Kayaking in Khao Sok National Park - Part 2

Khao Sok National Park was first recommended to me by a colleague at my previous school. He had lived in Bangkok and had taken this trip twice. He said it was his favorite place in the world, so how could I say no? It was added to our list and reservations were made for a 4 day paddle. Labelled as the easiest trip but with the most basic accommodation, I figured it would be a nice last retreat before we arrived in Tokyo.

After a little snafu with the pick up location (all my fault), we ended up flying into Phuket from Bangkok at the ungodly hour of 5am with a 7am arrival. We were promptly greeted by our guides and helped into the minivan with thankfully reclining seats. After only 3 hours of sleep the night before, I needed a nap. 

We picked up 2 more sets of guests and stopped once for breakfast and toilets before arriving (3 hours later) at the dam. Khao Sok national park was once a large valley with villages and temples and soaring mountains. About 30 years ago the valley was flooded to create a hydroelectric dam, forcing the residents to move and creating the beautiful topography of the region. Picking our way across the shaky, unstable planks of wood, or the 'dock', we arrived to our longtail boat that would transport us the hour to our little section of the park. The views on the way were gorgeous, with sheer limestone cliffs on either side and bits of blue peeking through the clouds. Other than the spray from the side of the boat that soaked me through, it was a pleasant ride.

The 'Dock' to our boat (don't mind my finger, it was hard to snap this shot!)

On our longtail

When we arrived at our bungalows, I was a bit dismayed. I had known they were basic, but these were worse than I had imagined. Sticks and planks of wood were nailed together and covered in tin roofs, with just a bamboo floor and a mat so thin you might as well be sleeping on nothing. Hodge-podge planks of wood were nailed together for the small board walk between bungalows and from the floating complex to the toilets on the land. Our 'showers' were right off the dock - we had an entire freshwater lake at our disposal! We'd jump in after a morning of activity to cool off and wash up.

The best thing I can say for the accommodation is that we were dry despite the heavy rains and we at least had a little deck to sit on with a floor mat to make things a bit more comfortable. It is definitely the worst three nights' sleep I have gotten the entire trip barring the overnight flights. Even after the lovely staff added a second mat to each of our rooms, each night was uncomfortable and restless.

 

The best time was the time in our kayaks. We went out 4 times in 4 days, exploring the nearby areas and being transported once a bit farther away to see the limestone cliffs, caves and islands. The peace and beauty of those trips almost outweighs the discomfort in the bungalows. At least the food served to us was good and the sights beautiful! Our helpful guide has also planned two hikes, but with a full day and night of pounding rain, it was cancelled to avoid the slippery mud tracks and swarming leeches that would be waiting for us. I think he made a good call there, and I was happy to spend time relaxing on my little porch, watching the rain hit the water, reading, listening to the drumming of droplets on the roof and just taking a few moments to reflect on our trip.

A breakdown of our days and adventures in Khoa Sok National Park.

Day 1: Trying our our kayaks and exploring the nearby lagoons with an incredible rainbow and sunset.

  

 

Once back, we made our little flower rafts to celebrate Loy Kathrong. "Loy" means float and "Kathrong" means raft or boat. Our guide explained that this was a festival to celebrate water. First, you thanked the water for everything it gives you, and apologize to water for anything you waste or disrespect. Some think of this holiday as the most beautiful and enchanting festival in Thailand. You build your rafts with a piece of banana tree, banana leaves, flowers, a candle, three sticks of incense, a coin, and a hair or nail. The ones our guides and hosts made were incredible, much better than ours! It was too bad the wind was blowing so much as our candles faded and then blew out quickly.

 

 

Day 2: In the morning, we were taken by boat to a nearby waterfall. We climbed up the waterfall to a nice place where we could sit, and then made our way back down. It wasn't nearly as slippery as it looked. 

 

In the afternoon, we went to explore another lagoon nearby.

 

Day 3: With the never ending rain, we skipped the hike in the morning and relaxed instead. In the afternoon we loaded the kayaks onto a boat and drove to a dock 30 minutes away to explore some limestone cliffs and caves. Unfortunately, it started raining there too. We were given ponchos and continued paddling.

 

  

 

 

Day 4: In the morning we had one last nice paddle to watch the monkeys, trees, and birds. Then back on the longtail boat and out to our bus, plane, taxi!

On our last day there, and was sitting on the porch again, listing to the creek of the raft against the boardwalk and the gentle lapping of the water in wood. I was thinking that we would head out in an hour, back across the lake to the dam and then through the countryside to the airport. It had been a nice, calm few days and like everything in this trip it went too fast. I looked out over the lush forest and breathed in the clean air and tried to hold onto that moment before it too glided by.