“Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games
We got everything you want, honey, we know the names
We are the people that can find whatever you may need
If you got the money, honey, we got your disease ”
– Guns and roses”

We certainly didn’t want to catch any diseases, so we bought malaria prophylaxis at a pharmacy in Bangkok before heading into the jungle. On the other hand, the food was sweet as honey, and they were very good at charging us 😉 But let’s start from the beginning. And we’re sorry it’s been so long since the last post; we blame the bad internet!

September 5-12: The journey from Koh Samui began with a short taxi ride, followed by a slightly longer boat trip, and finally, an even longer bus ride. The trip went quite smoothly, despite having to switch buses when the first one broke down just a kilometer or so into the journey. Our final destination was Khao Sok—or more precisely, the jungle just outside Khao Sok.

Upon arriving at our accommodation—located about a 40-minute walk or a 6-minute drive from Khao Sok—we were pleasantly surprised by how fresh and well-kept everything looked. The base of a silvery cliff, situated just 10–20 meters from the restaurant, rose majestically above our camp. The staff were welcoming and started by treating us to a bright blue, sweet drink (apparently made from a flower), while repeatedly assuring us that there was ”no alcohol” in the versions served to the children.

Throughout the trip, we have questioned our decision to book this place for seven nights—stuck in the jungle with nothing to do, right in the middle of the rainy season. It was quite a distance to the nearest town, and the excursions offered by the lodge seemed overpriced for what they included (plus, it wasn’t exactly the right season for a full-day jungle hike when the forecast predicted torrential rain). However, we decided right from the start to make the best of it; we did a bit more schoolwork than usual and focused on spending quality time together. We also took the opportunity to dedicate plenty of time to researching and planning the next leg of our itinerary and our future accommodations.

We are all impressed by the nature surrounding our accommodation. It is SO green! All kinds of plants are growing everywhere. Our place is situated by a small river, and the combination of the river and the massive cliff face creates a stunning view.

We are incredibly lucky with the weather throughout our stay. Whenever we check the forecast, it predicts torrential rain from morning till night every day, yet for the first three days, it barely rains at all. It does rain on the other days, but we somehow manage to time our outings during the dry spells. Since the accommodation is so secluded, we mostly hang out there, though we do visit a couple of restaurants a 10–15 minute walk away. We also find a temple situated in a small cave. Outside the cave is home for many monkeys—but that calls for a separate post (coming soon) 🙊

The nearest town is Khao Sok, where we arrived by bus on our first day. We try booking a ride via Grab to get there; we get a few responses, but after a while, the drivers decline for some reason. We try Bolt instead. It’s the same story: drivers accept the ride but then cancel it. Finally, a Bolt driver messages us explaining that there is some sort of agreement—either involving our accommodation or the local taxi drivers (we aren’t quite sure which)—that prevents Bolt and Grab from operating there. This means that instead of paying the 57฿ the trip would normally cost, we have to pay 250฿ one-way for the accommodation’s own taxi service. This is, of course, outrageous! Even the staff whisper to us that we should haggle the price down to at least 200฿. We manage to get the price down to 200฿, but we still feel dissatisfied with how things work here. Something like this really spoils the experience and creates unnecessary frustration. What’s even more annoying is that the taxi we’re taking is a pickup truck with a roof and benches—but no seatbelts—whereas when we’ve used Grab or Bolt, it’s been a regular car with comfortable seats, seatbelts, and AC. But we shake off the negative feeling and head out.

Khao Sok is a cozy little community; it takes about 20 minutes to walk through it. There are small restaurants serving various dishes and little shops selling the usual tourist clothes featuring elephant prints. There are also plenty of tour vendors calling out to us, eager to take us on various adventures in the national park. You can tell we’re at the end of the road—the last outpost before the jungle takes over—and that it’s low season for all the guides. We enjoy the day, eat well, and simply ”be.” We try out some homemade mango-ice cream that´s really yummy!

The internet connection at our accommodation is extremely poor. The only place with a reasonably reliable connection is the restaurant, so that’s where most of the schoolwork gets done. This doesn’t seem to bother the staff, as it’s low season and there aren’t many other guests around. According to the booking details, there wasn’t supposed to be internet in the rooms, but our little cabin is quite close to the restaurant, so we do get a signal there—though it’s pretty weak and slow.

There’s also a gym on the premises, much to Johannes’s delight. It’s a mix of DIY construction and scrap metal that they’ve actually managed to turn into something really good. The weights are made of wood attached to metal pipes of varying lengths. Johannes spends one to two hours there every evening.

The jungle is a hot and humid place, especially inside our cabin. The cabin rests on a concrete slab poured directly onto the ground without drainage, with masonry cement blocks extending approximately 1–1.5 meters up before transitioning to fiber-cement panels up to the iron roof trusses. The design causes the concrete to act like a sponge, drawing ground moisture from the outside into the cabin. This results in constant 100% humidity indoors, and any fabric touching the floor or walls goes moldy within a day. For instance, we tried drying a pair of swim trunks with a fan inside, but a full day later, they were barely any drier😂. Another ”fun” thing about our accommodation is that the bathroom is semi-outdoors… So, when you need to use the toilet at night, you have to watch out for various creepy-crawlies and lizards.

The week in the jungle doesn’t turn out to be as tedious as we feared; in fact, it goes by quite quickly. We all feel it will be nice to move on—especially to get accommodation with AC so we can finally dry off! We are now heading further north, specifically to Chiang Mai. We’ve booked a night at a cheap hotel near the airport in Surat Thani because our flight leaves quite early in the morning, and we don’t fully trust that the transport from our current accommodation will arrive on time. In Chiang Mai, we’ve booked the same place for three and a half weeks, which will allow us to explore the city thoroughly while also giving us time to settle in and enjoy some peace and quiet.

But before we move on, we promised to show you the monkeys, so keep an eye out for the next post! 😊

//Sabdreasworld