that they do.

As we walked through the jungle she showed many little critters that we wouldn’t have been able to see by ourselves.