We’re back in Khao Lak, after two nights in the nearby Khao Sok National Park. We got slightly conned on our way up there, as we were told in Khao Lak we could take buses to get all the way to the park. Alas, the bus we boarded only went as far as Takapua. The ticket seller (who rides with the bus) said we could get a taxi in Takapua. We knew we could get another bus somewhere in Takapua, so we said “okay, okay”.
On the outskirts of Takapua, the driver stops the bus and makes a call on his cell. We wait about five minutes, then the ticket seller tells us “Khao Sok? Khao Sok? Taxi”. Lo and behold, our own personal chariot awaits us to get the remaining hour-plus drive there. And he only wants 600 Baht. Ouch. That’s about $20. For perspective, the bus ride for the first hour was only 50 Baht.
We bargain. 550 Baht. We get in. We sit in the back of a pickup truck covered with a canvas tarp (sorry Mom!). We arrive in Khao Sok.
The lesson: don’t say “okay, okay” – it means yes, we’ll do that. The same reasoning applies when you walk by street vendors who try to lure you into their shop. You say “not today”, they say “tomorrow”? If you say yes, you better plan to stop by – or avoid that section of the street entirely. The vendor will remember you and call you out if you don’t come in.
Khao Sok. Mountains. Jungle. Vines. Giant spiders. Limestone karsts rising from a man-made lake. Flying lizards, geckos the size of rats, gibbons calling to each other in the forest. A magical place.
We took a daytrip to the Chiao Lan reservoir with Kai’s Jungle Experience. For our daytrip, we drove about an hour (stopping at a local market where we spotted pirated copies of G-Force) to the lake, then took a long-tail boat another hour to a floating camp.
After lunch, we set off on the jungle trek. Our guide, Kai, has lived in Khao Sok for the past 21 years and is known for his jungle treks. Kai showed our farang group huge tiger spiders, flying lizards (more of glorified leaping lizards), bats, “Buddha” toads (so named for their posture when flipped on their backs), rattan vines, butterflies…and then we got to Namtaloo Cave.
We put on our headlamps and venture in. Namtaloo Cave is an enormous cavern that winds at least a half mile through the mountain. There was water running throughout, and the cave is home to at least three species of bats, frogs, catfish and other small fish. We waded through water and got chest-deep a few times, following ropes to get through deep sections. It was awesome, and Kai was a fantastic guide. Wish he had a website I could point to!
On the drive back to Khao Sok, Kai stopped at a road stall and we bought a 1 kg. lake fish. Kai invited us over for dinner and said he’d cook it up for us. Well. Dinner at a Thai house? No to be missed!
We cleaned up, bought a couple large bottles of Changand headed over to Kai’s business/home. Kai’s friend Cee had already prepared one fish and a another dish called “10-day eggs”. We joined another of Kai’s friends, a German named Willy who has a passion for fishing and has come to Khao Sok 16 times. Other Thai guests arrived, and one man brought a curious glass jar filled with herbs from the jungle. A small bamboo cup was passed around to the men, and Mark partook of the jungle. And the rest of the night is a little blurry.
Off to dive the Similan and Surin Islands for the next four days and nights, living aboard the boat. Then off to Bangkok on the 23rd.
Oh, and the return ‘luxury’ bus from Khao Sok to Khao Lak was 120 Baht each.
Photos of Khao Sok National Park
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Ah, but how was the camembert at dinner? 😉
SOunds like a fantastic day. I am sooo envious.