Khao Sok National Park Day 1
By Lauren Gerzina & Justin Hayes
Private Taxi, Overwater Bungalows, and Beautiful Mountains
We woke up early, ate breakfast at the hotel (which was VERY meh), and prepped for our trip to Khao Sok National Park. Justin ran to the ATM to get some cash – since we seem to BLOW through cash everywhere we go (mostly because most places in Thailand don’t take credit cards).
Lauren started the check-out process and worked on getting our 3 bags checked at the front desk for when we return to the hotel again on December 6th. She also inquired about how much more it would cost to have a private pool for our hotel room on the return stay. Turns out, it was only $20 more per night. Needless to say, she paid for the upgrade immediately. We are hoping to get FULL use out of that in a few days.
At 8am on the dot, our taxi driver pulled up to the front of the hotel and helped us put our bag and backpacks in. We were instructed to meet at 11am at the Cheow Lan Pier for a boat ride to our resort, Panvaree The Greenery. It was a short two-hour ride, so even with a short stop to get gas and use the restroom, we arrived about an hour early to the pier.
We met up with a member of the staff shortly after we arrived and waited until 11am to walk over to the boat. We met a nice Austrian couple and two American women who have apparently been best friends since college. They were all extremely nice. After a 45-minute ride on a longtail, we arrived at the resort (kind of an overwater bungalow, but over a large, man-made lake instead of the ocean).
We checked in and got help with our bags to our room which was a superior room on the second floor of one of the bungalows. Lauren enjoyed seeing the fenced off koi pond on the way to our room. It had a nice deck with two wooden chairs and a hammock chair. The hotel turns off all electricity to the bungalows from 9am to 5pm, so the room was a bit hot/stuffy.
We grabbed lunch in the dining area, which is on the second floor of the main building (the bottom floor is reception/ lounging area). We contacted the hotel ahead of time to let them know about Justin’s allergies, and they were able to change a few of the dishes to ensure he could eat them.
For lunch, they served four Thai dishes and white rice. Justin loved the variety. Lauren ordered an iced jasmine tea with honey and lime and Justin ordered a Thai Lime tea – and both were delicious. After lunch, we soaked in the views from our deck and when we got a bit warm, we changed into bathing suits and jumped into the lake. The lake was the *perfect* temperature. Good for a nice cool down, but not too cold that it was hard to get in. The only downfall was that the hotel requires everyone to wear life jackets because the lake is SO deep (in the designated swim area, it apparently goes down to 210 ft).
Lauren wanted to finish her book (she had about 100 pages left) so she got out and started reading on the deck while drying off. Justin grabbed his phone/headphones and listened to some podcasts.
At 5pm, we got on a longtail to go check out the most photographed area of Khao Sok – the Three Sisters (three beautiful rocks protruding from the water). Unfortunately, about halfway into the boat ride, it started POURING. The guide handed out ponchos, but we all were completely soaked and cold (from the wind and rain) by the time we got back to the resort.
We changed clothes and headed to the dining area for dinner. Again, we had a nice dinner and delicious drinks (Lauren reordered the Lime Jasmine tea and Justin got a fizzy Bees Knees).
After dinner, we went back to the room, showered and passed out.
