Khao Sok

Khao Sok national park is between Phuket and Krabi situated at just under 1000 meters up in the mountains. I'm staying in Jungle Hut Bungalows, and although there are probably more scenic bungalows to stay in, the staff here have been great. I've arrived on a full-moon, so there is no one here as they've all headed to the islands for the full-moon parties. It's also been raining everyday for the past week which has put many people off. For me however, the rain is a welcome break from the intense heat on the islands.

My "Jungle Hut" is a newly built bungalow raised about 3 meters off the ground with a set of concrete bridges connecting it to the other 3 bungalows and the main reception and restaurant. The place was originally sold to me in Krabi, a half way stop where I had to change buses on route here from Ko Lanta, they said "in the morning you can jump straight in the river from your bungalow!" The river is about 3 minutes walk from the bungalow, but who knows, if the rain carries on like this it might just reach here.

After settling in and after some dinner I sign up for a days lake and cave trekking tour. 8am breakfast and the guide gets us together in a mini van for departure at 8.30am. After picking up a few more people (14 in total) at various other resorts we're head off on an hour trip to the lake in the middle of the national park. This is man made as a result of building a damn back in 1982/83, and this place is huge!! We get on a boat and start our journey across the lake. This is about another hour and takes us through some stunning scenery as we pass islands that were once mountain peaks before the area was flooded. It's truly breathtaking!

As we get to the other side we reach a set of raft houses. This is basically a floating hotel and is the location where some overnight trekkers will stay. Here there's time for a swim and some lunch, some honeymooners brought their fishing gear and try their luck, apparently there's a 200kg catfish in here. When Evan hear's this he looks at his little rod and wonders if he really wants to catch anything with it.

Lunch, as usual, is lovely! Some fish (for which I've forgotten the name) has been glazed and barbecued and is delicious. Luckily there's little interest in the fish so all the more for Evan and I. There's also plenty of the familiar Pad Thai and various other veg and chicken dishes. The guide tells us to eat plenty as there's a long afternoon ahead of us… no need to tell me twice!

After lunch there's a little briefing as to what to expect and we're back in the boat. Most of our stuff has been left at the raft house, but I've decided to bring my camera. I've been informed that part of this trip will involve some swimming, so I'll be testing my newly acquired ocean pack a little later.

The boat works it's way down a very small river off the lake for about 5 minutes before coming to a stop on the bank. We disembark and walk rather precariously down the side of the river, many nearly fall in as the mud beneath them gives way. Each side of the river rises up high with dense jungle, but eventually the path leads to a clearing and, for a moment at least, the walking gets a little easier.

The guide points to a butterfly trapped in a spiderweb. The butterfly is very large, about the size of my hand. One of my fellow travellers asks how big the spider is, the guide laughs and just says "much bigger than the butterfly". Should I mention that I've got quite a bad case of arachnophobia?

We're soon out of the clearing and in deep jungle now. On the way there's a lot of crossing of rivers, and there's only one way to cross a river in the jungle, that's to go straight through it. I've got my Gore-Tex walking shoes on, which have been great so far. The only problem with wearing waterproof shoes through a river is water will get in through the big hole at the top, but it won't come back out again!

En route we see a chameleon, or at least what they call a chameleon here, but it doesn't have the eyes or feet that I've known them to have, and a gibbon. This was impressive and I seize the opportunity to take a photo, I've been wanting to catch a wild gibbon on camera ever since I was in the jungle in the north, so I'm over the moon to see one here. That is until one of the girls in the group decides to scream at the top of her voice at the sight of a leech on her boyfriends leg… Gibbon gone.

Leeches have been a fairly common sight on this trip. The recent rains have brought them all out, but some how I seem to be the only one to have avoided them. One poor lad get 5 of them. I remember Stephen Fry stating on an episode of QI that the best thing to do is just leave them, when they've finished feeding they've just drop off. But who in they're right mind would want to leave these horrid things on them?!

After about an hour and half trek through the jungle we get to a cave. The idea is to walk straight through here, but first the guide makes a call to find out when the rains are likely to get here. Later I find out that we only had a 15 minute buffer, had we gone over that we'd have been on trouble. 3 years before 7 people lost their lives in this same cave when the rains started while they were still in them.

This is real caving, no hand rails, no manmade walkways, just our wits and torches. We're in water for most of it, about half way up to the knee. Occasionally we're out of the water and it's a little easier to appreciate what's going on around us. As we get deeper in the cave I see bats above our heads. The floor is covered in their droppings which crickets appear to be feeding off. On the rocks are huge hunter spiders the size of my hand. I don't seem to be that bothered by them, maybe there are just too many other things to worry about! We've reached a couple of stretches of water that have come just above the waste, and now it's time for a swim. Holding my ocean pack above water, head torches on and my hand torch in my mouth I'm the first to go. It's not a long stretch, maybe 10 meters, but in a pitch black cave it was quite an experience. Everyones makes it across without any difficulty. Last to come through is the guide, but rather than go for a swim he plays at spiderman and wedges himself between the two sides of the cave.

We're in there for about an hour before exiting at the other end. There's a welcome 10 minute breather before heading back to the boat. Just as we start to approach the boat it starts to rain. We get back to the shelter of the raft houses and it starts to pour down. Waiting for us are some snacks, fresh fruit, banana fritters of some kind, and some sweet rice dish wrapped in banana leaf. After about 20 minutes the rain stops and we head back across the river to our starting point. The minibus isn't there so we've got about an hours wait, plenty of time for a couple of beers.

Back at the bungalow I eat with the guide who tells me I'd be fine to go off in the park on my own in the morning. The entrance at this side of the park has some well mapped routes so the next morning I head off on what is planned to be a half day trek. I've got the camera, and I'm hoping to get that gibbon! The first hour is easy, I stop off to see a waterfall, after taking a couple of shots I turn round and see what at first looks like a snakes head just over a large rock. I'm glad to say it wasn't, as given the size of the head it would be a good 20 foot long. It's a very large lizard, the size of a small cat. I really don't have a good angle on it from here, moving round has scared it in to the water and up the bank on the other side.

I head further in, and now it's hard trails and much deeper jungle. After about 20 minutes I look down and I'm covered in leeches. I count 7, but I know there will be more. After getting them off me, which really isn't easy, I continue on. Eventually I'm just too tired, hot, sweaty and decide to head back. Other than a few more leeches the journey home is uneventful but I do see some sort of squirrel type thing in some bamboo and watch as is makes its way across the jungle. It's acting a little like a monkey as it goes from one bamboo branch to another and is the size of a large domestic cat. A couple of butterflies and a very large spider later and I'm back home, shower, lunch and sleep.

One of the staff wakes me up and asks if I want to go tubing. I look at the sky which is dark grey and see we're at that time of day again, realise I'm going to get wet anyway, so I say why not. Tubing on a river through the jungle in a thunder storm is quite an experience! The rain seems to have kept the wildlife away apart from a black and orange striped snake in a tree and a very beautiful kingfisher in the distance.

That night I meet a English girl called Kate who has just arrived in Khao Sok and is deciding what trek to go on the next day. I've decided on a rest day, but the staff have something else in mind. They've been very good to me here and offer me a free trek by the driver who is taking Kate on hers. He has a two hour wait until her and three other girls finish, so he takes me out in the jungle. He points out more chameleons, a flying lizard, various insects and after the halfway point, where I meet up with the girls at a waterfall, he points out a black snake with yellow bands sitting in a tree just above a stream. Then the rains start fall and we seek shelter under a bamboo structure that appears to be covering bags of rice... strange what you find in the middle of the jungle!

All in all it's been a great few days in the jungle, and I'm sad at the thought of leaving! But leave I must as it's getting a little expensive here despite the free trek.