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Feb 05 7-days Southern Thailand's Khao Sok National Park & Trang
My brother Lee Keng did this circuit in Dec 04 just before the Tsunami with his and 2 other families. It was a wonderful trip and so, during the Chinese New Year 2005, I explored the route with my own family and one other. We totaled 5 adults and 4 children, including my two sons, 2 years and 7 years-old. Our mode of transport was a local van with driver.
Day 1 Sun Hadyai: As Air Asia flights were at a premium during this CNY period, I opted to drive to Bukit Kayu Hitam 4.5 hrs toll to toll. We left our vehicles there and took a van to Hadyai arriving at 4pm local time. After a dip in the hotel pool, we had dinner and did a spot of shopping. It was 3 days away to CNY and it was surprisingly not as busy as expected. Overnight (O/n) Hatyai.
Day 2 Thale Noi & Chiew Lan Lake: We were late leaving the hotel and arrived in Thale Noi Phattalung, 100kms north of Hatyai at 830am. We only started the boat cruise at 930am but still managed to view birds by the hundreds, amidst abundance of water lillies and lotus in the huge lake. The boats comfortably seated all 9 of us. We had a lunch stop and then pushed off on a 300km journey to Chiew Lan Lake, which lies on the fringes of Khao Sok National Park. We boated to our pretty raft-houses. It was basic but location was very remote. Electricity was limited and powered by generators. In the evening, we went to a scenic spot to catch the sunset and to watch bats leaving their caves for night feeding. ON Chiew Lan Raft-houses.
Day 3 Khao Sok NP: In the morning we went for a short jungle trek and onto motorised bamboo rafts to explore a pretty but small cave, with its usual formations of stalactites and stalacmites. After lunch, we long-boat out to the jetty and continued for an hour to Khao Sok National Park Headquarters. The guesthouse we stayed is located on the banks of a river, with good swimming holes and a pack of monkeys hanging about. ON Khao Sok NP.
Day 4 Khao Lak Beach & Trang: We dropped by the Info Center in Khao Sok. There are numerous trails to explore that I intend to do with an all adult group in the future. The day-long treks would not suit the children and we also had time constraints. We proceeded on to Tsunami-hit Khao Lak beach where 4000 foreigners lost their lives. It has been clean up with none of the smells and sights of decomposing bodies. Our last stop was the Hot Spring of Khlong Thom. This popular local attraction is well maintained with good facilties. In Trang, we had dinner and shopped at the night market. ON Trang.
Day 5 Island Trip: We travelled 26kms to Pakbeng Jetty and started our day-long island trip at 930am. The first stop was Ko Mook or Emerald Cave, where one has to get in the water into a pitch-black sea cave for some 80m before emerging to a hidden beach. This was once a pirate hideaway which is now a must for visitors to Trang.. Then its to Ko Kradan and Ko Cheuk for a bit of snorkelling. We finished the trip by 5pm and returned to the Trang and relaxed at the hotel pool. At night we had dinner at a local eatery, full of locals and no other tourist.
Day 6 Chao Mai Cave: In the morning we visited the local market until late morning. We arrived in Chao Mai National Park, some 1:30hrs away and had lunch while waiting for the tide to come in. We had boatmen who canoed us through the coastal mangrove estuary to two of the less-touristic caves. The first cave has beautiful formations and many were coated with shiny calcites. Getting to the caves proper also involved climbing some hair-raising steep wooden ladders, which the children managed quite well. The second caves could only be visited on canoes and are, in many places, so low that one has to sleep in the canoes to avoid knocking one's head. To add to the excitement, the caves are pitch-black and navigable by torchlights. This part is aptly known to the locals as going under the "dragon's belly". We arrived late in Hatyai 2:30hrs away. ON Hatyai.
Day 7 Go Home: I took my family to Hatyai Carrefour for shopping. It was the 3rd day of CNY and the streets and food places were packed with holidaying Malaysians. We left Thailand after lunch and was caught in the busy CNY traffic getting into KL.
Water lillies on Thale Noi / Sunset over Chiew Lan
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