Khao lak

Khao lak is a seaside place that sits on a long stretch of coastline with attractive beaches. The big draw in the season  are the live abroad diving trips which explore the stunning Similan ( meaning 9 as there are 9 islands ) and Surin Archipelago.


The power of nature is very evident here...



We stayed in a rather attractive resort for couple of days and explored the small town as well as the empty destroyed by tsunami hotels – quite ghostly.




What used to be...3 large resorts
Totally destroyed by tsunami
They will never
be rebuilt.
Sad feelings around here
 with dead stillness
and the nature taking over
what used to be...

 

A tribute to an european family
 with their picture
 held to a coconut tree
 and protected.
 Marked  with a small coral rock...
 still after so many years




A small house
 that is built outside of the shade
 of the large house
 for protection
 from bad spirits
 giving them somwhere
to live.
 Each house in Thailand
has at least one
small house like this.
Offerings are placed daily.



This town was hit really hard by the tsunami some say that it was hit the most. A police boat was brought by the tide where it currently stands 2km inland when the giant wave hit. The boat remains on the hill as a monument to those lost and a reminder of natures raw power.

We went trough the small villages on the coast and wondered how anyone would possibly make it to safety if another tsunami hit. The villages are right on the beach and the closest high ground is kilometers away. We followed a trail of the tsunami safety signs and the signs led to a mosque on the main drive trough road 5 km away. We feel that it might be a rather long run for safety. We have seen couple of tsunami towers and we are not sure how they are supposed to work. It might be look and see arrangement.. There are so many areas in Thailand that were hit so much harder than Phuket and had higher loss of life than Phuket yet they are not mentioned.

This is the only tiger we found on this trip...



A quick stop at a  typical Thai fruit store
with stink beans on the way home/boat.
So traditional in the south

Ratchaprapha and Chiaw Lan Lake

Jul 2011


Some of the long boats waiting for tourists.
In season this place would be absolutely buzzing and out of season it is
a rather lazy and restful time for all.

The rain stopped for maybe 2-3 hours in 3 days and we took this time to drive to stunning Chiaw Lan Lake that was created by an enormous shale clay dam called Ratchaprapha with lime outcrops protruding from the lake to 960m.We had to employ the services of a long boat and a driver to go trough the lake.” Bobby” found an original one indeed! He looked like an interesting character and his boat (or his friends boat sometimes it is hard to follow) looked just as original as he did. He needed some money up front to buy fuel first. He had coupe of car seats in his friends boat an absolute classic.

The lake with it’s outcrops was breathtaking impressive and magnificent. There were also some caves but because of weather we could not walk trough them. I was happy about that! Who wants to walk in cold water on a cold day – a rarity in Thailand. The caves are normally partly submerged.

We also visited a small tourist village in a wonderful setting. Fed some beautiful pink fish and met the locals that were looking after the place We utilized our rain free period to the max. it started raining again just as soon as we got of the boat. We could clearly see the rain following us and were all giving our driver all the encouragement to go faster laughing and screaming….

Next day we decided to move on to Khao lak



Khao Sok National Park

Person who lived in Phuket for a while told us that he visited Khao Sok National Park and found it magical. From the drive to the park to running into wild elephants to the stay in tree houses they said that the place was just captivating.

The elephants sold me.

We really needed a break after all the stresses of engine reconstruction so we planed a short car trip to the park after which we were to move back to the boat. Well we seem to have an absolute knack for choosing a rainy weather even in the middle of the hottest time. We have done it a few times now and it is almost expected that when we go away it absolutely pours with rain in Phuket. This time was spot on too. Our drive to Khao Sok was bucketing wet.

We could hardly see the road at times not to mention elephants.

The sky just opened and with constant and continuous heavy rain

This is what palm  "flower" and palm oil is made from it

The splendid banana flower that was just outside our outside bathroom
with water as cold as the rain.
The little bananas were the size of the little finger of your hand
Which makes the flower quite enormous in comparison.

Khao Sok is part of the oldest rainforest in the world where snakes monkeys tigers bears boars deer gaurs tapirs reside besides the smaller animals.180 species of birds as well as worlds largest flower Rafflesia kerrii. It’s flowers can reach 80cm in diameter Finding our tree house accommodation for the night was not the easiest of tasks. We drove trough potholes and strange little roads and finally got to the end of the road where a wild and raging river met with maybe 600 meters rock.



This one is for Domenique!



This is one of the 180 species of birds.
No idea which one. He just arrived as we were having breakfast
and had his very swiftly sucking the nectar from the flowers. 

What a sight and amongst this a tree house. It looked fantastic and it was. Romantic too. The bathroom was pretty much outdoors with cold water and a military army of mosquitoes just waiting. The bed was hard as a rock and everything in the room was rather damp. Basic was another word and all would have been perfect if it wasn’t for the rain. There are so many things to see here but the heavy rain was not the time to trek the jungle. We would have loved to venture into the jungle at night which we will have to do another time. It promises to be a rather a different and unexpected experience.

The tree house accommodation.
This was the bridal suite...we would have to say"Good luck with the marriage"
Ha Ha...

And it continued to rain...on and on and on.....

As soon as the sky turned darker in the evening the sounds started to build up and the night life in the jungle started. It was so incredibly loud that it was almost impossible to sleep. Magical of sorts! We have never been in a jungle so alive.

The rain stopped for maybe 2-3 hours in 3 days and we took this time to drive to stunning Chiaw Lan Lake that was created by an enormous shale clay dam called Ratchaprapha

On the way to the lake - a typical Thai life scene
 with kids returning from schools - any which way!

We have seen some working elephants on the way and not the wild one



And there he was joyful totally
 covered with mud and
" Happy as a Larry".
We almost missed him.
He blended in so well.
We stopped the car
 and parked it on
the other side of the road
...we did not get out of the car
He surprised us
by actually being there!!!
WILD!!!!!