Khao Sok National Park floating village day 2 and more cave visits - and then to Khao Lak

We got up at 6:30 AM to be ready for our morning boat ride on the lake. The spider monkeys had been quite active and noisy during the night and this morning they were still marking their presence on the opposite side of the lake.

We headed out with our boat at 7 AM breaking the perfect morning quietness with a boat that sounded like a machine gun. Not the best combination for a quiet morning but our boat driver was kind and turned the engine off and during the next hour we managed to see some monkeys and a few birds before returning to camp and breakfast.

Planning and information is not always the strong side of Thai guides, so after breakfast we were told to pack our stuff since we would be leaving for another cave hike and not coming back to the floating village. Quite annoying since we would have liked to stay back and just enjoy the morning sun and the quiet place. Not an option though.

We back tracked slightly with the boat going towards the next stop and the caves. Once at another floating restaurant we were told to join another group for the hike - our guide not really into hiking this morning. Malene stayed back at the restaurant and Mikkel went with the group towards the caves. No water this morning, just uphill until we got to the cave entrance. Many more bats once we were inside and after some 10 minutes we came to the far end of the cave, turned around and headed back to the restaurant on our own. We had lunch there with a lot of other groups feeling very busy before heading back to the pier, our mini bus and eventually making it back to our hostel.

Reunited with our big back packs we left for the bus to Khao Lak, This time it was a but with and engine and a driver who didn't have to do a 30 minute service stop on the way which cut the transport time down considerably. We were a bit confused as to where to get off the bus in Khao Lak not having done our home work with directions to the hostel fully, but we asked the driver to drop us off at the end of the town and asking a woman in one of the many tourist offices we had a great reply - down the road 100 metres and to the left. We followed directions only to arrive at the hostel we booked and then being told that we had booked at the other branch - which was back the same way we came and more or less across the street from where we stopped.

We got our room in a hostel that had been setup inside an old shopping mall - and then we headed out to the dive shops to see if we could get a reservation for a liveaboard in the next few days. Turned out it was busy season but after a bit of back and forth we signed up for a three day/two nights even though they were short on instructors and Mikkel therefore couldn't get a PADI dive course but had to snorkel on his own. No big deal though. We signed up.

Dinner at a local thai place - they are hard to find in Khao Lak where most menus are in English or a Nordic Language and include Western dishes such as Swedish meatballs. Then back to the hostel to relax after ice cream and coffee for desert. No action tomorrow except for a trip to the beach.

Beautiful morning on the lake

Almost sunrise

Looking for monkeys

Our tiny bungalow

Mind the gap

Bye bye, floating village

Heading back the same way we came

Ready to go for another hike

Tall trees

Heading down to the cave entrance

Lunch and fruit

Reunited with back packs

And the hammock

Everything OK at the dive shop

Khao Sok National Park floating village overnight stay and Nam Talu Cave hike - "No wet, no fun"

We were picked up at the hostel at 9 AM after a great breakfast. Only carrying the necessary stuff to do a single night at the floating village we left the big back packs at the hostel knowing we would return before going to Khao lak.

Going with a group of seven other guys the mini bus headed down the main road for about an hour before stopping in a busy village close to the pier where our boat would depart for the floating village. It was super busy here in the morning with hundreds of tourists all doing the same - shopping for their trip on the lake. Quite a big contrast to Nicaragua.

Eventually we made it to the pier, paid the National Park entrance fee and left in one of the long tail boats sailing across the lake and down the canyons towards our floating village. We got there around 12 and were told to be ready for lunch at 1 PM. In the meanwhile we could swim in the lake - which we did. Nice and refreshing and very close to the entrance of out small floating bungalow.

After lunch we went back to our boat and sailed a few minutes up the river to begin our 40 minute trek in the jungle. The goal was to reach the Nam Talu cave. Crossing small streams all the guide our somewhat quiet guide suddenly said: "No wet, no fun". And that was true for the rest of the afternoon as we hiked towards the cave entrance and inside the cave.

The first part of the hike is dry and straightforward with the options to look at bats, spiders and other things hiding in the dark. Then it gradually becomes more and more wet while hiking in the middle of the stream going through the cave system until at the end we were waist deep in water, squeezing through a couple of narrow sections before returning to daylight again. A bit busy with lots of other groups in there but quite impressive.

We headed back to our boat the same way we got there, and were dropped off at our bungalow and had an nice swim in the lake. At 5 PM there was the option to go for a sunset boat ride, which Malene turned down and Mikkel joined. It was also very tempting to stay at the bungalow since it was a quiet afternoon, the sun was setting, the nocturnal animals were coming to life and basically you could have the whole place to yourself. Which Malene had, once the rest of us left.

Going with a super noisy long tail boat to look at wildlife is probably not going to increase the chances of actually seeing any animals but the scenery was quite stunning, mountains and jungle reflecting in the water of the lake and it was only us 7 out there. Eventually we spotted a few birds including a nice Toucan before heading back to camp and dinner.

We went to bed early, just getting a glimpse of the moon as it was rising above the lake. Wonderful.

Morning outside our Bungalow

Great breakfast

Going through a beautiful gorge

No water - no fun

At the cave entrance

Nice sun set

Toucan eating nuts

Back at the floating village