Stopover at Kho Luang

Kho Luang is a mountain near the city of Sukhothai. We will tell you about how we got there in the next post. 😉

The 1200 m high mountain is located in Ramkhamhaeng National Park and is one of the most important water sources in the region.

We drove to the national park on motorbikes with four other travelers (Lau|Argentina, Claudia|Mexico, Alic|Spain, Ben|England) from the best hostel we've had so far. The entrance fee cost us 200 baht per person + 20 baht per scooter.

At the foot of the mountain, the four-hour ascent began. It felt like going uphill at 80 degrees steep the whole time. With some breaks in between, we were entertained by many interesting insects and small animals on the way. The centipedes were leading the race. There were also some huge sacred trees along the way and a golden Buddha figure under a rock ledge. Halfway up the path, a cat suddenly appeared, which followed us all the way to the top. We named him "Mewtwo" and if we walked too fast, he made that clear with his loud voice. As it turned out, Mewtwo was apparently almost blind because if you held a piece of meat in front of him, he smelled it but then bumped his head against it. Also, no matter how you carried him, he never jumped down if he hadn't jumped up himself.

Arriving at the top all sweaty, we were rewarded with a breathtaking view. We enjoyed the vastness, had something to eat, and took a little nap before we made our way back down after an hour.

The descent took two hours and was just as exhausting as going uphill.

We even ran at times because it was more comfortable for our knees.

We were all really proud of ourselves for doing and accomplishing this. For Ben, it was even the first time he had been hiking for such a long time without a break. After our time in Nepal, we felt like professionals. It was also exhausting for us, but we knew it was only one day and not a week, so it felt only half as exhausting. It just goes to show how much of it is simply mind over matter.

We also had muscle soreness afterwards.

You're wondering what happened to Mewtwo? Don't worry, he had a family up on the mountain who lives there and takes care of him. He is doing very well there, and we believe they were happy to have him back. 😸

It felt really good to have been in nature again among all the temples and cities and to feel our whole body. 😊