âBye Larryâ. It was time to say adios to our new friend Larry the Lizard who had been living in our air conditioner for the five nights we were in Koh Samui. But we were pretty sure weâd be meeting lots of Larryâs lizard friends as we headed to Khao Sok.
Sitting equidistant from the east and west coasts of southern Thailand, Khao Sok National Park is a dense rainforest area measuring 285 sq miles (739 km2, for our German readers) and is older than the Amazon rainforest of South America.
After a one hour ferry back to the mainland and a two-and-a-half hour minibus journey to Khao Sok (or, more accurately, Khlong Sok village), we checked into our home for the next three days; Khao Sok Palmview Resort, where we were greeted by the charming Mama Nui, the 69 year old proprietor. Curiously speaking always in the third person (âyou tell Mama Nuiâ), Mama Nui led us to our spacious jungle bungalow which featured a big veranda and a hot shower! Quite an improvement from our cosy number on Koh Phayam!
- Palm view resort Khao Sok
- Our bungalow
After settling in, we asked Mama Nui the quickest way to the village (Palmview is situated close as-the-crow-flies to the main street but a bit of a drive by road) so she showed us a map and gave directions and finished by producing a large bamboo stick. âNear this corner, big dog. Just in caseâ. Terrified, we ventured along the shortcut which, after starting as a path, turned into more of a swamp (no doubt due to the heavy rainfall theyâd be experiencing). Hopping from rock to rock to avoid the mud, at one point I went to take a detour around a tree when I came face-to-face with a gigantic spider web with an even more gigantic spider in the middle of it! I managed to take evasive action before coming into contact with the web but I was certainly freaked out. Later Googling determined that the spider was a Giant Golden Orb Weaver spider which Wikipedia says is âone of the biggest spiders in the worldâ. Too bloody right! (Please see image below of a Giant Golden Orb Weaver eating a bird!)
- Giant Golden Orb Weaver eating a bird!
- Giant Golden Orb Weaver spider
Fortunately, we didnât need to make use of the dog stick and reached Khlong Sok village successfully where we had dinner and picked up a few supplies. Not before having to take cover in a 7-Eleven from an almighty downpour though – something which would become a regular occurrence on this part of our trip!
Next morning, we headed for a day tour of the Cheow Lan Lake. Created in 1982 by the construction of the Ratchaprapha Dam, Cheow Lan Lake is a 64 sq mile (165 km2) reservoir which is surrounded by imposing limestone cliffs. We were the first to be picked up by the minibus in the morning and, as we headed to the next pick-up point, we wondered who we would be spending the day with.
âEllo. Could you please turn off the clim? I am freezing.â
Tessa and I exchanged glances as our first companion for the day, an older French lady, barked her demands as though no-one else mattered. This could be interesting.
After picking up a further eight hardy adventurers, we met our guide at the dam and headed onto a long tail boat, sailing across the lake for an hour-and-a-half. The lake narrows in many places and the gigantic limestone towers either side feel like something out of Lord of the Rings – quite spectacular.
- Signature rocks of the lake
- Our tour guide “Number Two”
- View from the long tail
The previous day, suspecting that we may be in for a rainy few days, we invested in two ponchos which were put to very quick use as we encountered many heavy rain showers on the crossing to a large floating platform at the other side of the lake, where we had lunch. We were warned not to drop anything in the water as the lake is over 60m deep and up to 100m deep in places. This did mean, however, that we could take a swim. Being a reservoir in a tropical area, the waters were pleasantly warm. After lunch, we hopped back on the boat for a short journey to our next stop which would be trekking into a cave.
- Tom mit poncho
- Poncho selfie
- Tessa mit poncho
- View from the long tail
- View from the long tail
- View of limestone cliffs
- Our group for the day
âOk, letâs goâ, French lady pronounced for the umpteenth time that day, as soon as she had taken the photos she wanted, regardless of the fact that everyone else was still snapping away or putting things into their bags. Cue rolling of eyes from the rest of the group. At least we werenât alone in being irritated by her majestyâs view that herâs was the only opinion that mattered.
Our second activity for the day was exploring a bat cave. Less than 20m into said cave, French lady, announced âI am not comfortable, this is too narrow. Iâll stop hereâ. To which our guide said that heâd have to take her back to the cave entrance. So we waited. Once exploration resumed, we traversed the muddy and wet cave and saw many bats hanging from the roof and a couple of large spiders. Unfortunately, the primary cave in the Cheow Lan Lake area which requires you to wade through a waist-high river was closed because the water level was too high so our secondary cave was a little disappointing but fun nonetheless.
- View from the cave entrance
- View from the cave entrance
The final activity for the day was a trek through the jungle. âI think we might get our Nikes a bit muddy here Tessaâ, I said to Tessa, as our guide leapt out of the boat whilst still 10 metres offshore and proceeded to wade through the swampy reeds and mud. Suitably muddied and with soaked feet, we then put our Nikes to good use hiking through the hillside river trail that we criss-crossed high up into the rainforest. âDonât worry, leeches (Blutegel auf Deutsch) stay in the grass, not in waterâ, said our guide making us feel very reassured that there was no chance of our blood being sucked that day! Not that Iâd put it past French lady to ask for a transfusion if she were feeling a little faint.
Not five minutes later, I had a horrible sense of deja-vu as we encountered another Giant Golden Orb Weaver spider! It wasnât as big as the one weâd seen the previous day but both Tessa and I were sure to give it a wide berth.
After trekking up-and-up for an hour, our guide stopped at a very small cluster of rocks and announced that this was the source of the cascading river which we had just climbed. Quite a cool way to end the trek!
- Gigantic tree in the forest
On our return journey to the boat, our guide slowed and pointed to our right, up in the trees. âFlying squirrelsâ, he said, âmove slowlyâ. As we craned our necks to try and catch a glimpse of the elusive marsupials, the silence was broken by a familiar voice. ââŚmy son, he lives in San Diegoâ, bellowed our French friend, as she caught up with the group, shattering any chances of seeing any wildlife as the squirrels went into hiding. Another unforgettable moment to add to the list.
After getting soaked once more on the return journey to the dam, we said goodbye to our guide and hopped back on the minibus to our accommodation, looking forward to a shower and a hot meal courtesy of Mama Nui to round off the day.
Bright and early the next morning (well, 10am is FAIRLY early for us), we went to breakfast and asked Mama Nui where we could go for a nice walk. We took her suggested route up a track/road leading away from Palmview and the village. I had a quick look at Google Maps and saw that the track connected with the main road leading to the village so we could walk round in a loop. Perfect.
We set off up the track and soon came across row after row of rubber trees and huge fields of palm and banana trees. Each and every rubber tree had a spile and small bucket attached to drain the milky latex liquid from the trunk. We were accompanied by Mama Nuiâs Alsatian dog who seemingly had no bones (get it?) about leaving his home and coming for a jolly with us.
Unfortunately, our citronella spray wasnât too effective and we were being bitten quite a lot by mosquitos. A high-pitched whine of another kind was causing me a lot more bother, however. âGO AWAY! Tom, Iâm getting bitten to death!â, Tessa shouted metronomically every minute or so. (Tessa: âI wonât even try clearing this up for you. All I can say is that itâs easy to joke about it when youâre not a constant target! About 16 new mossi-bites vs 2!!!â)
- Mama Nui’s dog
- Cows we encountered
After walking for around an hour, I started to realise that my earlier glance at Google Maps should maybe have been a more considered study of Google Maps. Weâd walked about halfway along the track and still had the same distance to walk back once we reached the main road at the end. âBetter soldier onâ, I thought to myself, channelling that stiff-upper-lip British spirit (for our German readers; âstiff-upper-lipâ is an English saying that means to not show any emotion and to âget on with itâ). Unfortunately, Germans arenât made of as stern stuff. âHow much further are we walking?â, Tessa asked. âItâs not too much furtherâ, I replied, ââŚto the end of the trackâ, finishing the sentence in my head.
When we finally reached the end of the track, I finally relented and checked exactly how far we now had to walk back along the main road to the village. âItâs quite a wayâ, I said, trying to soften the blow. âHow far?â, âOh, only about 9.8kmâ, âWHAT!!!â. Well, there was no turning back now (although that route would have been shorter).
A very short time later, our misery (although some peopleâs misery is greater than others) got a whole lot worse as the heavens opened and gifted us yet another free shower. Yay. Fortunately, we had brought our ponchos with us which sheltered us somewhat from the downpour, although Tessa didnât seem to see the bright side of my fortunate piece of planning to pack them into our rucksack (Tessa: âwhose idea?!â).
Roughly 6km into our saunter home, I managed to regain a little love by treating us to ice creams which we ate in the now glorious afternoon sun. The cool snacks soothing our mouths, if not our feet.
âIf you loved me, youâd carry meâ, Tessa protested. This is a tactic sheâs used several times on this trip already – whether it be trying to steal my pillow or get a back massage – and it wasnât about to work this time (Tessa: âIâve not been successful so far but Iâm not ready to give up just yetâ). Weâd reached the turning for Khlong Sok village so just another 3km to go!
At the end of our wonderful journey, Tessa discovered that sheâd got rather sunburnt which, youâd think would be the cherry on top of her day. Youâd be wrong though! As we were getting ready for bed, a cockroach came crawling out from behind one of the wood slats of our bungalow wall, scuttled his way across to the opposite wall and out of sight. Reassuring Tessa that thereâs probably lots of cockroaches in and around our bungalow but we just canât see them, we drifted off to sleep with our next destination on the horizon; Phuket.
Bojan
October 25, 2016 — 6:34 am
Beret?