Khao Sok National Park covers an area of 739 km². The Park is the largest area of virgin forest in southern Thailand and is a remnant of rain forest which is older and more diverse than the Amazon rain forest (Wikipedia, 2023). You can hire a guide for 1500 Bhat per person (minimum two persons) or simply pay the 200 Bhat entry fee. I saw a group of lads gathering with a guide and thought that I could totes follow them, but decided to head in alone. You wouldn’t want any excitable youngsters scaring off all the elephants and anteaters.
There were many moments when I felt like a was the only person on Planet Thailand, and it was marvelous. I caught sight of monkeys (Spectacled Langurs) within the first 10 minutes of entry! No tiger cubs or elephants though, but I did pass a big dung patty. I appreciated the small things I came across, such as spiders and fungi. I’m also pleased to report that I did not come across a single plastic bottle or sweetie wrapper!
The hiking trail begins about 2km in, where you are asked to sign-up with your details and decide how fit or unfit you might be. The young chap sized me up and showed me how far I could go on the map. The only rule he really emphasised was that I needed to emerge from the jungle before 4:30pm. It was only 9am so I had oodles of time to get lost and found with zero cell signal.
What was uniquely different in my experience were the creaks and squeaks that the huge bamboo made in the breeze. At first I thought they were animal sounds! I followed the river for a while and then headed into the thicket. The paths began to diverge, so I made note that the river was nearby, on my left. More diverging paths and a few dead ends. I hope the tourist police don’t hear of this, but I passed a couple of signs that read “Hiking with Guide Only”, but I don’t play by dem rules! And little Moustache Man said I could come. I tailed a couple of smiling hippies for a bit at one point thinking that they would at least have some munchies on their person if that became a necessity, but they soon vanished.
Then it got very quiet. I hadn’t heard a human for at least 30 minutes but was loving the jungle sounds. I thought that if I were to walk into a cobweb, then you can assume that no one has likely gone down that particular path recently. The tall bamboo then started dancing and making new sounds. The rains had come! I had packed my poncho, but the jungle canopy was so thick that I mostly stayed quite dry.
My inner child was loving all this and kept wanting to go just a little further, just to see what might be around that next corner. I took it all in with great joy and eventually turned back due to slippery mud and steeper drops. I also discovered that Aloe Vera After Sun seems to work well as a mosquito repellent. Unless my African blood is too rich for the buggers. I wonder if they can smell it before they stick you?
On the trek back I thought how it would have been clever to make arrows on the ground using sticks. I had a soggy map in my pocket but noticed a few familiar landmarks, like that extra long piece of bamboo, or that spider that was there that one time (jokes). I simply took it slow, watched my step, and listened for flowing water. It was bliss. Eventually a couple of tour groups approached. I heard the one guide impart the most mundane piece of trivia: “It now raining season. What happen is the rain come down, then flow into the river. Like this stream. See?” My god…
I was out of the jungle 3 hours later – drenched (mostly from man-sweat) and feeling rather happy of myself.
Next: Thailand #21 – Murder Island
Previously: Thailand #19 – Khoa Sok
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