05.03.2019 | Thailand, Travel

3 – Day Khao Sok Guide – Explore The Jungle

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The location: In the middle of the jungle

Do you like to explore a hidden gem in Thailand? This big National Park will be a totally new experience! A few months ago we didn´t even know about Khao Sok, once we heard about it, we knew we had to go there. Khao Sok is located in the South of Thailand near Surat Thani. There are two different areas, the Khao Sok Lake, also called Cheow Lan Lake, and the Riverside near Khao Sok town. From Surat Thani airport it is a 2-hour car ride to the Khao Sok Lake and another 1-hour ride to the Riverside and town Khao Sok.

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The lake is famous for the big limestone rocks coming out of the water. It is surrounded by a big National Park full of animals and jungle. You will be totally isolated and you should be prepared for a digital detox because there is no signal at all. You will stay on a flooding raft house on this man-made lake.

We spent 2 days and two nights in Khao Sok. We stayed the first night on the lake and the second night at the Riverside cottages. 

1 – Elephant experience

There are several providers near Khao Sok town offering an elephant experience.  We highly recommend booking the Sonchana Farm experience. Please do not book a tour where people ride on the elephants neck or where elephants are chained or get beaten. At the Sonchana Farm you will not find any chains or hooks! The elephant was not forced into anything he didn´t enjoy and the owner only gave him instructions with words. Somboon was very calm and cautious!

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The Sonchana Farm takes care of an old 56-year old male elephant. He once was a working elephant, now he is enjoying retirement in his new home. The owner Aek told us about Samboons life, we prepared a meal and fed him. He started with several bunches of bananas, we then cooked a hot meal of fruit and rice over the fire for him. Somboon couldn´t wait to get his rice balls.

Afterward, we went to a little nature swimming pool and washed him. You will need your swimming pants and a towel. Give him a good scrub! We were the only one who visited the farm and it was a very relaxed and personal experience with this elephant. We were not rushed in the two hours and we could take our time. The surrounding mountains in the jungle are very beautiful and it was very nice to learn about the way the farmers live in the region. They also let us plant some bamboo in their plantation. 

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2 – Cooking class with a wonderful couple

We can´t recommend this experience highly enough! Rungfah Farm Stay is such a beautiful organic farm and is set up by a young couple Yu and his wife, the nicest people we met on our trip! They have built the farm all by themselves! Is there a better way to learn how to cook a traditional meal than getting teached in the jungle and eating from banana leaves? 

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He showed us around the farm, we talked about the local wildlife and discussed nature conservation and sustainable farming practices. The cooking lesson took us from gathering fresh ingredients around the farm like fresh bamboo sprouts, herbs, lime, ananas and vegetables to a tasty array of Thai dishes. Yu made a fire to cook the rice in bamboo containers and we learned how do remove the coconut from the nuts. Everything was cooked with natural products, we even ate our food served in bamboo cut in half. We managed to cook a meal without any meat or fish and it tasted amazing! They also made us a ginger lemon tea, because we felt like we could get a cold.

You can also stay in one of there two basic bamboo bungalows. 

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3 – Where to stay? Kayaking and Spa

We highly recommend to stay at Khao Sok Riverside Cottages – we had such a wonderful time there! It is located directly next to the river surrounded by the jungle and big mountains. This beautiful resort has it all, modern wooden cottages, a very good kitchen, a wonderful spa and they offer a lot of activities around Khao Sok. Go for a relaxing kayak tour at the river and spot some monkeys in the trees. They will arrange everything for you, the elephant experience and the cooking class mentioned above as well as a kayaking tour. They can even book you a Cheow Lan Lake day tour or an overnight experience on the lake! We were very happy to work together with Khao Sok Riverside Cottages and we truly love to recommend it to you!

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4 – Khao Sok Lake tour

If you visit Khao Sok you will probably want to explore Cheow Lan Lake. The man-made lake was built 30 years ago surrounded by this massive National Park. After the flooding many big limestone mountains changed to little islands in the water, there are still some dead trees standing in the lake. We never saw a landscape like that!

If you book the lake experience, you will be picked up at the Surat Thani airport or at Khao Sok town. At the head office, you will meet your guide and your longtail-boatsman. Enjoy the rides in a wooden longtail boat on the lake in front of a surreal panorama of mountains, catch the golden sunset and sleep in a floating bamboo bungalow in the middle of the jungle. Listen to the sounds of the birds and wake up with the sunrise.

Read more about our lake experience here.

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5 – How to get there?

We booked a 1-hour domestic flight from Bangkok to Surat Thani airport. The flights are very cheap in Thailand. If you book with Khao Sok Riverside Cottages or with Khao Sok Lake Tour, they will arrange a transfer from the airport to the National Park pier. You can also take the night train from Bangkok to Surat Thani. A car drive would be pretty long!

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6 – Where can I book it?

You can book everything, the lake experience, the riverside adventure, the elephant experience and the cooking class via khao-sok-riverside-cottages.com. We highly recommend them! The 2-hour elephant experience costs 1400 baht (43$) per person, the cooking class 1000 baht (31$) per person.

We booked the lake experience separately with khaosoklake.com. Our bamboo bliss tour for 2 days and 1 night costs 6100 baht (190$) per person. If you team up with two other people for the boat ride you will pay 4000 baht (125$) per person. Additionally, you have to pay 300 baht (9$) entrance fee for the National Park. Keep in mind that the high price includes the big private longtail boat, the boatsman, your private tour guide, the bamboo bungalow, the meals and the hiking tours. For us it was enough time to relax at the lake for one night. But if you want to stay there a second night you can move to a more luxury bungalow for the second night.