Khao Sok National Park
We spent 4 days exploring Khao Sok National park and we can confidently say this- if you only do 1 thing while you are in Thailand this should be it!
We got here from Chumphon by private transfer for 2,500 baht but the hotel can arrange all transfers for you. We traveled with our Australian friends, Rachel and Mark, that we met in Chiang Mai. We booked with Riverside Cottages and they literally took care of everything for us. We booked the trip through their website and emailed them when we had a question. We paid a deposit online of 1,000 baht to hold our space and then paid for everything else at checkout with cash.
Here is the itinerary the hotel has listed on their website:
Day 1: Arrive at Riverside Cottages for check in and be shown to your room. In the afternoon, explore the river by canoeing or hop on top of a rubber ring and go river tubing. At the end of the day, continue the Khao Sok Jungle Tour with a night safari to look for nocturnal wildlife or skip the night hike and get a relaxing one hour Thai massage.
Day 2: Continue the adventure with an overnight trip to Cheow Larn Lake. Join with a guide and 8-10 other guests, take a boat ride through incredible scenery to a raft house where you will have lunch. In the afternoon, swim in the emerald waters, tour the jungle, or spend some time kayaking. After a fresh dinner (included), spend the night in a floating bamboo bungalow. Please note that the floating bungalows at the lake are very rustic, and there is a shared bathroom (private bathrooms are not available).
Day 3: Wake up early for a morning mist safari, and look for giant hornbills, monkeys, and gibbons feeding in the trees before breakfast. Check out of your room and relax, swim, or kayak until lunch, then return to Riverside Cottages in the afternoon.
Day 4: End your Khao Sok jungle tour with a half-day hike in Khao Sok National park or take a short drive to a scenic viewpoint and the warm waters of the hot springs. Program finishes with checkout at noon.
Here is our account of the trip:
First day- We arrived around noon and checked in with the front desk. We chose which activities we wanted to do and they walked us through our schedule. We chose to do the canoe trip since the river was too low for tubing. We sat 2 people per canoe along with a guide and they pointed out wildlife along the way. We saw snakes, monkey and many types of birds! Next, The boys chose the night jungle trek while the girls chose to get a traditional that massage. The massage was magical! We laid down on a sheet covered mattress on the floor in the spa area for our open air massage and about 10 minutes in it started raining which made it even more calm and peaceful (there was a roof over us). The sounds of the rain mixed with the local wildlife noises just made this absolutely perfect! Thai massage was relaxing but intense at the same time. The woman twisted me up like a pretzel and pulled and popped my joints. It was a great experience and I felt super relaxed afterwards. Next, we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant before the boys set off on a night safari through the jungle with a local guide. They returned and told us all about the snakes, birds and spiders they saw. Unfortunately they both also returned with a few leaches attached to them! Luckily they don’t carry disease and are easy to remove but they did bleed for a while. The bungalows don’t have AC but they did have a fan and that was enough to keep us cool throughout the night. We also valued the mosquito nets around the beds- I mean, we are literally in the middle of the jungle so there were plenty of critters around. We then laid down and let the sounds of the rainforest lull us to sleep.
The next day we woke up early and packed an overnight bag to take with us to the lake. We were picked up in a minivan along with 8 other people and headed an hour and a half to the other side of the national park. We were then greeted by our guide, Ot, and he lead us to the park entrance where we filled out some paperwork, showed our passport, thai pass and vaccination card. We paid the park entrance fee of 300 baht per person and then we boarded a long tail boat that took us through the lake on a 45 minute ride before we arrived at our floating bungalow accommodation.
There were at least 20 floating bungalows connected together with a restaurant/meeting area in the middle. We then had about an hour to eat a delicious lunch provided by the staff before we headed out on another adventure. If you have dietary restrictions they can easily accommodate you. We had 2 vegans and a vegetarian and there was PLEANTY of food. After lunch, we boarded the long tail boat which took us across the lake and we began an hour long trek through the jungle. Our guide, Ot, pointed out wildlife and fauna as we tried to avoid the leaches on the ground- don’t worry, leaches don’t carry disease and are easy to remove. Next we arrived at the other side of the hill and boarded a bamboo raft which took us across the lake to a cave. Ot handed us flashlights and we hiked up into the most beautiful cave. After that we reversed our course and headed back to the long tail boat. We ventured out to see elephants and other wildlife but Ot said there were no guarantees we would see anything. About 5 minutes into our voyage, we spotted WILD ELEPHANTS!!! The pictures aren’t great because we couldn’t get too close but it ws magical none the less. We watched as 5 elephants picked leaves from the trees, covered themselves in mud and bathed in the lake. We even got to see a 3 month old elephant with its mother! We stayed for about an hour until the elephants were done and retreated back into the jungle.
The next morning we all got up at 6:30am to head out on a morning mist boat ride. I took pictures (below) but honestly they don’t do it justice. It was incredibly calm and quite and we watched as the mist floated around the limestone mountains. Then we headed back to the bungalows where we swam and kayaked through the lake. We all wished we could stay another night but it was time t pack up and head back to Riverside Cottages. We boarded the long tail and they took us to one last scene spot to take pictures before leaving the park. Then we boarded a minivan and stop to have lunch of fried rice.
When we arrived back at riverside cottages we had the evening to ourselves and started panning our next adventure. The hotel staff was so kind and arranged our transportation for the next day. We went to bed and woke up bright and early to have breakfast before heading out on 30 minute drive to a natural hot springs. There we rinsed off in a shower before getting into the piping hot water. We stayed for about an hour and the water felt so nice after all the jungle trekking we had done the day before. So relaxing! Then we set off for one last scenic spot to take pictures before heading back to the cottages. Next we packed our bags and began a long 8 hour journey to Koh Phangan.
This trip to Khao Sok is probably one of the most exciting and adventurous things we have done to date. The scenery is so incredibly beautiful that you really just have to see it for yourself. No pictures or words can fully depict it. The history of the lake, which is man made, is a little controversial and I won’t go into detail about it here but if you would like to read more of the history, here is a link to their website Khao Sok National Park.
You can book tours on your own, but after talking with the other people on our trip, we discovered that we paid far less than they did. There are also shorter trips if you don’t want to stay for the full 4 days. Here’s the link to Riverside Cottages.
TIPS- Bring cash with you! The hotel only accepts Thai Baht but there is an ATM in the town near by and the hotel can arrange transportation there. Also, it is important that you tip your guide AND the boat man. Most people on our trip gave the boat man 100-300 baht and our guide 500 baht. They get paid next to nothing for the tours and they worked so hard. Bring bug spray with you- you will need it at the cottages and at the floating bungalows. After day 1 at Riverside Cottages you pack an overnight bag to bring with you and leave the rest of your luggage with the hotel lobby. Make sure to bring your swimsuit, loose fitting clothing, rain jacket, hat, sunscreen, sandals, tennis shoes, toiletries, power bank, wet bag for your swimsuit, backpack and any other comforts you might want while at the floating bungalow. They only have power from 6pm to 6am and there is no Wifi or cell reception. They do have a little shop that sells snacks and alcohol. The drinks weren’t very expensive (100 baht for a large Chang) but you can bring your own alcohol. There really is no need for snacks as the meals are served family style and there was always leftovers.
Total Costs-
Grand Jungle Package- 5,600 baht per person= 11,200 baht
Meals and drinks (some were covered under the Jungle Package)- 1,600 baht ** We splurged and ordered cocktails and lots of food. This could be done much cheaper.
Transfer from hotel to Koh Phangan- 650 baht per person= 1,300 baht
Grand total- 14,100 baht or roughly $425 which is only $212.50 per person for 4 days and 3 nights. 100% worth every penny!
(This price does not include tips)
