Relaxing in Khao Sok National Park. by Amaru & Suzanne, April 25th 2006

After some hectic days on the boat, doing lots of swimming, snorkeling, diving....and of course drinking (come on people.... it's a stafftrip =))) we needed some peace and quiet, and what better place than in the middle of a National Park.

We set off early in the morning, Suz and I, Olof and his girlfriend, Michael, Marcus and Maria.....we lost two from the boattrip, they had to work (suckers...). The trip took around 2½ hours in the car and then we got off at the dam where a longtail boat ride waited for us. After another 30-40min we finally reached the place......or so we thought. Now it turns out that we had to hike from one lake to the other....over the mountain, through the jungle.... in the middle of the day with an enormously high humidity in the air. And the fact that it was sooo hot didn't really help either (the hike was only around 1 km but come on.....it's hot!!).

We finally made it over, all of us drenched in our own sweat and here they told us that we had to get on another raft to continue.....you have got to be kidding me!?! Luckily it was only another 5 min and then we were there, at our bungalows......the floating ones....on the lake. The first thing we did was to undress and get in the water to cool off......good luck, the water was like a bath so it didn't really cool us off that much....anyways, it was better than the hike.

While we were in the water we started to complain that we weren't as bouyant as in the saltwater...(duhhhh)...so we had to struggle to keep afloat. All of a sudden one of us had the great idea of using lifejackets to support us, we did put them on, but not like you might imagine. They worked very well and kept us afloat....the only drawback was that it looked like we had nappies on us.....ah well.

Suz was a bit freaked out in the beginning of the trip.....this place that we were staying at had no running water and no electricity but her worst nightmare was realized when she saw that the squat toilets were on the hill...having to cross several wooden planks across water to get to them, and to top it off having to share the toilets with frogs and spiders. Suz was telling me...."I'm so far from my comfort zone right now!!"

Later that night we were given the option of doing a night safari....ahhh, what's that all about we wondered. Well, they told us that we go on the raft in the evening, cruising the lake looking for animals. The driver used a really strong torch to seach the jungle. The trip was very interesting for about 20min....after that our bums were sore, not the most comforting of rafts when you just sit on a couple of bamboo planks.... Two hours later and having spotted 3 sets of eyes we were back at the bungalows, disapointed and with some really really sore asses!!

Well, to be totally honest....it wasn't all bad.....when we were in the middle of the lake and we got the driver to turn off the engine and torch it was really beautiful, we could see so many stars, no cities anywhere to shine and ruin the view.....and to see the siluettes of the mountains against the stars and lake was just breathtaking!!

The next day Suz was feeling better about the bungalows, the place and most of all the toilets so we had a more relaxed time. The others went on for a trekking in the jungle but Suz and I just stayed behind relaxing, reading and just taking it easy.

Later that day when they all came back we got in the water with our lifejackets nappies again and had some beers while in the water.....nice!! A bit later the rain hit us, a really strong rain, which continued throughout the night. But when we were in the water and the rain came down, it was quite a sight. Not only was the rain colder than the water we were laying in, but it was something to see it coming over the mountains....

The rest of that night we sat down having some drinks and just relaxing and talking under cover while the rain continued.

The next day the weather was fine again and it was time to leave, time to do our hiking again (which I found a bit more tricky this time due to some bamboo cuts that I sustained during our visit.....don't ask). We got back to the longtail, back to the car and then Suz and I drew the shortest straw and had to ride in the back of the ute....which wasn't bad even though we got some rain during the ride.

Our last night at Poseidon Bungalows we just took it easy, had dinner with all of my old mates and said goodbye to everyone.....for this time! The next morning we got up early and caught a Minibus to Ko Lanta....

 

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