Travelman's Travels in Thailand Chapter 5: Khao Sok National Park and My Harum from Holland! (Part 1)

The last we left Travelman he was proving himself as the coolest guy in the world while learning to dive on Ko Tao. Next stop was Khao Sok National Park.

I took an overnight ferry from Ko Tao to Suratt Thani, then an early morning bus to Khao Sok National Park.

Here's me in my sleeper ferry bed. A guy who I think was from China, and very excited, took this pic of me after he asked me to take one of him. The single beds were coffin-like narrow. The Chinese guy was supposed to be right next to me but the ferry was 60% empty, so he jumped in the double bed in the adjacent row. I put my bags in the bed next to me and fell asleep in minutes..

Here's a ferry employee standing on the ferry draw bridge as it lowered at the dock...

Upon exiting the ferry, local travel agents were waiting to usher us into a shuttle truck. At first I thought the guy was a taxi driver trying to get me to pay for a ride I didn't need to pay for, but he quickly, and with some frustration at the oblivious tourist, explained that it was a shuttle to the bus. Here's me with an American (who had a "I'm too cool for this" attitude) and two European girls (one not in the photo) in the back of the truck on the way to the travel agency in town where we'd board the larger bus for the 90 minute ride to Khao Sok....

Before I got on the bus, the wife of the travel agent playfully blew me a kiss as I presented her my ticket. Here they are...

The bus drivers have a co-pilot who ensures people get off at the right stops and retrieves their bags from the luggage compartment...

They dropped me at the turn off to the road to Khao Sok. The park entrance was 1.6 km away. There was a market at the intersection... I almost bought a pig's head, but opted for chicken and rice curry for 60 baht instead...

The road to Khao Sok, I didn't know what lie ahead of me...

After about 1.2 Km I came across a town. A short stretch of restaurants, bungalows, mini-marts, adventure trip agencies, and two hostels.

About 1000 feet before the park I came across a side street and decided to check out the accommadations on this road. It was just after 0900 and I was looking forward to settling in somewhere soon...

I came upon Nung House near the end of the road...

It had private little huts on the grounds and a main reception/restaurant area. I was sure it would be out of my price range. As I walked into the open air restaurant, I was greeted by this guy. Price of entry, love and affection, preferably a butt scratch...

I asked the Thai woman how much for a room, she said 300. She took me out to show me the bungalow. It was great! For less than I paid for the crappy hostel on Ko Tao, I had my own cabin, with a porch, a bathroom and shower, and my first mosquito net. I said, "I'll take it!"

Here's the bed with the net down for the night...

I got settled in and walked back to the restaurant to select a tour for the next day. There was complimentary instant coffee and the owner's mother had just made a local dessert that they offered me. I forget what it was called, but it was served with fresh ground coconut and tasted like a thick, pastey jello with less sweetness. When I asked what made it green, the grandmother went and got the green leaf that was part of the recipe and gave it the green color...

I selected the two day, one night excursion on Khao Sok Lake. It included a two jungle hike to two caves and a tail boat ride out to floating, raft bungalows where I would stay the night with the group I would join. When I went back to my cabin, this little guy was sleeping on my welcome matt. He was there in the morning as well when I took the picture. He politely got up and moved under the chair on my porch after I stepped over him twice...

Here's the view from my porch...

Coming up in part two, Travelman takes a boat ride not quite into Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but maybe just a Capillary of Darkness...