Koh Sak National Park

From Koh Tao we headed southwest to Koh Sok National Park for some time in the jungle. This national park is an area of "SUPER DIVERSITY" and contains miles of protected original jungle and tons of plants and animals.

We stayed at a place called Our Jungle House which was right in the middle of the jungle. The bungalows were very nice and made of woven rattan and had lovely linen lights and very nice details. Out our window was a 100 foot limestone cliff and a river, along with lots of animal noises including monkeys, cicadas and birds. It was very beautiful and we met some great people.

We went on a one day trip to a lake nearby that was made by the Thai government by creating a large dam that they use for hydroelectric power. It's sort of like lake powell, only much bigger. The lake is framed by 100 foot limestone cliffs that are really stunning. We took a longtail boat tour of the lake, and then had lunch at a floating village, along with a swim in the sweet water, as they call fresh water. It was very clear and clean and beautiful for swimming. Apparently since it is man made, not a lot of wildlife live in the lake.

From there we went on a tour of a local cave. We were not sure what to expect. It took us one hour of hiking through the sweaty jungle to get there. Along the way, the tour guide pointed out wildlife including monkeys and also told some dirty thai jokes. I will not repeat them here, though they were pretty unexpected, as we have not heard anything remotely similiar from the very polite, friendly and sensitive thai people.

We had two guides, who both grew up in the area village. Jungle man wore plastic shoes and told the ditry jokes. Big man drove the boat and entertained us with antics like hiding behind a rock wall and pretending to be a wild animal to scare us. it probably would have been more entertaining if i was not already scared for my life.

They brought us to tour a cave where only a few years before 8 people had died when rains unexpectantly filled the caves with water. Big man had to go in the next day and carry out the bodies. I was not too worried about flooding because it is the dry season here and the skys were clear. However i was nervous about slipping on one of the rocks or being bitten by one of the thousands of bats or spiders i saw. But, I could not worry too much as there was no escaping.

We walked deeper and deeper into the cave and the rooms got narrower and narrower. We had headlamps but nothing more. there was no path or no lights. The rocks were very slippery and sharp and it was hard to see where we were going. Red glowing spider eyes followed us everywhere. The smell of bat guano filled the room, and the guides would yell at them and make them fly from their resting spot.

We were soaked from walking in the river through the cave. Finally we came to a point where the only way through was to climb through a cramped opening and then swim to the other end. There was about one foot of breathing room above, and we were not sure what was next after this. I had already had my fill of caving for many years, but i had to keep going.

We really didn't know much about what we were into for the day. We knew "cave tour" and "floating village" and lake tour but that was about it. The people at Our Jungle House made sure we had the right shoes and lights and such, but we really did not know what we were in for!

I was certainly glad to be through the worst of it with the swimming part of the journey. 15 minutes later we saw the light of day and then made our sweaty walk back to the boat.

It was a good day of adventure, and that night we had more adventures when a rat made it's way into our room. YUCK. We saw the teeth marks on our soap in the morning.

The next day we did a 4 hour guided hike to see Rafflesia, one of the biggest flowers in the world which happened to be blooming while we were there. Our guide again was jungle man, but this time the group was only 4 people and he left all his bad humor behind. We hikes for 2 hours strickly uphill climbing on vines and very small paths to see the flowers. I was covered with sweat. We saw 3 of the flowers, they were about 2 feet in diameter and a bloody red color. They bloom once every year for about 4 days, and only bloom in this park. (a relative of this flower blooms in Malaysia as well). It is actually a parasite, not a plant, and cannot be propogated elsewhere. The park had protected the area with barbed wire, but jungle man lifted up the wire and directed us to get closer to the flower. The Thai way. He did warn us of all the places not to step so as to protect the flowers that were not yet blooming. They were amazing, but certainly a journey to get there.

On the hike, we saw hornbills flying above and jungle man told us how to survive in teh forest with plants, water from vines and frogs that taste like chicken. I would have considered a camping trip but it was just too hot and humid.

After the hike, we were exhausted and napped the afternoon away! We were going to dinner about 6pm and i opened the bathroom door and saw a huge rat in the bathroom, it was about one foot long including the tail. The room was open air, so i don't think there is much that can be done. That night i did not sleep well at all!

We headed out the next morning, me happy to be moving to a room safe from vermin.