Rain, Rain & Killer Monkeys

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An early morning flight got us into Surat Thani where we had arranged a private transfer to Khao Sok National Park. Because we had a week in Thailand only I didn't want to waste precious time on the local buses, knowing from experience how long those journey's can take... I had arranged a 3 day tour of Khao Sok National Park with Kris at Limestone Lake Tours - my 3rd trip with her. Like I said in the previous blog, this is the one place that I had dreamt of taking the love of my life... and so it was bittersweet to be going with Ben considering that we were no longer together....



It was kind of fitting then to walk out of the airport and see the ominous black clouds.. A sign of things to come perhaps?! :-P We jumped in our luxurious massive van for two, put our feet up and settled into the hour long ride. When we arrived at Chieow Laan Lake the weather was really disappointing for us, as the water didnt look as bright blue or crystal as it normally would... We were advised it would be a good idea for raincoats so we went to the little local mini-mart and bought some $1 raincoats along with a stack of snacks.



By the time we boarded the long tail boat it was starting to rain and unfortunately there is no cover on the boat... Our backpacks were tied up into black garbage bags and we put on our raincoats.. and set off on what was the longest WORST trip of my whole backpacking career! The rain belted down on us and our stuff and the rain was so hard that it was like needles on my face. Our bags were in the garbage bags at the front of the longtail and I was paranoid they were going to bounce off into the water... it was so rough.. and cold... and stinging! I knew we had at least an hour of this so tried to stay positive but I was SO glad to see the rafthouses.



We went to the same rafthouses I have been to on previous trips but they had built some new houses (like proper houses)... they were cute but for me it felt like it had lost its authenticity. I prefer the old school, mattress on the floor, straw huts of trips gone by... We had lunch as soon as we arrived, and the food was okay. I have raved about the food here on previous trips, but felt that it had slipped a little this trip... We settled into our cabin for the afternoon and because of the crap weather, pretty much sat in our room. We got bored after an hour so I ran over to the restaurant area and grabbed a bucket of beers to try pass the time. I was a little disappointed with the service from our guide... He hadn't bothered to come check on us since lunch, and it would have been nice for him to check in and see if we needed anything (rather than me running over in the rain to do that myself).. We were meant to head out for a canoe tour that afternoon but the weather was just too bad.



While lazing around in the cabin, I realised that there was a really strong smell of mould.. upon inspection, I saw that all our pillows were FULL of mould.. not just a little, but FULL. We got a staff member over and tried to explain to him... he took the pillows away and bought us more .. but unfortunately the same problem... I ended up sleeping on my sarong as there was no way I was breathing that in all night!



Late afternoon our guide came over to tell us that dinner was ready whenever we were ready. We took that as a sign to come over when we were ready, not realising he meant dinner was on the table waiting.. We wandered over about half an hour later to see our dinner sitting cold on the table for us. Again disappointing, and obviously a breakdown in communication, and kind of fitting considering I was here with my EX! lol After dinner we went back to our cabin and had an early night, reading and chilling out. At one point in the middle of the night i just HAD to go to the toilet so i made Ben get out of bed and come with me as it was super dark outside and we only had a small torch!



The next morning the weather was a little better so we headed off to do some wildlife spotting. I have never had any luck on previous trips at seeing anything so didnt hold out much hope and was delighted when we spotted gibbons, a huge monitor lizard and some more wild monkeys... We then headed back to the rafthouses for breakfast. Again I was disappointed by my breakfast... I always have had the pancakes here and they have been awesome but this time it was as thick as a cake .. and really dry... oh and surprise surprise... cold... Breakfast had obviously been precooked and waiting for us...



After breakfast we headed off on a trek.. it was pretty awesome but I have to admit I was stressed the WHOLE time about getting leeches on me! It was really wet and muddy so I am surprised we made it out without any incidences but managed to not get too wet thanks to a great jungle canopy and our trusty $1 raincoats! Our shoes were soooo muddy by the end and I ended up throwing mine away.



After a somewhat disappointing stay at the rafthouses, we headed off for Arks Riverview Lodge for night two. The weather was still crap and the boat ride back to land long and cold, but we were managing to have a good time anyway. We have always got on like a house on fire so the trip was no different... just made things harder when I got home!



At Arts we had lunch (which was just as good as it always is PHEW) and then we went to chill in our little gorgeous Treehouse. If you ever go there, ask for one of the waterfall shower rooms on the river.. they are so great. The weather was too poo to do anything, I think we had canoeing planned for the afternoon but the river was huge and swollen and something noone should be in ... it can be quite dangerous when its had alot of rain with flash flooding etc... While sitting on our balcony we were so surprised to see tourists tubing down the river.. CRAZY. So dangerous but so typical of the Thai Safety standards of some tour companies (a good reason to do your research and invest money in good tour operators like Limestone Lake Tours). We spoke to Kris on the phone and she advised us it was too dangerous to do any river activities and even offered us a refund or an extra hour massage instead of the canoe tour.



We were chilling out on our balcony with our books and beers and chips having a good old time when Ben alerted me to the fact there was a monkey on our roof directly above my head... Well we all know what I think about wild monkeys... I jumped up and ran inside the treehouse yelling at Ben to get inside.. as he started to walk inside, about 3 more all appeared on the balcony... We hid inside peeking out the door. The next minute one ran over and grabbed our chip packet that I had accidentally left next to the chairs..



The monkeys all then started fighting over the god damn chips and we were stuck inside helpless. Ben was freaking out and later blamed me saying he was only freaking out cause I was freaking out... and the problem we had was, that now they knew we had food, they werent going anywhere! LOL... they were all over our balcony and roof.. I was terrified they were going to get in somehow!



I ended up ringing Kris as we were stuck in our room and asked her to get someone from reception to come save us LOL... a few minutes later as we attempted to make a run for it, a staff member came to save us, laughing the whole way.. We went to the restaurant to have a few cocktails and calm down... Not long after, we headed for our two hour massages! One hour was probably long enough but it was very relaxing laying there listening to the river outside... Massage done, we headed back to the restaurant and had another outstanding meal. Art's hadn't let me down. It was also really sweet to see a guy behind the bar that I recognised. He was the tour guide for me and Trent back in 2006 - the same one that had fallen in the river when my fat ass got us wedged on a rock! lol



An early night was in store after our dinner as we had an early start the next morning heading off to Phuket .... Despite the issues I had with our time at the Lake, I would like to say that I still HIGHLY recommend Limestone Lake Tours. I have used them a couple of times previously and recommended them to many and never had any complaints. I think that I just got an off day there and in all fairness to Kris, I still havent managed to email her about those issues... they were disappointing but not enough to ruin my views on Khao Sok or Limestone Lake Tours! If you are ever in that area, please contact Kris for a tour..

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Comments

[Kim]

Nice to see you back Reety! Have missed your blog entries x