The 7th was a rainy day; though this was of less importance, as I was sitting at the back of a minibus moving on to the deep South of Thailand – into Trang province, destination being a small dock to catch a boat to the island of Ko Sukorn – our home for the next days.
From the dock it was a 45 minute boat trip over to the island, with its black sand beach and resort.
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We got back to Ao Nang in the morning after the homestay and were directly transferred to the docks to get on our speedboat (probably the slowest speedboat in Ao Nang) for an island cruise. Our first stop at was … Continue reading
This evening we took a tuktuk out to the countryside to get to a small village for a homestay. After our Arrival we moved into our rooms and then got a guided tour of the community. At first our host introduced us to what is the main incomes of the village – rubber tapping.
When we got back from the tour, we moved on to what probably has been the best dinner of the whole trip. Dinner consisted of various dishes, mainly seafood and chicken stir-fries. After dinner we got some of the ingredients required for one of the breakfast dishes – thus leaving us to prepare part of our next day breakfast.
Another bustrip brought us from Kao Sok to the coast in Krabi province.
After moving our luggage to our rooms, we got a transfer straight to the beach town of Ao Nang – below some impressions from Ao Nang Beach.
After a short transfer we got to Art’s Riverview Lodge near Kao Sok Nationalpark.
I ended up using the rest of Dec-3 to get organized (laundry, internet etc.) and then Dec-4 to enjoy nature floating down a river on an inner tube – so two more relaxing and laid back days.
After two days on the lake in our comfy raft houses it was time to say goodbye and get back to the mainland.
The second day on the Rafthouses included a number of activities.
Already before breakfast we left for a morning boat tour to see and hear nature waking up. Later in the morning we boarded the boats again to get to the starting point for a jungle hike. After a short hike we arrived in a small village, where we changed to a bamboo raft to cross a little part of the lake to get to and later into a cave.
The afternoon then was spent at leisure – so simply relaxing – or for the more active by swimming, kayaking or reading.
We left Bangkok this Sunday evening by night train, making it into Surat Thani in the early morning. After breakfast we were transferred to the banks of Chiaw Lan Lake.
Here we transferred to boats for the the one hour trip to our home for the next few days – the Pleanprai Rafthouses. On the way we already could get a feel of the setup around the lake with limestone carsts.
The days on the rafthouses themselves were quiet relaxing with little activities. We enjoyed the included food, some boat trips to get closer to the wild and options for swimming and kayaking.
It was now back to Bangkok – which by now somehow feels like coming home 🙂
After breakfast in the Imtrav hotel I got repacked to finally meet up with some of the others to catch a taxi over to Khao San Road. From there I made it by foot to the good, old Viengtai hotel. Here I met parts of my new group in the evening. On Sunday morning we met up for a Khlong (canal) tour, followed by a visit of the Grand Palace.
Our last day in Laos.
Due to the closure of the Bangkok airports we had to leave early and prepare for a 14 hours bus drive. We did the first stop of the day – and the last in Laos – at the market in Pakse.
