Cheow Lan Lake in Khao Sok is a place I didn’t know about a few days ago, but I’m so happy someone told me about it. This is one of the most beautiful places ever.
Cheow Lan Lake is a lake among the mountains in beautiful Thailand. The lake is totally surrounded by mountains and rainforest. A beauty almost untouched by men. Once I reach the Hostel, I didn´t know exactly what to do in this place, but the Hostel provides a variety of activities and tours. I will stay for 2 days, so I opt for a day tour on the lake. There is also the option of sleeping “in the jungle”. Well, this place isn’t very touristic, so there are just a few lake houses for tourists. You are able to spend your nights there in perfect union with Nature and its sounds. This seems a thrilling experience but my budget to Thailand is almost gone and I decide for a day tour which still wonderful.
Anyway, if I could, I would have slept in those lake houses as in the following morning the guests are going for a jungle safari in a chance to see Gibbons and other local forest population. The fauna and flora at the Khao Sok National Park are unique. They call it the Amazon of Thailand. I would love to see the wild animals acting as they are as I have never been in a rainforest like this before, and you surely see animals here that only exist in this paradisiac place. For example, they have the biggest Rafflesia flowers there, which I would love to see, and at Jungle Hostel there was a tour package to go to the Jungle search for these giants of the forest.
I met some really cool travelers during my stay in Khao Sok and I pity I didn’t stay with them for long. I even met an Irish cute girl that offered me a ticket she had from Bangkok to Cambodia. This was such a big coincidence because she was not going to use this ticket and this was exactly the route I was following and exactly on the last day I was able to stay in Thailand as my visa was about to expire.
During the tour day, first, we need to ride on a minivan for a really long time on the road before getting to the Cheow Lan Lake. On the lake, we get on a long tail boat that will go with us around. We are going among tall limestone cliffs. They are everywhere and you get so excited that don’t know where to look anymore. The view is so breathtaking. Those majestic mountains that surround the Cheow Lan Lake embrace it on a magical ambiance that could be out of any dreamy movie scenario.
Our first stop is at the lake houses for kayaking, swimming, relaxing, and have lunch. There are just a few houses, but this place is out of the beaten track. What a perfect choice to relax and disconnect from the world as the houses don’t have internet.
After lunch, we go to the most famous spot of Cheow Lan Lake, the place they compare to Halong Bay in Vietnam with several cliffs isolated in the middle of the water full of trees and plants growing miraculously on the rock. This is the most touristic part of the lake and in here we found several other boats waiting for their time to have the perfect view for the perfect pictures. There you will find some locals selling some snacks such as ice cream.
Then we continue for the adventure in the jungle. We are visiting a cave that is underwater and totally dark, we can only see with the small lanterns we take with us that are provided by the tour guide. I confess I was scared to go inside as I’m short and I might be running out of my feet from the ground, but most of all because I heard there are snakes inside. It is a thrilling and exciting walk in the cave for about 20 minutes. In some spots, the water is so high that reached my neck. I just follow the queue so I don’t get too far from the group but we are always walking with fast steps. The cave as some beautiful shining formations inside that you can see with the small light you have with you. This place is beautiful, but the best is the trilling idea of danger. We stop for a while so the guide can show us a cave spider. It is a really weird spider and I don’t like spiders at all, but I was admiring it in his hand as it is different from any spider I have seen before. There is a Chinese guy that puts it on his hand with much bravery.
Once out of the cave this same Chinese states that the spider bit him with the most serene feeling ever. He was so calm and the rest of us was freaking out. Fortunately, this spider isn’t venenous…
To get to this cave we need to walk in the middle of the jungle. Take proper clothing and footwear as the way is very muddy and you will have to walk on water. On the path to the cave, I saw a wild animal: an insect. It was a small shiny blue insect that I have never seen before. We stop for a while to admire it but needed to follow the path quickly or we lose the rest of the group. You need to walk fast otherwise you lose the rest of the group and the guides don’t seem to care a lot about it.
I also had the chance to see the biggest number of butterflies together ever. They gather on points with pee of other animals. They were so many that when we approached and passed through them, the girl was wrapped in butterflies, worthy of a magical photo session. What a beautiful and colorful sight.
To finish the day, before sunset, we still have about an hour boat ride in the Cheow Lan Lake before going back to the Hostel after a very exciting day full of surprises and new experiences.
very very nice photos, really like them