WHERE TO STAY BEFORE ENTERING CHEOW LAN LAKE
Khao SokĀ National Park is located in the South of Thailand on road 401 which connects the provinces of Phang-Nga and Surat Thani. It wasn’t named a national park until 1980! Most people stay in the town of Khao Sok before entering the lake. This option is definitely more of a backpacker vibe and where I would have stayed if I visited Thailand when I first started traveling. I have to admit I am a bit more high maintenance so I found a place a bit out of town and I am SO glad I did.
Searching on Booking.com I found Khao Sok River Home Resort and was so excited they had a bungalow available. I had a bungalow all to myself and I paid around $40USD. Now in Thailand terms, that’s definitely on the expensive end of hotels but it was so worth the quiet and gorgeous property I enjoyed before my adventure. Not only is it a beautiful property along the river, but the owners Kate and Alex were incredibly nice and accommodating, they helped book my overnight lake tour, and their food was AWESOME.
NOT THE MOST ORGANIZED TOUR…
Although booking the tour with Kate and Alex was seamless once we started it, it was a bit unorganized. If you are ready for an adventure and can just go with the flow you will have a great time. The problem was everyone (there were 15 of us) was informed of different things. Almost everyone had a different itinerary and the bus we were on, the life jackets and then the raft house we stayed at all had different tour names.
Now although this might sound sketchy, I never once felt unsafe. This just meant I couldn’t be the psycho planner I usually am and had to let the activities happen, well, when they happened. I am going to list the activities in order the way we did it and in the end, I found out the program we were actually doing (and stayed pretty close to that specific itinerary) was called The “Kraisorn and Wangmacha (it has two names) Raff House 2 Day/1 Night Tour.” What happens is if the tour companies don’t have a fully booked tour, then they combine with the other companies so they don’t waste resources or money. It’s a great and economical idea, they just didn’t do a good job of informing us of that!
THE FIRST MORNING AT CHEOW LAN LAKE IN KHAO SOK NATIONAL PARK
So my bus picked me up right from my resort and drove us into the town of Bantakhun where we had 30 minutes to use the restroom and purchase any snacks we might need for the next day. Then we went to the Main Pier and hopped on the long-tail boat for an hour ride to the raft house! There are over 100 islands in this lake and the views are absolutely stunning!
ARRIVAL AT THE RAFT HOUSES
Keep in mind this entire tour (everything included minus beer and snacks) was only $60 so these raft houses were very basic. If you want to stay at some luxurious bungalows on this lake it is totally possible but you’ll pay up to $500 a night, click the link to see one of the ones we passed by that is $1500 for a 3-night stay, 500 Rai Resort. Although these luxurious bungalows obviously sound nice I was perfectly fine with my little cot and thin sheet for a night at such a low price!
LUNCH AND FREE TIME
After you get situated in the bunaglows you’ll have a bit of free time to swim, kayak and enjoy lunch. Lunch was very basic but filling. The kayaks were old but awesome and the lake temperature was amazing. (I visited in February). I was so excited to enjoy fresh water after being down in Krabi for a few days.
THE VIEWPOINT OVERLOOKING CHEOW LAN LAKE
They keep you moving so be prepared to have very little free time. After lunch, we made our way to the viewpoint and it took us about 30 minutes to get to the start of the trailhead. I am starting to notice a theme while hiking in SE Asia. This is not the first time I’ve seen a sign that says trail closed due to dangerous conditions and the tour guide says, “Oh no don’t worry it’s ok!”
Please keep in mind you will see a lot more wildlife on this hike if you stay quiet. I went ahead with my bungalow mate, Kristina, and we saw a flying lizard, heard monkeys playing and saw 2 giant hornbills! The rest of the group missed them because they were chatting a bit too loud and scared them! Minus the rocks you have to climb at the top of the hike, the trail looks like this. It is very humid so be prepared to sweat your ass off. Overall I’d say the hike was intermediate but tougher in some areas.
Right before you reach the viewpoint you have to boulder up these rocks. There isn’t anything to hold on to so you definitely want to be extra careful!
The rocks are also super sharp. Currently, there are two tour options. You can either come here to see the viewpoint or head to a massive cave. Kate from the resort told me the cave is cool, but they are jamming way too many people in it at once and that didn’t sound too enjoyable to me so I am so glad I chose this option!
The rocks were definitely sharp but for this viewpoint totally worth it….
There’s also this giant natural swing along the way. I recommend getting in the front of the hike or the way back because the line get’s pretty long to hang out on it!
It’s extremely hard to see and it’s pathetic I am even trying to point it out but on our way down something flew right in front of me! I thought it was a giant moth but it ended up being a flying lizard! I didn’t even know they existed. If you look a few inches under the red leaf you can see him on the tree!
BACK TO THE RAFT HOUSES FOR FREE TIME AND DINNER
The hike itself took about 2 hours roundtrip and then we made our way back to the long-tail boats and had time to swim, kayak, and eat dinner.
Dinner was my favorite meal because they had fresh fish caught that morning and it was so good!
The beers are a bit more expensive than in town (still end up only being a bit over $2). This is because they charge a premium on the lake but it’s so worth it to enjoy one on the lake at sunset. I had an opportunity to chat a lot with the tour guides and learn that these tours will most likely have some changes in the near future. Tourism in Khao Sok National Park has exploded in the last couple of years and they are doing everything they can to benefit from it economically but also keep the tourists safe and the park and lake clean.
DAY 2 IN KHAO SOK NATIONAL PARK
Day 2 was just as jam-packed as day one! I got up for sunrise to do some yoga and I am so glad I did! Such a beautiful one!
I had just got back from a yoga retreat a few weeks before so I was stretching and doing my sun salutations. A professional photographer came up and was asking me to do all these crazy poses, I felt bad for him when I told him I literally can’t do any of those so he asked me to do these and then I continued to do my stretching š¤£.
The morning light was so beautiful on the little bungalows…
MORNING SAFARI
We hopped in the boat around 7 AM and made our way to try and find some monkeys!
The morning safari was super beautiful and peaceful…
Although you can’t see them we were able to see many gibbon monkeys swinging from tree to tree and a few hornbills as well!
PRA KAY PELCH CAVE
After breakfast, we packed up our things and made our way to Pra Kay Pelch Cave. This cave has a lot of history that lead to Khao Sok National Park becoming a national park. A group of communist Thai students set up a stronghold in Khao Sok and hid from the Thai army. Between 1975 and 1982 these students not only kept the Thai Army at bay but also kept the loggers, miners and hunters out. Apparently, had it not been for this seven-year occupation, Khao Sokās forests wouldn’t exist.
This cave is home to stalactites and stalagmites that are hundreds of millions years old!
If you’re afraid of bats or spiders I recommend staying out of this cave, we saw a ton of both!
The views from this cave were some of my favorites I saw in Khao Sok National Park!
THREE ROCKS, LUNCH AND SWIMMING IN GUILIN BAY
“The Three Rocks” in Guilin Bay have become the most famous area on Cheow Lan Lake and pretty much all of Khao Sok National Park. This is what you most likely see on Instagram if you’ve seen the park tagged before! The tour company makes basic but good sandwiches for you to enjoy in front of these limestone rocks. You can also take a dip in the bay. We hung out here for about an hour.
My new friend Kristina was talking to some other tour groups and they said to walk along the ledge for an awesome picture of the rocks! I am so glad we did because it ended up being one of my favorite pictures from Thailand that I will cherish forever!
The limestone cliffs are so awesome here and we had the perfect sunny weather to explore before we made our way back to the main pier.
Overall, my Khao Sok National Park 2 Day/ 1Night Adventure was awesome! For $60 all my transportation, food and accommodation was included and I saw some of the most beautiful sites! If you are are interested in staying in this park longer there are SO many tour options. The best way to book is to just show up in town and visit the tour companies. Also, all of the hostels and hotels and book for you. But, if you are a planner like me and you want an idea of what you are getting into before, you can do some research here. Thanks so much for reading along! Thailand was by far one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited and it’s so fun to share my adventures with all of you! Click the next link if you want to read about my other Thailand adventures!
