Our one-night, two-day tour started with a pickup service from Phuket that drove us in style to Phang Nga Province where we rendezvoused with a bus that thundered through the verdant countryside up to Earth Lodge, a sort of Khao Sok ‘Base Camp’.

Base Camp – Earth Lodge

Adobe huts

From the outside, our adobe – yes, adobe – hut looked a little rudimentary but once inside we discovered hot water for showers, tea and coffee-making facilities and a comfortable double bed. It’s what some people would call ‘minimalist’ but to be honest there wasn’t a lot more that we needed except maybe a cupboard for our clothes.

Huge limestone mountains sporting vegetation and trees clinging precariously to their steep inclines towered over the lodge. It looked great in the morning and we could see that on a full moon night it’d be spectacular. As luck would have it, it was a full moon night, but more on that later.

Lunch

Earth Lodge's Restaurant/bar/reception

To travel in one morning from sea level to breathing in fresh mountain air gave us a huge appetite. Well, maybe using the word ‘mountain’ is an exaggeration, seeing as Khao Sok isn’t exactly at Alpine levels (its highest peak is 961 metres above sea level) but it’s a lot fresher than humid Phuket. Soon after settling in our huts lunch was called.

The day trippers had gone off to their canoeing and elephant trekking so we practically had the place to ourselves and tucked in to the mixed fried veggies, sweet n’ sour chicken, curried pork and rice. Suzie, our English minder, explained that we were to go down the River Sok, get picked up by a Land Rover and spend the next hour or so lumbering through the jungle on the back of an elephant. Sounded good to me.

The River Sok

Canoeing on the Sok River

The river had burst its banks just days before and was still somewhat swollen from recent inundations. Everywhere there were signs of the havoc it had wreaked: broken bamboo, bits of houses floating downstream, drooping branches from uprooted trees and even though it was a sorry sight it was impressive to see Mother Nature flexing her muscles and leaving no one in doubt as to who was the boss around here.

Our canoe guide seemed to be endowed with supernatural eyesight as he paddled directly up to an almost invisible snake, perfectly camouflaged on an overhanging branch, then he crossed the river to where an equally cleverly disguised toad sat looking down at us.

Sleeping toad on a branch

Either these animals are made out of plastic and glued to the spot or something remarkable was going on, but then it hit me: they stay in particular locations and favour certain vantage points, such as the monitor lizards that show a strong penchant for hanging over the river bank on bare branches, ready to grab a tasty snack as it floats by.

Halfway down, the guide steered the canoe into a little sheltered gully under an overhanging cliff. He then managed to do the impossible and got a fire going with some damp bamboo and promptly brewed us some tea, serving it up in little bamboo cups, along with a custard cookie from his bag of tricks.

As for things to be seen along the River Sok, you can focus in on the direct close up sights while heading downriver or pan out to the surrounding mountainous vistas. Either way is beautiful.

Through the jungle on an elephant

Elephant trekking

Some 90 minutes after we left Earth Lodge our prow nudged the riverbank and we piled into a Land Rover to go to the elephant camp. Apparently it’s a 9-5 job being an elephant and the 13 tuskers here take turns in ferrying punters through the lush jungle a few times a day until their five o’ clock shower and rubdown.

My mahout didn’t speak Thai or English, being from way up north, but seemed to be having a right old chinwag with his elephant as we swayed and splashed through the thick undergrowth.

To perch on over three tons of elephant delicately ‘feeling’ its way through difficult terrain (don’t forget, it’d been raining and the puddles were sometimes a foot deep) is an unforgettable experience.

Dinner is served

The elephant uses its trunk much the same way as a cat uses its whiskers to sense, feel and maneuver its way around and can also tackle gradients difficult for humans. Well, this human was finding it a little difficult so I hung on like Billy O. To be frank, it was a little hard on my nether regions but the fantastic views more than compensated for it. The whole ride took ninety minutes and we were back at the lodge by six o’clock for a much anticipated beer and down time.

One of the greatest things about staying over in a location is to observe the nighttime character of the place. Earth Lodge under a full moon is at the same time eerie, romantic, unexpected and absolutely serene. Someone had lit a log fire but we elected to stay at the table after our meal and swapped travel yarns until 11 o’clock when we turned in after gawping at the moon that silvered the entire swathe of mountainside above us accompanied by primeval screams coming from the hills.

Chiao Lan Reservoir – wild pigs and barking deer

Chiao Lan lake

In the morning after an excellent breakfast we packed up and drove to the Ratchaprapha Dam which holds back the enormous Chiao Lan Reservoir. It consists of 165sq kms of windswept beauty with sheer peaks rising out of the water towering hundreds of feet above the reservoir’s water level.

Whole trees grow out of the side of these limestone crags, forcing open cracks and fissures as their roots seek deeper for more hold and nourishment. I’d never been there before yet the place looked familiar and then I realised that many people have remarked on Chiao Lan’s resemblance to Han Long Bay in Vietnam and Guelin in China.

Limestone rocks

Some 60 million years’ worth of water erosion on limestone mountains results in the unforgettable vistas that this park offers. In the distant hills one can see more rainforest but the sheer survival instincts of the foliage growing from water level up is amazing to behold.

In these hills and crags live gibbons, barking deer, kingfishers, egrets, flying foxes, wild monkeys and a host of other wild and exotic creatures. The waters teem with catfish, greater brook carp, hampala barb, giant snakehead and featherback. This place should be on everyone’s Thai ‘must-do’ list and just why people choose the jungle of Patong above this astounding beauty is a question every anthropologist should address; although it is interesting to note that wild pigs are common to both habitats.

Civilisation

Floating hotel/restaurant

This splendid sense of isolation, of detachment, of adventure even, is dispelled when we moor our boat outside a floating restaurant with a selection of simple bungalows built on giant bamboo floaters. Soon, we’re in the water, splashing and striking out into the deep and even though I’ve never actually swum in several million gallons of mineral water (who has?) this is what it must be like – it’s that clean.

We are served lunch – a giant gourami that was probably swimming in the lake not an hour before. Still, it’s delicious and more than enough for the five of us. On the 40-minute boat ride back to the dam and the jeep we run through several squalls and it’s downright cold for a while until someone comes up with the brilliant idea of wearing a lifejacket back-to-front as wind protection.

Rainforest's blue fern

This tour is an outstanding, unforgettable and a thought-provoking experience. Please note that due to time restrictions we only spent one night in this extraordinary part of the world – Siam Safari offer three-day tours, the last day featuring a jungle trek.

Some Facts about Khao Sok:
It is home to one of the largest flowers in the world, Rafflesia Kerrii, a parasite which attracts insects through its appearance and odour similar to that of rotting meat. Raffleasia flowers from December to April and can grow up to 100cm in diameter and weigh up to 10kg.
There are over 100 islands in the Chiao Lan Reservoir
Parts of the park have still not yet been accurately charted
The water in the reservoir is eminently diveable but is too deep in parts to retain visibility

Interested in this tour?

Khao Sok Safari 3 Days/ 2 Nights - 6,750 Baht

Earth Lodge provides the accommodation for these two tours which take you to the Khao Sok National Park. Experience the oldest rainforest in the world by canoeing down the Sok River. Marvel at the beauty of it all while lumbering through the jungle on the back of an elephant. Discover the amazing Chiao Lan Reservoir (in the three-day program). Then fall asleep in the beautiful jungle-style resort to wake up with astounding sights right outside your window. Read more...

Photo Gallery of the tour