June 23-25, 2014 ---- After visiting Nathan's friend in Phuket, I arranged to visit my friend who lives in Surat Thani. We agreed to go hiking together in Khao Sok National Park and then go to spend a night at Ratchaprapha Dam. The plan didn't go through for many reasons. The rain storm brought down some trees and flooded the river so we couldn't go hiking, and my friend's car had an accident, so he came to meet us too late and we couldn't get a boat to our guesthouse at the dam. Well, all I can say is traveling in Thailand during the rainy season isn't ideal.
From Phuket, we took a local bus running from Phuket Town to Surat Thani City. I don't remember how long it took, but it was quite slow with many stops along the way. The driver dropped us off on the highway where the entrance to Khao Sok NP is, but it's still another 2 k.m. to the park, so we took a local taxi to our resort.
Khao Sok Palmview Resort
Khao Sok Palmview Resort is located right next to the national park and has different types of accommodation to offer. Nathan and I rented the most rustic cabin, about 300 Bath/night. The bed was covered with a net protecting us from mosquitoes, and there was a shower with only cold water running. No WiFi or internet. Everything looked very simple. What I liked most about this place was the surrounding area. The owner was simply a farmer who grew palm oil trees, rubber trees, and different fruit trees. She made her orchard into a resort and built many cabins to rent to the tourists who visit Khao Sok National Park. She also has a simple restaurant in the resort, so if you don't want to go in town, you can simply eat there.
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| Our cabin balcony |
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| Rambutan tree |
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| Palm Oil Trees |
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| Mangosteen |
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| rubber trees |
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| Rose Apple |
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| Durian |
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| Rambutan and Mangosteen |
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| Red Fire Ants |
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| Chameleon |
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| Wollongong |
Khao Sok Village
The small village is just right out side of Khao Sok National Park. To tell the truth, nothing is really special about the village since it was built for tourists to stay while visiting the park, but it was a great place to get food or buy some local-grow fruits. Nathan and I usually ate our meals at local restaurants in the village, and we bought a lot of fresh mangosteens from the farmer there to take home. I think Nathan fell in love with mangosteen during this trip. In the past, he liked dragon fruit and pomelo more than anything. Now he got to taste mangosteen, rambutan, and durian, and he said he really loved mangosteen most.
Khao Sok National Park อุทยานแห่งชาติเขาสก
Khao Sok National Park is a great place to explore the rain forest, wild animals, and much more. There are many programs offered by the park's rangers and also by the resorts around the park. Most people go there for trekking in the forest, riding an elephant, or rafting in the river. If you go there during the winter months, you can trek with rangers to see the giant parasitic Rafflesia flower in bloom.
It was unfortunate that Nathan and I visited the park during the monsoon season. We visited the Visitor Center and found that there were many trails closed due to the flood. Even though the storm was coming, we decided to go hiking anyway because we didn't plan to go very far. It rained a lot, and the trail were all wet and muddy. We ended our hike at Bang Hua Rat Waterfall and turned around back to our resort. On the way back I felt a little itchy on my ankle, so I pulled my pant leg up and found a leech sucking my blood. I didn't feel anything when it bit me, but once it was full and released its mouth, the blood just poured out constantly.
A ranger told me to put tobacco on the wound and press down for a period of time till the blood stopped running, but I couldn't find any, so I just let the blood drain and dry on it own. It took a long while because the leech left some chemical in the wound to prevent the blood from clotting. I felt itchy at the wound for weeks afterward, but it eventually healed with little scarring.
If you go hiking during the monsoon season, be prepared to deal with leeches!
Ratchaprapha Dam เขื่อนรัชชประภา
I booked rooms at a floating bungalow in Ratchaprapha Dam for me and my friends, but it turned out that we didn't make it there. First, the storm was really bad, so we thought it wouldn't be wise to stay on a rafting bungalow. Second, my friend came to pick me up so late that we couldn't possibly get to the bungalow before its closing time. As a result, we just drove through to see the dam and continued our journey to Surat Thani City for the night.
Well, all in all, it was a beautiful dam, and I hope to go back there in the future (probably not during the monsoon season) and really get to stay in the floating bungalow. :-)
