Updated: 07/07/18 | July 7th, 2018
Located in the south of Thailand, Khao Sok national Park has always held my imagination. It’s continuously rated as one of the best parks in Thailand, with incredible trekking, camping, limestone karsts, cooling rivers, and a beautiful lake. ever because I’ve been concerning Thailand, I’ve been trying to visit Khao Sok, but the road bends in mysterious ways, and for one reason or the other, I’ve never been able to make it.
But this time, I used my going to friends and my job as “tour guide” as the excuse I needed to finally push myself to this park. and I’m happy I did — I’ve been to numerous fantastic national parks in Thailand, but this is one of the best.
I spent three days surrounded by dense jungle, animals, and cooling air. The highlight of my trip was the day-long jungle trek I took. starting out late in the morning (9:30), my friends and I met our guide, purchased our park entrance tickets, and drove to the far end of the park. instead of doubling back on the main trail, we would explore another trail, hike 400 meters to see some huge flowers, head toward a waterfall, eat lunch, and then walk back to the main park entrance.
It all seemed easy enough. I visualized a well-worn trail and a mildly strenuous day hike. We were doing 11 km in the jungle, so it wouldn’t be a cake walk, but I didn’t anticipate that this trek would be much of a challenge, especially because the last half was on the park’s main road.
Mýlil jsem se.
Velmi špatně.
This hike was stressful, challenging, leech-infested, and exhilarating all at the same time.
It started out easy enough — we hiked 400 meters to visit huge parasitic flowers, which attach themselves to vines, then sap the life from them to grow. After nine months, they blossom, spray their seed throughout the jungle, and die within four days. However, while in bloom, the flowers are a sight to see.
The hike to the top wasn’t very tough. The trail was well worn and had incredible vistas from which to view the surrounding jungles, and I didn’t break much of a sweat. On the way up, we caught sight of a troop of gibbons making their way through the treetops. Gibbons in Khao Sok are rare to see, so it was quite amazing, especially because I love monkeys, though they moved too rapidly to be photographed. By the time I clicked my camera, they had moved on, so instead of fruitlessly capturing a photo, I just viewed them in their glory.
When we got to the top, our guide told us we would hike down to the waterfall. I assumed he implied we would be heading down another trail.
Again, I was wrong.
Our trail had opened up at the top of the waterfall and our guide looked at us. “OK, we’ll eat lunch, but first we have to get down. It will be no problem. We have ropes, and I go first.”
My friends and I looked at each other hesitantly. To get to the base of the waterfall, we were going to have to embrace our inner Indiana Jones to rappel down the side. As you may know, heights make me incredibly uncomfortable, and I opted to go down last as I worked up the courage to never look down.
However, we didn’t encounter too numerous steep drop-offs, and soon I was vying to the lead the way. We would rappel down ropes. When there was no rope to guide us, we scaled the rocky sides of the waterfall, holding on to vines as we made our way down to the base.
But the waterfall was not the worst of it. After lunch, we had to hike downriver, following the river, which sounds pretty simple. walking along a river bed is typically not a challenge, but not here. There was no trail or easy path. in some cases we had to walk on large, wet rocks, climb up the narrow embankment, or scale down vines again when the river became impassable.
And the leeches only made it worse. By the time I walked out of Khao Sok, I had taken seven leeches off my legs, and a few even found their way onto my arms. Luckily, unlike the leeches in northern Thailand, many of these leeches were small and easy to get off. Unfortunately, my friend didn’t notice one until the end, which by then had enlarged so much, it left a scar on his foot.
After the river and subsequent leech removal (cue The Life Aquatic jokes), we were in the home stretch — it was now an easy walk through a bamboo forest back to the park entrance. On our way out of the park we were given a farewell by another troop of monkeys. These weren’t gibbons (I forget their proper name), but they jumped around for a while, playing in the trees, and gave us one last exciting thing to remember.
When it was all said and done, our hike had lasted a little over eight hours. Back at my guesthouse, I took the hottest shower of my life, scrubbed myself clean, and collapsed on my bed.
Though tiring, this jungle trek was the most exciting in my recent memory. I left Khao Sok with a sense of rawness. here the lack of people and trails let you feel as if you are exploring the jungle for the firčas. Miluji okamžiky, když cestujete, díky nimž se cítíte, jako byste objevili skrytý drahokam. Jako byste někde našli nebo někam dlouho zapomněli člověk. To nemusí být případ, ale ten pocit údivu, dobrodružství a průzkum mě řídí na mých cestách.
A v Khao Sok to byl jen já, džungle a ten pocit dobrodružství.
Ale mohl jsem to udělat bez pijavice.
Logistika
Do parku se můžete dostat prostřednictvím Surant Thani nebo Phuket. Mnoho hotelů vám nabídne soukromou dopravu za 2 000 bahtů, i když si můžete najmout taxi od Surant Thani za přibližně 1700 bahtů a od Phuketu za 2 800 bahtů. Pokud jste se skupinou čtyř, může to být hodně, protože je to mnohem rychlejší a mnohem jednodušší.
Pokud jedete veřejným autobusem, minibus je 240 bahtů každou cestu z města Surant Thani a 320 bahtů z Phuketu. Odhodí vás na hlavní silnici vedoucí k parku. Budete muset projít zbytek cesty.
Poplatek za vstup do parku je 300 bahtů.
Najímání průvodce od jednoho z provozovatelů výletů nebo penzionů (velmi doporučené kvůli nedostatku značných stezek) stojí 600 bahtů po dobu půl dne a 1200 bahtů na celý den. Noční turistika je 600 bahtů po dobu 18:00 do 21:00.
Ve městě je pouze jeden bankomat.
Levné penziony najdete za 300 bahtů za noc s velmi základními ubytováními a studenými sprchy. Pokoje se zlepšují kolem 600 bahtů za noc a luxusní kolem 1 400 bahtů za noc. Stany k pronájmu od 250 bahtů pro 2 osoby nebo 300 bahtů pro 4 osoby. náklady na příslušenství na osobu; Polštář 10 baht, přikrývka 10 baht, spací pytel 30 baht, list 20 baht.
Získejte rozsáhlý průvodce rozpočtem do Thajska!
Můj komplexní průvodce na stránce 350+ je vyroben pro cestovatele rozpočtu, jako jste vy! Vyřízne chmýří nalezenou v jiných průvodcích a dostane se přímo k užitečným informacím, které potřebujete k cestování po Thajsku. Najdete navrhované itineráře, rozpočty, způsoby, jak ušetřit peníze, na věci, které můžete vidět a dělat, netudné restaurace, trhy, bary, bezpečnostní tipy a mnoho dalšího! Kliknutím sem se dozvíte mnohem více a získejte kopii ještě dnes.
Zarezervujte si cestu do národního parku Khao Sok: Logistické návrhy a triky
Zarezervujte si let
Použijte Skyscanner nebo Momondo k nalezení levného letu. Jsou to moje dva oblíbené vyhledávače, protože vyhledávají místa a letecké společnosti po celém světě, takže vždy víte, že žádný kámen nezůstane bezúhon. Začněte s Skyscannerem nejprve, protože mají nejvýznamnější dosah!
Zarezervujte si ubytování
Svůj hostel si můžete rezervovat s hostelworld, protože mají nejvýznamnější zásoby a nejlepší nabídky. Pokud chcete zůstat někde jinde než hostel, použijte Booking.com, protože neustále vracejí nejdostupnější ceny pro hostující domy a levné hotely.
Nezapomeňte na cestovní pojištění
Travel insurance will safeguard you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. Je to rozsáhlá ochrana v případě, že se něco pokazí. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it numerous times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:
Bezpečnostní křídlo (pro všechny do 70 let)
Insure My trip (for those over 70)
MedJet (pro další pokrytí repatriace)
Hledáte nejlepší společnosti, se kterými by se mohla ušetřit peníze?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. Uvádím všechny ty, které používám k úspoře peněz, když jsem na silnici. Při cestování vám ušetří peníze.
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