20.01.2023 - Trip to Khao Sok National Park

After a few days of island life, it was time for a change of scenery. Still heading south, our next destination was Khao Sok National Park, a beautiful spot about 150 kilometers away from Phuket. After a seven-hour journey, we arrived at our hostel late in the evening. Looking back, it was probably one of the best hostels I stayed at during my time in Southeast Asia. Not only did we have a very clean bungalow all to ourselves, but more importantly, our host mom was super nice. During our stay, she served us complimentary fruits, gave us tips for tours, and transported us to the national park and even to the bus station on our departure. So, if you ever want to visit Khao Sok National Park, Khao Sok Holiday Resort is a clear recommendation.

For the first few days, we decided to go hiking in the national park on our own. Before entering the park, there is an entrance fee of about 10.00 €, making Khao Sok National Park one of the most expensive in all of Thailand. But the nature you get to see here is worth every cent. At the park entrance, there is a large map showing all the hiking trails. We decided to start with a short hike to a waterfall with the option to extend the hike and climb another waterfall if we felt like it. So, we started walking and reached the first checkpoint faster than expected. For safety reasons, we had to sign our names in a list so that the park rangers knew who was currently in the park. While signing the list, we were told that we were officially only allowed to hike up to a certain trail marker because there was allegedly a king cobra in the area beyond that. Now, when it comes to warning signs in Southeast Asia, it's a bit tricky, often tourists feel like they are only there to make you join a guide for a lot of money. Since we had met other hikers along the way and were thus part of a larger group, we decided to continue the hike without a guide, with or without cobra. We marched through the jungle for about four hours, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill, sometimes getting lost because there were no signs. But in the end, we reached our destination, a beautiful waterfall in the middle of nowhere. Since we wanted to be out of the jungle before it got dark – the respect for the possible snake was maybe a bit too much – we unfortunately couldn't stay at the waterfall any longer and even had to skip swimming. After a short rest, we made our way back. Since we knew the way now, the return trip didn't take four hours anymore. Just as we were on the last stretch, there was a moment of shock, because all of a sudden, there it was, a black snake about two meters long lying right next to the trail. She was probably as startled as we were. I jumped away with a big leap, and the snake disappeared into the jungle in the opposite direction. With this beautiful experience, our overall 15-kilometer hike through the jungle of Khao Sok National Park came to an end.

The next morning, we changed the scenery. Khao Sok National Park is not only known for its jungle but also for its stunning lakes with large limestone formations rising out of the water like mountains. To extensively explore the surroundings, we decided to book a guided tour. It would take us deep into the national park for two days and one night. After breakfast, we were picked up and driven to the edge of Chieo Lan Lake. From there, we continued by boat to our floating accommodation. The tour included an overnight stay in a small hut, which is part of a floating village. After settling into our small, very spartanly furnished huts – there was nothing more than two mattresses – we headed to our first destination, a cave in the middle of the jungle. In general, caves are not particularly special here in Southeast Asia, but this one is an exception. It is over 500 meters long, pitch dark, and can be crossed. So, equipped with swimwear and headlamps, we ventured into the adventure. At the beginning, the path was quite wide and not very challenging. But that changed pretty quickly. The path became narrower, and the water rose noticeably. Eventually, the water was literally up to our necks. For people with claustrophobia, there was no more space from that moment on. And even people with arachnophobia probably wouldn't have felt very comfortable. They were hanging on the rock walls on the left and right, patiently observing what was happening. After about an hour, it was over, and we stepped back into the open. The return to the floating village was accompanied by a beautiful sunset, the perfect end to a great day. The next morning, we continued with a small morning safari on the water at 6 o'clock, where we only saw a few monkeys and a hornbill, which was not very extraordinary but was compensated by the breathtaking landscape. After the safari, we returned to the village, where we had breakfast and then packed our things. Because our water excursion was coming to an end. On the way back to the pier, we made a detour to another cave, but it couldn't compete with the one from the previous day. The boat ride was the real highlight here as well. The landscape in Khao Sok National Park is simply indescribably beautiful.

Enveloped in the great impressions, we set off for our next destination on the same evening. Next stop: Phang Nga! Originally, there was supposed to be a separate blog post about Phang Nga, but first, things turned out differently, and second, as you would expect. Unfortunately, my trip to James Bond Island, the famous island where Roger Moore lands on the beach with the airplane in "The Man with the Golden Gun," fell through. Shortly before the end of my four-month journey through Southeast Asia, I was actually hit by food poisoning, which forced me to spend the next two days in bed. I'll spare you the details at this point. At least Jacob was able to go on the tour and tell me about his impressions afterwards. After what seemed to be two very unspectacular days from my perspective, it was time to move on again. Beach time was calling!