Khao Sok New Years Hiking Extravaganza!

Written while I was at the park:

Dec. 31, 2011

Today I hiked out to Sip-et Chan Waterfall! It was an adventure to say the least. The trail out to Sip-et is 4km…according to the pamphlets and what not but it seemed A LOT longer than that. I left my guest house at about 10am and got back at about 5pm :S I decided to start my trip with an ‘easy’ trail since my book led me to believe that it was easy-ish and not as long as the hike out to Ton Kloi (tomorrow’s adventure).

At the start of my trip the gate keeper tried to charge me 100baht instead of the Thai price of 40 baht…but I got her down to the correct price after a minute. Then I started on the trail which according to the book Waterfalls & Gibbon Calls by Thom Henley:

begins at a series of stone steps which climb a hill […] The first part of this trail system has recently become an ‘interpretive trail’ […] Wide as a city sidewalk the elevated walkway is designed for heavy visitor use, i.e., the tour bus crowd, who prefer their jungle treks in high heels.

He went on to explain that the trail was paved, which me to believe that the beginning of the trail was going to be super easy. While it was easy it certainly was not a trail anyone wearing high heels would be interested in doing. While parts of the beginning were paved it was mostly just stairs and 2 or 3 sort walkways…all of which were separated by sections of unpaved jungle.

On the way out to Sip-et there was a sign for San Yang Roi viewpoint. The sign was pointing to a rickety looking bridge that was falling down on the side I was on. There was also a big NO sign. So, I decided to ford the river and climbed up onto the walkway on the other side…now there was a sign that said ‘entry beyond this point is prohibited’, but I decided to ignore it and try the trail. I was met with a giant staircase to climb up and then another one going down. I was clearly not the only person who had ignored the signs because there was a trail through the leaves that were covering the walkway. The trail started to get a little scary on the second half (the part going down). Many of the railings on the second part had fallen down and so had a number of stairs. There was one section of stairs that had been replaced by a set of wooden stairs. I carried on and came to the viewpoint which was honestly uninspiring and not worth the effort to get there. There was also one very sad waterfall nearby which was just a wall with a trickle going down it. After a few minutes I turned back and braved the fallen stairs again.

Note that there is a trail through the leaves!

After my adventure in ignoring signs I carried on towards Sip-et Chan. The trail got incredibly narrow and clung to the edge of a drop off for the first part. The second part of the trip was much flatter but included 6 river crossings At the first crossings I ran into a very nice Finnish couple (Minya and her husband, I forgot his name). We decided to travel together the rest of the way…in hopes of not getting hopelessly lost. We lost the trail a few times because the trail is poorly marked. We were on a constant look out for the stupid arrows, beware of wild elephants, slippery rout signs, or karens (stupid little rock piles which had a habit of blending in with all the other river rocks).

We eventually made it to the waterfall which was very pretty and peaceful. While we were there only one other group came to the waterfall, I had passed at least 3 groups on my way to the first river crossing who apparently turned back. We swam for a little bit and then ate some fruit before we decided we should head back, we didn’t want it to get dark on us. Minya’s husband was very nice and gave us both piggy back rides across the river so we wouldn’t have to take off our shoes or soak them. I think he was getting sick of waiting for us to put our shoes back on.

The hike was a blast even though it was exhausting and I wound up with 4 damn leech bites!

Jan. 01, 2012

Happy New Year/End of the world! I made it out to Ton Kloi/Gloy Waterfall today! It was a 14km (round trip) excursion that took about 7 hours. I woke up at 7:30 and was on the trails by 9am for my adventure. The first 3.5km was the super easy trail/road that is open all year and only took an hour to get through. After I got to the rest house and crossed the stream the trail changed drastically! The trail became twisty, narrow, at times slightly difficult to find, and right on the edge of a drop off. I can see why this trail is usually closed.

On the way I ran into a couple from the Neatherlands who had a guide and they let me join their group, at a tree with some awesome roots.

On the way down the trail there was one section where we went down a very steep hill only to immediately have to climb up an almost vertical wall. When we were almost to the waterfall the guide decided to take us a different way to the waterfall, because the trail was easier. His easier trail involved ‘skipping’ over a bunch of rocks and boulders to cross the river. We did have the help of a bamboo stick to use as a walking stick but even then it was nerve wracking…especially since I did slip and took and minor dip into the river. Luckily my camera was alright (only the bottom of my backpack was wet), which was the only think I was really worried about.

After we got the rest of the way across the river we blazed a trail through the jungle. I clearly watch too many bad horror films cause the route/atmosphere across the river definitely reminded me of a bad slasher film. I was just waiting for the guide to whip out a machete or for some horrific elephant monster to attack. Honestly a few times I thought our guide was lost since there was no real trail to follow and he seemed a little dopey.

Once we got the waterfall we had to hop across MORE rocks! We went about half way across the river, where there was a large rock to sit on and eat lunch. It was too cold to go swim so after eating and relaxing the guide decided to take us to the rest of the way across the river so we could follow the real trail back (since I have butter feet!). The first part of the trail back involved climbing up a nearly vertical wall…I can see why we originally went the other way.

On the way back I split off to try to go see the other waterfall down that trail, but I failed miserably. I followed the sign towards Than Sawan Waterfall and arrived at the river/ a campfire circle. Once I was down there I looked around and found about 4 new trails to follow and no new signs. I went up all the trails only to have them suddenly dead end. I decided that I was clearly not ment to find the waterfall so I went back.

My legs are absolutely killing me now…but I want to go see the rot flower tomorrow. The guide said there was one that bloomed yesterday and they only live for like 4 days!

Jan. 2, 2012

Success! I have officially been to all 3 locations on my bucket list in Khao Sok! I went out to see the Rafflasia/rot flower today! I hired one of the park rangers (for 600 baht) to take me out there. Apparently if I had been able to find a group to go with it would have been 500 for all of us but there was no one else in the visitor’s center.

To get to the flower it was a 3.5 km hike up the side of the mountain...yuck. But, that ment that to go back we got to go down the whole time! It was mostly difficult because my legs were already tired and the trail was slick from the rain last night. I did trip AGAIN, but it wasn’t my fault! To get over to see the flower you had to walk across a small area that had no vegetation and my foot slipped in the mud.

The beginning of the trail up to the flower!

The view before we started the trek

The flower was really cool. I was expecting it to smell but I didn’t smell anything (could have been from the rain). You could see that the flower was already starting to die, since the edges of the petals were turning brown. I would say that the flower was about 2.5 feet across maybe a little bit bigger. It was totally worth the climb up!

In total I hiked about 29km in three days...or about 18 miles. I am exhausted! If I have time before I leave I might attempt another trek to try and find that last elusive waterfall...I'll just hire a guide first.

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