Hello there Steemities!

How you’ve been doing? I hope that anywhere you are right now, the sun and beautiful weather is spoiling you. At least this is how it is in Warsaw right now :) I don’t know about you, but I am LOVIN’ IT! x))))

In terms of the sun and beautiful weather - in my last (actually first as well :P) post I invited you to Thailand. So here it comes!! Or rather, here we go :D

I was really excited when I was booking tickets last year to finally visit the cradle of Thai boxing - the sport that I have been practising for over three years now. The excitement was even bigger when I started planning the trip. Two whole weeks in paradise - yes, please!
While gathering the information about places to visit, things to do I got stressed - I realized that these two „whole” weeks are definitely not enough to visit all of the points that I wanted to explore. Still, my plan was quite ambitious:

Warsaw->Chiang Mai->Surat Thani->Khao Sok->Ko Phangan->Ko Tao-> Ko Phangan->Surat Thani->Chaing Mai->Pai->Chaing Mai->Warsaw

Wow, even now, when I am writing this I am thinking how the heck did I make it in only two weeks? Crazy time :) I ENJOY that kind of traveling the most.

On the road

Once I got off the plane in Chiang Mai I had few hours before my next flight straight to Surat Thani. When I finally left the airport I was soooooo dizzy after all of these flights (3 in a row) that I didn’t even know what my name is anymore ;) Anyways, just in front of the airport there was a bus directly to Khao Sok, my first stop in humid and sunny Thailand. Even though I felt like zombie (and most probably looked like one ;) I couldn’t go to sleep in the bus due to the beautiful views on the road. I was really grateful that I went straight in the bosom of nature.

Khao Sok

A small village with the National Park (also called Khao Sok) in Southern Thailand is known for the oldest evergreen rainforest in the world, huge limestone mountains, valleys, numerous caves, lake and of course the amazing flora & fauna. For me it was more about Cheow Lan Lake. Why? Because it is an artificial lake. It was not created and made by the nature. That intrigued me a lot. I mean, seriously an artificial lake? How did it even happen? And how come it is possible that it really exists. The curiosity was so strong that I couldn’t resist it and I needed to go there.

Cheow Lan Lake…

is absolutely HUUUUUUUGE - 185-square-kilometre, inaugurated in 1987 with the construction of Rajjaprapha Dam (which means „light of the kingdom”). It was named from the king on his 60th birthday - nice birthday gift, isn’t it? ;) In fact, the lake was created as project for power generation, flood control, irrigation and fishery. What I learnt also is the fact that it took one year (!) to flood this whole area. Even now you can see the treetops above the water level. They are the proof that in the past there was no lake here. The sad detail is that some Thai families had to be resettled, also it impacted the nature.

Sweeeeeeeet trip ;)

Anyways, I decided to stay in Khao Sok village for 2 nights. I wanted to go for a one-day trip to Nam Ta Loo Cave. This is a MUST for people loving adventures and for these who are not afraid of spiders and/or bats ;) Challenge accepted? Of course that accepted =) Although I am not a huge fan of these useful creatures, I told myself that I only live once and need to try this :D

The trip itself started from my hostel, where a minivan picked up the participants and me as well :) Then we went to a boat on the Cheow Lan Lake - beautiful views, just see the pictures :) Personally, it reminded me of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, which I absolutely adore! Anyways, it was quite noisy on the boat and as it was flowing really quickly, all of the passengers were absolutely soaked in 3 minutes. But the sights were definitely worth getting a little bit wet :P

Before going to the cave, we had lunch and with full tummies we started about 45-minute trekking to the cave. Walking through the jungle was amazing! The guide told us interesting details about the animals living there and about the plants as well. After the aforementioned trekking, we finally got to the cave. At first glance it didn’t look scary. Just a small whole in some rocks, right? A 700 meters walk with bats, huge spiders, easy peasy! Sometimes you also needed to walk in the water which was even up to your neck. Now this is what I call a sweet adventure :D It was soooooo much fun that when we finally got out of the cave, I wanted to do it once again :)

If you are wondering if you can do it, sure you can – if I could do it, then definitely it won’t be any issue for you :)

When we got back from the trip me and my friends were lucky to take part in the local Eco festival. It was a perfect final of this eventful day: listening to local bands, seeing Thai people having fun, eating and drinking Thai stuff. Just P-E-R-F-E-C-T.

In Poland we say that everything what is good ends quickly. Also for me, the first stop in Thailand passed in the blink of an eye. The next day I needed to grab my backpack and let the journey continue - direction Ko Phangan :)

What about you dear Steemities? Have you ever been to Thailand? Perhaps you visited this area as well? Or you had any other crazy adventures while traveling? Share your opinions/stories/etc. in the comments. I am looking forward to it!

The next stop will be Ko Phangan and Ko Tao, two beautiful islands in the Gulf of Thailand. One is known for its Full Moon Party, the second is a true paradise for diving maniacs (confirmed also by me ;))

Stay tuned :)

Lynxia

P.S. Below you will find the approximate costs of the transportation, hostels, etc.:

• ticket from Surat Thani airport to Khao Sok village - 300 THB at the airport (you can also book it online, which would be a little bit cheaper).
• hostels - approx. 150 THB per night.
• one-day trip to Nam Ta Loo Cave - 1500 THB (all transfers included - both bus and boat, guide, insurance, drink water, lunch, some snacks on the road). Don’t worry about the shoes or waterproof bags or even headlamp - they are all provided :) Bear in mind that you need also to pay the entrance fee to the National Park - extra 300 THB (not included in the trip price).