Khao Sok National Park

After 5 days on Ko Phangan we departed the beach for the rain forest. A 1 hour ferry and 2 hour bus ride brought us to Khao Sok national park which is located in Southern Thailand and is one of the oldest and greenest forest ecosystems in the world. It's 160 million years old to be precise! And huge.... it covers an area of 739 square kilometres!

The worlds friendliest kitten at the hotel bar.

We stayed in a treehouse on the side of a river with huge limestone mountains juttting up into the sky around us. Monkeys played in the river right below our deck and we slept to the sound of cicadas chirping. There are deep valleys, caves, wild animals, and the most breathtaking lake where we spent the night in a floating lake house.

We started off with an afternoon at a nearby elephant sanctuary where we fed 2 sweet elephants buckets of bananas and took them on a walk to get covered in mud and bathe in the river. They were so gentle and sweet, it was nice to be around these giants without participating in unethical activities like elephant riding.

Day 2 started off our overnight adventure to Cheow Lan Lake. We took a boat out onto the lake were we went hiking, nature watching and swimming in the warm water. We slept in a floating lake house with ty most fabulous morning view of the sun rising over the misty water.

One fascinating thing about this lake is that it’s man-made. Cheow Lan lake is right in the heart of the National Park. Much of the park, which protects the watershed of the Sok River and rises to a peak of nearly 1000m, is carpeted in impenetrable rainforest, home to gaurs, leopard cats and tigers etc, and up to 155 species of bird. The limestone crags that dominate almost every vista are so beautiful. We liked waking up to the sound of hooting gibbons and the sight of thick white mist curling around the limestone mountains. It was magical.

Next up we head to northern Thailand to Sukothai to see temples and ruins.