Khao Sok National Park
Khao Sok National Park lies in Southern Thailand and for me it is one of the most amazing places in Thailand. The park is covered with the oldest evergreen rainforest in the world. It has huge limestone mountains and deep valleys. I also love very much the breathtaking lake, exciting caves where you also could scuba diving. You even find wild animals, a huge variety of birds, bats, reptiles and insects.
Rajjaprabha Dam
Cheow Larn Lake or Rajjaprabha Dam Reservoir lies in Khao Sok National Park in Surat Thani, Thailand. It is an 185 square kilometre artificial lake who was inaugurated in 1987. 1982 started the construction of the dam by diverting the Saeng River. To flood completely the 185 square kilometres basin it took about one year. It was a huge project because people had to be resettled and animals had to be saved.
Khao Sok Reservoir and River Floating
The next morning we drove towards the reservoir in the Khao Sok National Park. There we made a very leisurely canoe trip with Thai paddlers, we could sit down relaxed and let the panorama pass us by. The whole trip down the river took about one hour, we saw two tree snakes and many other smaller and larger insects.
Try the unique River Floating experience in Khao Sok National Park Thailand! Just relax and enjoy the fascinating landscape!
While the landscape is passing watch for interesting animals.
Look here! A frog in the water!
Easy going on the River in Khao Sok National Park in Thailand. Awesome experience, just lean back and look around you.
Interesting Spider while we were relaxing on our River Floating Journey in Khao Sok National Park. The nature here is really awesome! Just enjoy the scenery!
If you are staying in Thailand you have to organize a journey to the Khao Sok National Park in Thailand. There are different treks you can book also with overnight stay in a floating bungalow!
Floating bungalow on the lake
You can explore Khao Sok by yourself or book a complete package with tour guide, activities, accommodation and meals. I can recommend you to stay overnight in one of the floating bungalows on the lake. I love the silence and the relaxation in pure nature, no phone or internet connection, just simply enjoy and „switch off“.
Cozy and very simple wooden bungalows on stilts, directly on the lake. Also called water bungalows. The accommodation was furnished with double bed and mosquito net, 2 chairs in front of the entrance and shared toilets a little further away. You could jump in the cool water right in front of the bungalow and swim. By the way, the water is very clean.
In the middle of the bungalow complex was a fairly large restaurant, where we ate all meals. There was always plenty to eat and it tasted great. In this complex we saw mainly Thai people and just only a few foreign tourists.
Visiting a cave with stalactites
The next morning we took the longtail boat a bit further, walked half an hour through the jungle and from there we went with a raft to a nice stalactite cave.
As a light source, the Thais used a car battery packed in a sack.
The straps were old bike tires, the cable went to a neon tube.
The battery could be put on like a backpack. And the light source was done!
Afterwards we went all the way back and took our lunch. A little later we left the reservoir and drove now direction Khao Sok National Park.
Khao Sok Tree Houses
For the second night we went back to the town of Khao Sok. This town is also an ideal base to start trekking tours or 3-4 day nature safari tours. In Khao Sok town we found a great tree house resort. Our cottage was located in lofty heights. From there we had a good view. The room was well furnished and had a hammock on an even higher platform for relaxing.
Driving back to Phuket
The next morning, the Khao Sok National Park looked like Lucerne in the fall – everywhere morning fog that lays over the jungle, we took the road back to Phuket.
On the street we saw a kind of herbal drugstore or pharmacy and we thought we could take a quick look inside. The store contained many herbal sacks, the wall full of mysterious, unmarked drawers. We thought, let’s dare the experiment and mix a tea!
The pharmacist took different sacks, opened some drawers and mixed something. It looked very cosmic to us, but we bought the mix. The tea tasted bitter, but that should be healthy, right?!? It was a special experience.
We went further on and just bevor the bridge to the island Phuket we stopped and bought about 20 whole pineapples for our Thai friend Jacky in Chalong. One pineapple was about 30 cents!
Returning the rental car
We arrived at the car rental company short befor lunch. After having a look of the rental car, the landlord actually wanted to charge us USD 70.- for a small scratch on the bumper. We told him to give us “a can of polish” so we could polish off the scratch. And what does the guy do? He calls the police (he understood “Police”). But the police did not interfere and we called for the owner of the car rental. When they were approaching (Thai Chinese, very good business people), they just looked at the scratch for a moment and said it was ok and we would not have to pay anything (the clerk then looked a bit weird). Conclusion: sometimes you have to fight for your rights and it is worth it.
The trip was really great and we absolutely enjoyed seeing something other than just Phuket. The landscapes are very green and worth seeing. The locals are friendly and helpful and the Thai food just fantastic.
Returning here to Part 1 of this Khao Sok National Park Journey.
Nice report about Khao Sok. When you come next time I would recommend you to go deeper in the jungle into the wildlife sanctuary. It is worth to go deeper and pay some money more. It is fantastic to see wild elephants in the jungle.
Did you go to an elephant camp where they offer riding ? This is not contemporary. There are enough elephant camps in Khao Sok which not offer riding. Better to support them without riding.