Same Same but Different

Thailand has been one adventure after another. Giant cities to huts in the mountains to heat exhaustion to coconut ice cream to cooking classes to near death tuk tuk rides. Every bit of this trip has felt special but one place stands out among the rest. Khao Sok National Park. I am SO GLAD I decided to go to Khao Sok. I had these four days and I just didn’t know what to do… go to Vietnam? Go to Malaysia? Climb a mountain? Visit some ruins? But Khao Sok kept calling me back… how could I not stay on a floating bungalow on a giant lake with limestone mountains? Sounds like paradise. And it was!!

But first.... some highlights from my other adventures: (scroll down for the rest of the Khao sok story)

Now back to Khao Sok. I had to find it before I could fall in love with it! First of all, the transportation. Now, I’ve been on some pretty rough trips before but this was on a new level. After I exited the airport at Surathani, I was bombarded by travel agents. “Krabi???? Phuket??? Koh Tao??? Samui???” “Um… Khao sok?” “ahhhhhhhh 350 baht! 150! 1001 250!” I couldn’t figure out what was what. Finally, I got a ticket for a mini van. Or so I thought. I waiting in the hot sun (95 degrees!) for an hour until… a giant 1950s style bus pulled up. “this is you!” said the travel agent. Um ok… here we go. The bus was already crowded but I got a seat. It was full of tourists and thais combined. It was loud, hot and smelly. We took off and I settled in. Or so I thought. 5 minutes later we stopped, and picked up another passenger. Then 5 minutes later another. Then another. And another. We had to sit three to a two seater. There were so many people standing in the aisles that I felt like I was on the NYC subway during Monday morning rush hour. Not to mention the bags and suitcases laying in the aisles… And then the fried chicken sticky rice man comes aboard and tries to sell lunch for 30 minutes. Long story short, I survived. And made it here:

I stayed at a place called Morning Mist Resort, and had my own little bungalow in the forest! So many cool plants and flowers and bugs and things. I signed up for the lake tour the following day, took myself out to a delicious  (and adorable) dinner, curled up under my mosquito netting and fell asleep.

 

The next morning I met my group. All northern Europeans and a few brits. Everyone was super kind and we all hit it off as we were whisked away on our longtail boat on an hour ride to our home for the night: the floating bungalows. What a view!

 

The bungalows were literally floating on these cylinders of some sort of metal. Unsafe perhaps but the most incredible feeling to be just floating on this gorgeous lake. The water was the clearest I’ve ever seen in my life. We had time to relax, swim, and eat before a trek in the afternoon. I didn’t want to get out of the water!

 

Our trek included a visit to a cave. For anyone who knows me well, I don’t really like enclosed spaces… so this would be interesting. However, I trusted our amazing guide, Nok. He was a mix between a hobbit and a gangster. Completely covered in tattoos, but walked barefoot in the jungle.

Me before the cave. We had to only wear bathing suits because at some points you had to swim! I overcame many fears in this cave. Super big spiders.

Finally, dinner and sunset time. I hung out with my group on the raft for hours, looking at the stars, sharing travel stories, it was truly paradise.  The next day we had a morning boat safari, followed by some more trekking, lunch and swimming! Then it was back to the mainland. Back to reality. I think I could have spent weeks on this lake, it was that magical.

If anyone has three days to spare in Thailand, this is the place to be. It wasn’t overrun with hotels, the guides were locals and so sweet, the food was amazing, and the views were just breathtaking.