Khao Sok Nationak Park is 2 hours away from the town of Surat Thani in the east of South Thailand. It is a great escape into the jungle. There are 2 parts of the national park, with over 2 hours away from each other.
The headquarter of the park is located not far from the main road connecting Surat Thani in the east to Khao Lak in the west of South Thailand. It is convenient to reach there, as buses pass by the national park. Upon dropping off at the trunk road leading to one of the entrances to the national park, one can either walk or contact the hostel host to fetch to the resort few km away. This is the headquarter of the national park, called Khao Sok Village.
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| Khao Sok Village |
I stayed in a cozy triangle chalet for 2 days but it was raining cat and dog as it was a raining season in June. So, the only thing to do was reading, sitting in the balcony of the chalet up above the ground surrounded by foliage and mosquitos! There were only few massage centers around, as massage in Thailand is a luxury to me.
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| Tree house @ Khao Sok Valley Resort |
One can walk to the headquarters where the jungle trails begin. The main trail is wide and one can walk without getting lost, I took about 2 hours at a snail speed before reaching the final hut and a mini river. After that, one would need to engage a mountain guide to trek further.
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| Main trail in Khao Sok National Park |
The key highlight of the national park is Cheow Lan Lake, a emerald green dam lake in the midst of jungle surrounded by limestones cliffs. The lake is far from the headquarter, about an hour away. I joined a 2D1N tour. We were picked up from our chalet to drive to the jetty of the lake. From there, we took an open longtail boat about 1 hour to reach the floating huts in the middle of nowhere, with deep water level. We were soaking wet as the rain poured into our open boat. The floating chalet was the key attraction of the stay. One could just jump off the into the water right in front of the chalet to enjoy a swim. The irony of the trip was I was the only Asian among the Western travelers in the group and the only one with a life jacket on, as I could not swim well. In the night, it was pitch dark, a great moment to be in wild serenity, away from bustling city.
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| Cheow Lan Lake Jetty |
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| Mesmerizing scenery on a longtail boat |
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| Floating Chalet |
The next morning, we went to a waterfall where we had to climb on flowing waters to reach the falls. As the westerners were great hikers and tall, their one foot forward was equivalent to my 3 feet movement. It was an adventure to hike up and down along the flowing river trails. Next, a visit to a cave in a limestone rising majestically in the lake. The most exciting moment for the fellow travelers was the sighting of monkeys, which to me, is a common nuisance back home.
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| Climbing up on the this flowing trail to waterfalls |
It is always a soul refreshing moment to soak in nature, especially a nature filled with greeneries and lake...
PS: The pictures shown are from the internet as I lost the pictures I took.
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