We signed off for an adventure in the evergreen jungle of the Khao Sok national park. We met our tour guide, Arm, just after breakfast. The guy was genuinely nice and well knowledge about the nature reserve. We jumped on a tuk-tuk to reach the park entrance. We were excited to explore one of the oldest rainforests on earth.
The guide could track animals we would have never seen without him. Even when he pointed at them, we were still struggling to see them. But his eagle eyes he could see everything. Amazing. With his father and brother being park rangers, Arm followed their steps as a tour guide in the Khao Sok National Park.
We walked in silence in the jungle and would stop from time to time to listen and admire the biodiversity of the park. We still caught sight of a troop of monkeys. We encountered less commonly seen reptiles like flying lizards and some venomous snake. We were also lucky to cross path with a tarantula as they usually move at night, staying in their hole during the daytime.
We heard gibbons howling in a distance. The slender and long-armed apes were hard to see as they mainly stay at the tree canopy swinging from branch to branch in search of fruits. Our guide only saw around 20 gibbons during his whole life exploring the Khao Sok National Park.
Surrounded by the cacophony of sounds from the native wildlife, we walked, climbed rocks, crossed streams until we rest for lunch. The hike wasn’t very tough but still challenging. Starving, we ate our Thai fried rice wrapped in the traditional banana leaf.
We hiked along the trail. The guide explained curious details about bamboo, orchids or lianas growing in the park. As we reached a remote waterfall, we stripped down to our swimsuit to indulge ourselves with a refreshing dip. Surprisingly the water as not so cold and we enjoyed swimming against the river stream.
Our guide was still struggling with leeches. Apparently, the DEET repellent kept them away from our legs and arms. As our guide used to say the bloodsuckers preferred spicy (Thai) food! Luckily, unlike the leeches in northern Thailand, those leeches were small and easy to grab off.
After the waterfall, we were in the home stretch. Dark was coming faster in the jungle and we were keen to head back to our nice hotel. We took a hot shower, scrubbed ourselves clean, and collapsed on our bed.
Our Takeaway
Hiring a guide is the best way to get off the beaten trail and to learn and admire the biodiversity of the Khao Sok national park. We would not have spotted most of the animals without our guide. We highly recommend to trek with Arm. The guy was a genuine and well-knowledge person. We loved him!