Thailand 2024 Tag 12+13

We had originally planned 3 nights in Khao Sok National Park, but somehow everything was suddenly fully booked. That's just how it is. It was the weekend and Chinese New Year, so there were a lot of Thais out and about. We had booked a day trip from Khao Lak for Monday so we could at least admire the reservoir.

After a good 1 hour trip, we went canoeing along the river, whose name I have forgotten. (It was clearly too early for us.) But the nature was more spectacular and the guide was more attentive. We saw a mangrove snake, two lizards, a tree snake, flying wild chickens and a lot more. Unfortunately the river didn't have that much water and we only managed three kilometers. However, it was still beautiful and loud in some places (singing cicadas).

After a short drive we continued to Lake Chieo Lan or the Ratchaprapha Dam.

A little fact check:

Built 1982 - 1987, 13 villages were relocated, 94m high, 761m long, 40m deep on average and it is used to generate electricity.

You can also see dead wood again and again, which can be seen in the flatter areas. This looks very beautiful in front of the limestone mountains that form over 100 small islands.

After a little more than 60 minutes of sometimes quite wet sailing in the longtail boat, it was time for lunch. That was okay, both of us agreed. After a short break to digest, Egg took a swim in the reservoir, which, all in all, is still warmer than certain pools in Germany. 😉

Funnily enough, the way back to the bus was even wetter because it had started to rain. However, no problem with the rain ponchos provided.

The rest of the journey back to Khao Lak was unspectacular in itself, only two (presumably) working elephants could be seen on the side of the road.

The evening was the same as the previous one. Good food, cocktails and live music.

On Tuesday we both parted ways, Egg went diving and I did this and that. But first we had to sleep in.

In the morning I visited the Tsunami Memorial Center. I had imagined a little more, so there were only two rooms with photos of the accident as well as display boards showing how a tsunami occurs and how you should behave in the event of a warning. There is a police boat on the site itself that was swept about 2 km inland. What is impressive, however, is the 5m concrete wave, which was built to illustrate the thickness of the water and the height.

After a short stopover at the hotel, it was time for lunch. I had in mind the river restaurant, where we were already on Sunday. In short, it was closed again. I treated myself to an original Thai spicy meal on the side of the road three restaurants/pubs away. (It was tasty but borderline spicy).

In the afternoon, at least for me, there was a lot of doing nothing, reading and taking a nap.

In the evening we didn't want to eat in the same restaurant as the previous days, unfortunately the restaurant where we wanted to eat instead was closed. (Incidentally, it was one of those that I tried at lunchtime, but didn't recognize it on Google Maps before we left. Well, it happened. We ended up at Tiffy&Florian. If you look at the interior, there was a lot there good Thai food and the European dishes looked very good too.

We continued with a little tour of the city and an ice cream for Egg before ending up back in the bar around the corner from our hotel. There were delicious cocktails again and I think gin, Thai basil and cucumber will be my new favorite cocktail. There was also wonderful live music with various singers in a beautiful, enchanted garden. All in all a great evening.

You can see that Egg had fun diving and that there was a lot to see in the pictures.