Our journey in Bangkok ended with Sam and I attempting to do laundry in one of the many washing machines that are conveniently located on the street for 20 baht.  We were going to use a laundromat, but since it was the King’s birthday, and we were desperate, we tried one of these.  The washing went okay, but the dryer didn’t work, and we didn’t have a place or the time to hang the wet clothes.  So, we arrived to Khao Sok with damp, stinky clothes.

We opted to take the night train rather than an airplane to Surat Thani mostly because we wanted the experience of sleeping in a train.  Surprisingly, the price was virtually the same for both options.  Of course, I insisted on arriving to the train station two hours early to pick up our tickets and to make sure we could find the station.  Picking up the tickets and finding our platform took less than fifteen minutes, and we had two hours to kill with our backpacks.  We went to a restaurant for dinner and to wait, and were greeted by a very nice man who turned out to be the owner of the restaurant.  The food was average, and we put our packs back on to head over the train station to wait.

The train to Surat Thani left at 7:30pm, and we boarded with several other backpackers.  The train looked dated, but the amenities were very comfortable.  The seats were turned into bed by a very efficient and overworked crew member- she could be seen sprinting up and down the aisles at the call of the conductor.  Sam and I opted to sleep together in the lower berth with all of our bags because we were a little nervous that someone might try to take something.  An extremely bumpy night of sleep, and twelve hours later, we arrived to Surat Thani where we planned to take a bus to Khao Sok.

After a short, yet majestic trip to Khao Sok, we arrived at Jungle Huts, where we stayed.  The trip to our bungalow was full of landscape I’d never seen before.  Dense jungle, sharp limestone cliffs, and vibrant blue skies as far as I could see.  Our bungalow is free standing, so we don’t share any walls with anyone else.  It is a nice room, with dangerous stairs and vibrant plant/animal life- which we would find out the next morning.  The entrance to Khao Sok national park is minutes from our bungalow, and there are quite a few other hotels/bungalows/hostels all in the very tiny town right outside of the park.

We went to the Khao Sok National Park entrance, and paid our way in, which was 300 baht each.  We set off on the main trailhead, hoping to reach Wing Hin Waterfalls, which was pretty much as far as we were allowed to go without a guide.  Bamboo nearly 100ft tall leaned over the trail, and the jungle was so dense with exotic flora that we couldn’t see beyond ten feet outside of the trail.  It was a bit muddy from the rain the night before, but very manageable.  Most other people had tour guides, and we overheard one guide showing a group a large spider called the golden orb web spider.  In a beautifully woven web, this spider with golden spots was easily five inches long.  Sam, shockingly, wasn’t too terrified.  It turns out, that its only the “hairy” ones that really freak him out.

About a mile and a half later, we arrived to a sign that said “Wing Hin” with an arrow pointing left.  We stumbled down the narrow trail, when I noticed a black smudge on my big toe.  Little did I know, it was not a black smudge, but a big, fat, blood-sucking leech.  I felt like Gordie, in Stand By Me, when he finds a leech on his penis.  My experience was a bit less intimate, but freaked me out all the same.  We continued on along the river, hopping from one very slippery rock to the next.  The groups that had been behind us, beat us to the waterfall because we had taken the much more treacherous route.  The waterfall was a smaller, yet beautiful flowing cascade of white water flowing between the trees in the jungle.  To actually get under the waterfall, you had to cross a river, which I did not want to do, but Sam did.

As we continued on the trail, we came to the end of where we were allowed to go without a guide.  However, we were warmly greeted by Macaques and Lutungs joyfully jumping from vine to vine.  It was an amazing thing to be able to see monkeys so close that weren’t near a house or trash.  There were baby Macaques tumbling around on the ground, and large Lutungs gracefully swinging around as if to put on a show for us.  After watching for quite some time, we headed back to the trailhead to find the next trail.  We had planned to go to the Bang Hua Rat waterfall, but after a few minutes into the walk, it appeared as though the ground was moving.  Upon closer examination, there were leeches covering every square inch of the trail.  I insisted that we turn around, and when I rinsed my feet in the river (fun fact: the leeches don’t live in the rivers, only in the moist jungle) I freaked out when I found another leech on my foot.

I’ll let (newly bald) Sam take over now.

Our stay in Khao Sok summarized in one word: Realistic.

Weird word to describe a place stripped straight from the disney movie Moana, but I still find it accurate. We had a memorable time in our jungle hut shadowed by limestone monoliths and an expansive safari at our doorstep, but 5 days there taught us that even what seems like paradise can get boring very quickly. The environment that now surrounded us practically sparkled with fantasy and wonder, but without spending baht there was no way of truly experiencing the incredible scenery on our own.  My American mind was blown several times over from the moment my feet touched Thai soil, but the farther we ventured from the city of Bangkok, the more reality pulled me back into focus. My mother always used to tell me that nothing in this world is free, and despite the drastically reduced prices here in Thailand, I still found myself wondering if our stay in Khao Sok was worth the price. The conclusion I came up to is a resounding yes.  This answer is due to the two day and one night lake trip we decided to splurge on- 2500 baht a piece is no small fee.

I don’t mean to downplay the last 5 days. Please don’t misunderstand. I was attacked by monkeys, adopted by a dog named Cicada, soaked by two waterfalls and several more falls into muddied water, guided through a cave within a cave, and now I’m bald. These past 5 days were arguably some the most eventful times of my life. Despite all of this, I still found Khao Sok slightly underwhelming and here’s why.

Our first morning, I awake to the sound of rustling outside. Thinking it to big to be anything but human, I reach for my oreos and exit our bungalow, only to be greeted by three monkeys idled on the porch across the path. They looked cute with their brown furry tales flopping around, so I decided to call their attention hoping to get a picture. Biggest mistake I’ve ever made. As soon as I got their attention, I was swarmed by a band of thieving primates and before I could blink, the package of oreos I had in my hand had vanished. I quickly ran into the room and slammed the door behind me, turning around just in time to see the culprit banging away at the window, demanding more with every high pitched screech. 

I recovered from my run in with the monkey gang relatively quickly and Lucie and I became increasingly ready to try something new and adventurous. Lucie’s father recommended that we take a tour on Cheow Lan Lake and that it was not only worth the price, but that he wanted to stay longer than the two day/one night maximum most tours offered. Knowing Lucie got her amazing money sense from her dad made me much more inclined to take the chance on this tour, and we decided to spend the 2,500 baht/person. We left our jungle huts around 9AM and took a two-hour minivan ride to a pier overlooking a beautiful lake. Climbing aboard a wooden long-tail boat we waited patiently for our departure, putting on our life jackets and overflowing with anticipation.

The ride was spectacular. Massive limestone mountains littered the landscape, towering over us as we zoomed passed. I got lost in each of their crevices and mysterious caverns yet to be explored. It was beautiful. Truly beautiful. Like the stuff you only see in movies. Each colored pixel purposefully produced for just the right amount of jaw dropping elegance that only an editor could photoshop. That boat alone was worth the 2500 baht/person. The rest was just an added bonus. We landed at our huts floating atop serene emerald water. The metallic deck that bridged each abode together burned my toes like the sun’s personal frying pan. It didn’t bother me though, because escape was just a dive away. The huts themselves were clean enough.  Infested with ants, yes, but nothing we hadn’t come across already. We were given two king beds somehow but we ended up snuggling up on one.  Then, that evening we went on a real adventure, a treacherous trek into the jungle.

And when I say treacherous, I mean treacherous. It had rained a couple nights before our descent into the wild and our path had almost completely been transformed into a muddied death trap. I have never seen mud in such large quantities before, and neither had my clothes, which still have speckles of glossy diarrhea brown. I slipped at least 10 times, some of which directly into pools of congealed soil, applying a full body mineral mask by force. I was dirty, but I was never bored and I embraced the new wildman aesthetic my environment had so graciously bestowed upon me: I loved every second of our adventure.

Bamboo skyscrapers that sprouted from the ground in all directions the eyes could see densely populated our surroundings while countless ants and lizards continued with their morning commutes below.  The air was warm and humid but the mud and frequent streams kept me cool. We arrived at a mini waterfall after about an hour into the trip, the cold water dousing my overheated body with such intense relief that I almost didn’t mind the spiders forming a silky perimeter around the watering hole. Spiders in Thailand are enormous but bearably tiny, their talon like legs composing the majority of their length. I only really have issues with tarantulas. Something about their hairiness and their size makes my skin crawl almost as fast as they do. After the waterfall we arrived at our destination. The wet cave. The guide warned us that the water may reach neck level at certain points which was enough to scare Lucie off from entering completely, so I had to trek onward han solo. Strapping the GoPro around my forehead, I proceeded with caution and courage, taking on the responsibility of recording the wonders ahead without the much needed aid of my beautiful assistant/copilot/girlfriend. All I could manage as I shimmied through the crack in the limestone cliffside was to pray there were no unexpected creepy crawlers ready to pounce on my now naked and vulnerable scalp. 

The cave was spectacular. Stalactites dangled like shimmering desert icicles from the ceiling. The water level never got too high except for the last leg of the cave which we couldn’t explore much further to do certain “dangers” that were the result of rainy season (which was definitely over during our trip). Conspiracy theories aside, I thought the cave was amazing and Lucie should have come with me but hey, I got it all on tape so no loss there. Our journey back to the boat was probably the worst part of the trip. I was so incredibly tired that my depth perception decided now would be an excellent time to take a nap, leading to me getting way more acquainted with mud than I ever thought possible. We finally reached the boat and made our departure, then on our way back to our cabins we were informed that our night tour was cancelled due to the rain muddying the designated path. I was too tired to care, but the explanation given sounded pretty suspicious to other guests, so complaints were made. 

Although Lucie did not accompany me in the cave, I was so proud of what she did instead. She made friends!!!! Lucie-the-shy actually mingled with other people and made friends with a lovely Belgian couple that have been joining us on our journey for a few days now. PJ and Babs, if you’re reading this, then I just want to say you guys are awesome and we have loved every second of time spent with you guys- although you usually persuade us to spend way more money than we should. That night we had some delicious fish and made some more friends with a German couple and an American couple from San Fran. I loved our time together and I think the old college metaphor I tell myself to justify the fact that I got pretty shitty grades applies here perfectly: It is the experience that matters most. Sure, both things cost a ton of money, and yes on paper they both advertise a certain desirable outcome, but that flimsy piece of paper you get with a diploma written in cursive will never equate to the memories you make, and more importantly the people you meet and share new memories with.

This two-night tour was great, but it was truly unforgettable because we broke out of our comfort zones, had some beers, and put ourselves out there. The stories we heard, the laughs we had, and the advice shared was invaluable and soothed any doubt that this trip will be anything short of life changing. The reason I chose realistic as the best word to describe our tour of Khao Sok is because it was breathtaking and extremely expensive, but what made it worth it was the completely organic portion of the journey. Travelers from all walks of life sat at a dinner table and parted their differences in order to enjoy each other’s company for a night. I want nothing more than to experience that night again, and now that we have both gotten over our timidness when it comes to conversing with strangers, I know we will more wonderful nights like that along the way.

TLDR; don’t spend too much time in Khao Sok, definitely take the lake tour, and watch out for leeches/monkeys!

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