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The last few days I stayed at a remote place, that's why I wasn't able to publish a post. But in this update you'll read all about the last three days!
Chiang Mai - Bangkok - Surat Thani - Khao Sok (day 12)
After a delicious breakfast in European style (the owner of the guest house is a Swiss guy) we took the taxi to the airport. Because we'll fly via Bangkok to Surat Thani. Flying to Bangkok took us about one hour and fifteen minutes, here we had to take our luggage from the baggage claim and check in again for the flight to Surat Thani. This is also an hour and fifteen minutes flying. Upon arrival (on the smallest airport I've ever been, with only 1 baggage claim which is about 40 meters away from the airplane) we took the taxi to the lodge where we'll be staying for the night in Khao Sok. At the lodge we checked in, and we also booked a tour for tomorrow. This tour includes sleeping at a floating house on a (remote) lake (and some other things, more about that later on). Meanwhile, the sunset began behind the mountains, which we enjoyed. After that my dad went for a swim in the swimming pool. When he came back we went for dinner: pizza (which is tradition on a Friday). After dinner, we already packed some things in a dry bag for the tour tomorrow and when we we're done we went to sleep. Because tomorrow we have to be ready on time, we will be picked up at 9:00 AM with a mini-van.
Khao Sok National Park / Lake (day 13)
After once again a delicious breakfast it was time to go to the lake. Once picked up by the van (our guide for the next two days was also inside the van) we drove to the peer within about an hour, from here on we continued by boat. This is once again about an hour sailing through a picturesque environment. Once arrived at the floating houses we got a lunch. After the lunch it was time for a jungle safari, where we first had to sail to the starting point of the trek. The safari means a hike of about 2 / 2.5 hours in total through the mud and deep rivers (the water came until halfway my upper leg). Having arrived at the cave entrance we were told to leave everything that isn't allowed to get wet behind, and you were supposed to wear a (waterproof) flashlight, because inside the cave it's pitch black darkness! It's not for nothing that you were told so, because the water level is very high (the water came until my armpit and to make it clear how deep that is, I'm about 1.81 meters tall)! Inside the cave we walked about 100 meters. At the end point the guide requested us to turn of all the lights for a moment, so we could witness how dark it actually is, and you really couldn't see a thing! When we exited the cave it had started to rain, so everything that was left outside was wet eventually... Luckily the rain stopped quite fast, and so we walked back to the boat. On our way back with the boat we also saw some monkeys by accident. Next we returned to the floating houses on the lake., where we washed the dirty clothes in the water and let it dry, and we took a refreshing dive in the water (at the houses the water is about 20 meters deep and quite clear). After that it was time for dinner and after dinner we stayed to talk the day through with other people, and we watched the beautiful starry night. We couldn't afford it to make it late, because the next morning we are going to do a morning safari. This means looking out for wildlife from the boat, this is comparable with what I did last year in Costa Rica.
Khao Sok National Park / Lake (day 14)
It was an extraordinary night, floating on the lake. On purpose, I set my alarm very early, at 5:25 AM, exactly on time for the sunrise. Although there is not much to see here, because there's always a morning fog surrounding the mountains during that time. Nevertheless, the transition from the starry night to a blue and sunny sky is nice to see. Also, I was curious about the animals waking up at sunrise and if you could see or hear anything. That last was wasn't the case unfortunately, after that it was time for the morning safari (7 AM). Once everyone got in the boat we could leave, into the remote jungle to see if we could spot some animals starting up their daily routine. We did see some eagles, a couple of toucans, (which I spotted first before everyone else... proud moment!), macaques, gibbons and three cranes (flying over our heads). After this safari it was time for breakfast. After breakfast, we already had to pack up everything and checkout. We could leave our dry bags at the main building, and then we had an hour left to do whatever you like to do. It was recommended to go try to spot some gibbons at the far side of the floating houses. You could walk to the last house or canoe your way up there. Unfortunately I didn't see any, but it was really peaceful and quiet over there. When the hour had passed everyone had to go to the boat again, but before we went back to the peer we first stopped by the famous rock formations in the water to take some photos. After this we continued to the peer, where we swapped the boat for the minivan again. We first went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Also, there's a panoramic lookout and a Buddha statue here. Although the statue wasn't a big deal there was a nice view as well! Finally, we went back into the van and returned to the lodge. Upon arrival, it turned out the power was down in the area. This was a good excuse for a refreshing dive in the swimming pool and after that we arranged our last stays for the rest of the vacation ahead, and we let the laundry be done by a laundry service near the lodge. After a few hours the laundry was done and dry, so we picked it up again and dropped it in our room. Then we went for dinner, we had chicken and French fries (our Sunday tradition). After dinner, we looked for the photos taken by the photographer there from the elephant sanctuary on the Facebook page of Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Chiang Mai. After that we returned to our room to end the day.
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