Khao Sok National Park

Warm greetings from the return journey from Khao Sok National Park. Wooooow, what an exciting and amazing few days it has been. Lots of nature, hiking, and adventure, just my kind of thing. I am still amazed by the natural beauty of this national park... it can easily compete with the national parks I have seen in the USA, but at the same time it is much less crowded and more untouched. The park covers an area of over 738km^2 and consists of huge jungle forests, cliffs, caves, and a giant lake. I arrived in a small village right next to the national park, where I found a hostel to stay in and start my adventures from there every day. Once again, an advantage over the American national parks, where I couldn't afford to stay at the park entrance. As soon as I entered the Khao Sok area, I was overwhelmed: I have never seen so much natural beauty with so many jungle plants before. This greenery is indescribable and the tropical plants create a very special atmosphere. I was released from the minibus almost in the middle of nowhere and at first I was a bit scared of not finding my accommodation. But luckily, after a short while, a taxi (actually a pickup truck with tourists and luggage sitting on the open cargo area) showed up and took me to the hostel. Sunny, the hostel owner, was very welcoming and helped me plan my days in the jungle according to my needs. Although I hesitated because of the relatively high costs, we ended up with a very good result for me: I did an overnight tour on the big lake in the jungle with hiking and cave exploration, and a guided tour through the jungle for a day. So I started with the overnight tour on the lake in the jungle, a dream come true. In the morning, we were picked up from the hostel by a minivan and then went to the large lake of the national park, where a longboat picked us up. We zoomed across the gigantic lake (Ratchaprapa Dam), which is supposedly much larger than Lake Constance. The lake was built by humans a few years ago and serves as a dam that generates electricity for the surrounding towns. The water is crystal clear, probably because it took years for the lake to fill completely with water and this development is still relatively new. Dashing across this lake with all the rocks and jungle landscapes was an absolute dream, I don't know if I have ever seen anything so beautiful. From the boat, we saw snakes and stopped again and again to observe monkeys swinging along the jungle trees. It is truly fascinating to watch monkeys in their natural habitat. After an extensive boat tour, we checked in to our accommodation for the night, the so-called 'floating bungalows'. The bungalows are mini houses located in the middle of the lake and are only connected to each other by walkways. There is no electricity in these houses, only mattresses and toilets, so you sleep in a very spartan way for one night. You can feel every movement of the water during the night, super exciting. However, there is a 'restaurant' near the bungalows, so we were provided with food during our trip. After check-in and a good lunch, we hopped back on the boat and went to the other end of the lake to go on a jungle hike. We fought our way through the jungle, with our guide pointing out various animals to us (spiders, insects, birds, monkeys, snakes), and finally reached a cave that we were guided through. The cave was home to thousands of bats and spiders, quite creepy. To cross the cave, we had to use our climbing and swimming skills, as there was not always a footpath available. Some passages were very narrow and except for the light of our flashlights, it was pitch dark in the cave, slightly frightening. Do you remember the football team that was trapped in a cave for many days a few years ago because it was flooded during their cave exploration? Our guide had us turn off our flashlights for a moment and feel how those poor people must have felt in complete darkness in that cave for 10 days. A really scary feeling, I really don't know how one could psychologically endure something like that for 10 days... After the cave tour and a hike back to the boat, we went on an evening boat safari, really impressive how the jungle changes in the dark and how many more noises you hear. To end the day, we had freshly caught fish and enjoyed the feeling of sleeping in the jungle as a group on the walkways. The starry sky was really fascinating to me: I have never seen so many stars shining in my life. In the darkness of the jungle without any lights, you could see countless stars, each one shining brighter than the other. My roommate and I lay outside for at least an hour, staring at the sky, I could have laid there for hours. It's a truly special feeling... when you look up at the sky like that, you feel much more connected and less alone. Somehow, you are sure that there is much more out there than our little problems on Earth when you look up so high. The night in the bungalow was also an adventure itself, being rocked to sleep by the movements of the water. But you don't really feel scared, although you mostly don't get much sleep because you are curious about the sounds of the jungle and you are woken up very early in the morning to go on a morning jungle safari. It was super exciting to notice how the jungle changes completely depending on the time of day. Sounds, light, movement, smell, animals, everything is different depending on when you stroll through the jungle. After the morning safari, we had time to swim in the lake and go kayaking. I discovered a new hobby for myself: kayaking! I had so much fun moving through the water in this way and seeing such a beautiful landscape... rowing in the jungle is definitely much better than in the gym. So I paddled to very quiet corners of the lake, observing the flora and fauna, and simply enjoying my life... oh, what a great feeling, I could have paddled like that for hours. I was really sad when the tour ended. The beautiful nature and not least the cool people have touched me deeply. Surprisingly, there were many Dutch and Belgians on this tour with me. I can only say it again and again, I love the Dutchies. Such relaxed, friendly people, very uncomplicated, easy to talk to, they take away any stress and always have funny stories to share. I always said that when I grow up, I'll marry a Dutch person. Whether that will actually happen, I'm curious. So if you know someone who knows someone ;) On the way back from the lake tour to Khao Sok Village, we stopped at several viewpoints, absolutely beautiful

I'm currently in a minibus on my way to the ferry port to go to Koh Lanta (an island in southwestern Thailand). I'm not very good at making decisions, so deciding on specific islands and next destinations is anything but easy for me. I think Koh Lanta is a good choice as the last island before I fly to the north because it is supposed to be quite relaxed and beautiful there. However, I doubt whether Koh Lanta can compete with the beautiful Koh Phangan. There is probably no such thing as the 'right decision' anyway. Everything is an experience in life from which you can learn and draw your own conclusions. Hopefully, when I finally internalize this, I won't put so much pressure on myself to always make the right decisions. And hopefully, I can always come back to Thailand later to see the more lively places. In this sense, I'm trying to fully embrace Koh Lanta and will soon report back to you from the island. Until then, a sweaty hug to all of you and do something good for yourselves today!