Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of the mrlukeniktravels blog, coming this week from Khao Sok National Park, Thailand. Since last week I have travelled north from Krabi Province and into the land of lakes, mountains and limestone cliffs. I am currently in Khao Sok village which acts a base for exploring the large national park to the north. I am pleased to report that I am now at full health! It’s great timing because I have spent a good amount of time out hiking and exploring the lakes around here. After the towns and cities of Malaysia it’s so nice to see the night sky again. The jungle is just across the road from the hostel’s front door- couldn’t be better! Without further ado, here’s what I’ve been up to…
The biggest feature of the National Park is Cheow Lan Lake, created in 1980 with the construction of the Ratchaprapha Dam. The dam provides water supply and electricity for the surrounding areas. Over one hundred limestone cliffs punctuate the lake providing a sanctuary for flora and fauna. Most famous of these are the hornbills, the national bird of Thailand. I was lucky enough to see these birds a few times on the lake. Unfortunately, they were too far away for my camera to do them justice. The fish from the lake make a delicious meal, Massaman curry being my favourite. The jungle is home to elephants, tapir, marbled cats and deer. Seeing these animals is rare so I only managed to see one of the above. More on that to follow. The trip up from Krabi was four hours by minivan which was pretty good, the roads only getting steep and winding near the end of my journey.
Whilst here my main activity has been doing a lake tour for two nights. All the travel was done by long-tail boat, a traditional mode of transport in Thailand. The trip out to the lagoon where I stayed took around an hour. Other than ferries I don’t think I’ve been on a boat trip that distance before. My accommodation was in a floating room on the lagoon, again a first for me. Swimming and kayaking were available at anytime when not on the boat. Each day the tour group and I went out exploring different parts of the lake and wildlife watching. There was plenty of wildlife to see, including deer and wild boar. I enjoyed seeing some larger animals, even though there weren’t any elephants or cats in evidence. As previously mentioned, there were hornbills flying most of the time. My best sighting was one morning before breakfast when they flew comparatively close to the boat.
The tour was really good fun, even if I was one of two non-Dutch people on it (out of 14). This can be one of the hazards of travelling solo; sometimes there isn’t really anybody to talk with. This is particularly the case if I’m the only solo person on a tour for example. I’ve become used to this over the length of this trip. It isn’t something I worry about too much now, thankfully I’m quite happy with my own company- being an only child has benefits! While this is a potential downside of solo travel, the considerable upside is being very flexible and doing everything that interests you. Of course there are times when it would be nice to have a pair of eyes behind me watching my back. I’ve found that meeting other solo travellers certainly helps with this as you’re both in the same position. Overall the freedom and flexibility of solo travel, in my opinion, outweighs the downsides. Long-term travel is much like life back at home, there are ups, downs and days that lie somewhere in between.
As I approach the midway point of the Thailand leg of my trip, I am about to head north again to the capital Bangkok. I shall be taking the train which should be a different experience. The last train I boarded was way back in Canada, a very different country and time! I shall report back next week how it went. From now until then there is my Twitter feed which can be found at @mrlukeniktravel for more regular updates. A selection of my pictures from my trip can be found on my Instagram which uses the handle @mrlukeniktravels. Finally, you can subscribe to this blog to receive an email as soon as my next post is uploaded. As usual, until next time, stay safe and travel on!
