Doug and Kerry Hudson in Khao Sok, Thailand, South East Asia

World Trip >> Asia >> Thailand >> Khao Sok

We caught an overnight train from Hua Hin to Surat Thani. We had booked a first class sleeper and we found this experience to be terribly exciting! We did eventually sleep and woke up to enjoy a beautiful sunrise over some superb jungle scenery before arriving at our destination. Whilst waiting for a local bus to take us to Khao Sok National Park, we met a German couple, Claudia and Michael. We chatted away and as they were on the same bus as us, the journey went very quickly, especially as we were discussing the finer qualities of German beer!

We spent our first night in a very rustic tree house with some very big resident geckos! Michael and Claudia had said that they wanted to go on an overnight trip to Chiaw Lan lake and asked if we would be interested in joining them. So we left our geckos behind and joined them, American siblings Alan and Angela, and of course, our fearless guide Joe. It turned out to be one of the most exciting adventures of our year.

Even the trip out to the lake was amazing. We were transported by pick-up truck to Chiaw Lan and were then transferred to our floating house rafts on the lake by a long-tailed boat. In our honest opinion, it was worth coming to Thailand for the boat trip alone! The scenery surpassed any that we had seen so far on our world trip. Huge limestone cliffs towered from the water, capped by dense jungle vegetation.

Our first activity was a hike through the steamy jungle to a huge cave. This was quite a trek and involved wading through lots of mountain streams. Our cave was huge and very, very dark. With only two torches between the seven of us (including the guide), it made for difficult walking. We saw big toads, crickets and bats. In places, the water was too deep to walk through so we had to swim. Teamwork was absolutely essential and by the end we felt like we had accomplished something very special. We had entered one end and one hour later we emerged from the other side - exhausted, exhilirated and very wet!

That night we slept very well in our rustic accommoation. Well Doug did anyway. Kerry was far too worried that a frog might land on the bed, for we were sleeping in a reed hut floating right on the lake. Before going to bed, Doug had a great time diving off the balcony into the lake, and swimming in the warm water to wash off the sweat of the day's exertions. At the time he didn't realise that you get crocodiles in Thailand... Ooops! To compound Kerry's woes, the toilets were a good five minutes away up a long flight of steps carved into the mountainside - and they were none too sanitary when you got up there either!

The following day we did another hike, up to a view point. This was quite scary as it involved doing some mountain climbing up some very sheer and sharp rocks. Once again, the safety measures were totally non-existent, making it a very exciting climb. The view over the lake was spectacular however, and made the gruelling hike well worth it. The heat was unbelievable - we were sweating like pigs in the intense humidity.

We slowed the pace down the next day, with a leisurely ride through the jungle atop an elephant. The trail followed a small jungle stream up to a small waterfall. Physically, riding an elephant involved lurching from side-to-side very high off the ground on an uncomfortable bench not really wide enough for the both of us. However, it was also a chance to touch hundreds of years of tradition in Thailand. It was amazing to see how this giant did so little damage to the jungle we walked through, placing its enormous feet with such gentle care. And after the ride we could reward our elephant with bananas!

After all this energetic jungle fun, it was time to chill out on a beach. Thailand is legendary for its idyllic beaches, and we found it very difficult to choose which island to go to. We eventually decided to try Ko Pha-Ngan off the east coast...

World Trip >> Asia >> Thailand >> Khao Sok

Last updated: Sunday August 27, 2006