Not far from the stunning islands in the gulf of Thailand is one of the oldest evergreen rainforest in the world. Khao Sok is often skipped by tourists who favour the spectacular islands, but as we found out, it really is a must see!
Where to Stay
Did someone say floating bungalow? Accomodation on the lake varies depending on your budget. I highly recommend booking through Khao Sok Lake, where you can choose the the type of bungalow and tour you want to do. You’ll need to spend a night in nearby Khao Sok Village before being picked up by a minibus and taken to Khao Sok Lake.
After meeting our guide at the entrance of the national park, we boarded a long tail boat that took us to our accomodation, stopping to search for wildlife on the way. When you book the tour you won’t know which exact accomodation you’re staying at, but it’ll be relative to the price you pay. We stayed at Phupa Waree Superior floating bungalows.
There are four options and we chose the superior suite, giving us a mattress on the floor, a flushing toilet and cold shower. After hearing how hot it can get we decided to upgrade to air conditioning. Included in the price was a kayak, meals and electricity during the day. The food was delicious traditional Thai food, often a whole fish, veggies and rice with fresh fruit for dessert.
The tour and accomodation package includes activities on the lake and hikes you can do through the jungle. I thought we’d booked as part of a group tour but to my surprise it was actually a private guide. Let me tell you the private guide was 100% worth it. He made sure we were looked after and shared so much information, answering all our questions.
Why you should hire a guide?
I mean where do I even begin? Kiem, our guide was brilliant and absolutely made our trip into Khao Sok unforgettable. Incredibly, he also turned out to be the most experienced survival expert in Khao Sok.
As well as keeping the girls interested and engaged during our activities, he showed us how to look for animal markings, survive in the jungle and taught us about the local plants and wildlife. Below is a photo of Kiem using the bow and arrow he made.
As we walked he’d collect bamboo and rattan and then later make the girls bangles, rings and musical instruments. It was just so cool!
Things To Do
Bang Hoi Waterfall
Bang Hoi waterfall, a limestone waterfall, is so grippy that you can walk straight up the flowing water. In fact, the safest place to walk is where the water is running. Being the dry season the waterfall was little more than a trickle but it did mean there were no leeches and the weather was cooler!
Kri Sorn Viewpoint
This hike takes around four hours of bush whacking through the rainforest to get to a clearing at the top, where you’re rewarded with spectacular views of Cheow Lan Lake. Hiking through the rainforest is no joke. The actual distance and elevation wasn’t nearly as challenging as the humidity. Our guide Kiem was of course incredible and distracted us by showing us the recent elephant footprints. We lived in hope of seeing them!
Kayaking
When you’re not hiking, eating or out looking for wildlife you have access to kayaks. In the mornings before breakfast, just as the sun was rising, we’d take them out and watch the monkeys.
Wildlife Spotting
Every morning and evening we would meet Kiem and our wonderful long boat captain and spend at least two hours wildlife spotting out on the lake. We saw long and pig tail macaques, gibbons, buffalo, barking deer, scorpions and flocks of the incredible greater hornbill, which have a two meter wingspan! Unfortunately we didn’t see any elephants but there was so much evidence of them around. Kiem had seen them the week before, the herd having gained three babies! We saw recent markings of sun bears on the trees too!
Things we loved
- Kiem was a wealth of information making our time on the lake incredible because of him.
- The amount of wildlife was encouraging. Since COVID and the struggling return of the tourism industry, animals have had a chance to venture into places usually disturbed by humans.
- Waking up on the lake, the stillness and utter beauty was breathtaking.
Honest Thoughts
- Airconditioning wasn’t necessary because during the day we were out exploring and at night the generator is turned off.
- Despite paying for a superior bungalow, accomodation was basic at best. The floating walkway to our room was rotten in areas and Alessia fell through, badly scraping and bruising her legs.
- I would be terrified to go in the rainy seasons with all the leeches, we took lots of bug spray and didn’t have any problems with mosquitos.
- If you’re going into Khao Sok you really have to spend at least a night on the lake. We saw people doing day trips but honestly by the time you get to the middle of the lake it would nearly be time to head home again.
The Whole of Us 
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