Hot and Steamy

  Khao Sok, Surat Thani, Thailand
Thursday, April 16, 2009

A few months ago the Thai government decided that travellers crossing the border by land would get only 15 days (used to be 30) in Thailand, but you can go to an embassy and get a longer visa for free.  I was waiting for the embassy in Kota Bharu to open.  In Kota Bharu the weekend is Friday and Saturday so on Sunday I wandered over to the embassy only to find it was closed for Songkran (Thai New Year), and wasn't going to re-open until Thursday.  Bugger!  So on Monday I got the local bus to the border. 

While I was in Kota Bharu I met a Swiss couple (thanks Paul and Sara) who told me to go Khao Sok National Park in Thailand, so I figured I would.  I walked across the border and into the town of Sungai Kolok.  The  first thing you notice in Sungai Kolok is how many soldiers are there.  This is the part of Thailand where some local Muslims want to secede and go about achieving this by use of bombs, etc.  So lots of soldiers to try to stop such nonsense.  I didn't take any photos of them as I wasn't sure how they would react to that.

I went straight to the train station to buy a ticket to Surat Thani from where I can get to Khao Sok.  There was no train that day due to the holiday.  Bugger!  So I wandered off to the bus station, via an ATM (I have never used my credit card to get cash from an ATm in another country so I was a bit nervous - remember it was a holiday so it the card got swallowed I wasn't going to get it back in a hurry), where I was able to buy a ticket on the bus to Surat Thani.  So much for going by train.

The bus ride was long. How long? Light years. Well it seemed like it. The bus left at 10 and with a change of bus, I arrive at Surat Thani at 8.30pm.  As soon as I got off the bus a lady asked me where I was going, so I gave her the name of the guesthouse that had been recommended to me. She said ok follow me, I asked if she was a taxi driver and she said no, motorcycle. She had a moped. So I put my backpack on my back figuring that was the only way she would be able to carry it and me, but no, it rode in front of her between her and the steering. So I got on the back and off we went. She has a helmet, I did not.  The guesthouse was full, so she took me to another one, but on the way she took me to a place where I could book a minibus to Khao Sok, then off to the place where I stayed.

Anyway once I had checked in, and dumped my bags I went back to reception and spoke to a nice lady who booked my bus (trains are full until April 20 (the new year again!) from here to Bangkok for Thursday night, booked my guesthouse at Khao Sok, and my train from  Bangkok to Chiang Mai for Sunday night.  I learnt a lesson here - do not pre-pay accommodation in Thailand, she charged me more than if I had just shown up. 

Anyway, it is really nice here - a very old tropical rainforest and limestone  (karst) mountains (the tallest 961 metres - ok, not that tall but it is limestone).  I did a full day Jungle lake tour yesterday and it was bloody good.  In 1982 they built a hydro power dam in the park which flooded a lot of the park, but it did create a beautiful lake

Limestone outcrops

which we crossed in a long-tail boat to a place where they have built accommodation huts on rafts.  After lunch and a swim (the water is sooo warm) we walked to through the jungle

Rhinoceros Beetle

to the cave.  The cave has a stream running through it and is subject to flash flooding.  We got very wet in the cave, you have to swim through one part of it, but had a great time.  Less than 2 minutes after exiting the cave it started raining so we timed it very well.  Then we walked back through the jungle to where we had lunch then back across the lake to the dam and back to our accommodation.

Sunset over the lake

Local Resident of the national park

Very enjoyable day and we saw some interesting wildlife, including bats in the cave.

I am staying here an extra day as it is so nice, I changed my bus ticket to Bangkok.  If you come to Thailand tear yourself away from the beaches and islands and come here, you won't regret it.

A bit about Songkran.  This is a water festival as well as the new year.  For a few days people throw water at each other.

Songkran

I saw several utes being driven around with drums of water in the back and people riding along throwing water at passing people and cars.  I managed to avoid getting soaked while walking down the road by showing them my camera, they seem to respect the fact that cameras aren't waterproof.


Distance Travelled     8400k's by plane
                                     746k's by train
                                     710k's by bus

Song of the day (I forgot this last time so two today)

Reckoner by Radiohead
Red Morning Light by Kings of Leon