Hey everyone, today we're taking you on a trip to Cheow Lan Dam!


Before the final exam, a friend suddenly said, "Hey, the plane tickets are on sale!" Immediately, everyone said in unison, "Book it!" We chose to travel to Surat Thani Province, and the place we wanted to go was Khao Sok National Park, also known as Cheow Lan Dam. We chose to travel on July 26, 2016, and we booked our accommodation. This time, we will stay at Nang Prai Floating Resort for 3 days and 2 nights.

Day 1

On July 26, 2016, at Don Mueang International Airport, flight number Blahblahblah 55555 is ready to depart for Surat Thani province by AirAsia. The flight takes only 45 minutes, and we have arrived at Surat Thani Airport.

From the airport, there are vans available to take you to the dam for 200 baht per person. The van ride takes approximately one hour. We have already arranged for a boat, so upon arrival, please follow the park's regulations. This includes paying the entrance fee of 40 baht per person and waiting for the boat to pick you up.

Our boat driver, Mr. Yam, will provide commentary on the history of the area during the journey. He will identify the surrounding mountains and allow us to take pictures.

Our accommodation is Nangphai Floating House, the first floating house in the park, and most importantly, the cheapest! 55555

Upon arrival, we contacted the staff to pay for accommodation and meals, which amounted to 800 baht per person per night. We arrived just in time for lunch, and the food provided by the resort was excellent and plentiful. Some dishes could even be refilled upon request. The highlights were the garlic-fried snakehead fish, sourced from local fisheries, which was incredibly delicious, and the yellow curry, which was absolutely outstanding.

Our room is located at the very end of the floating house. The atmosphere is excellent, even though there are no fans or electrical outlets. Just sitting and looking at nature is enough for me. (Hehe, there's no phone signal, lol) This is our accommodation.

The accommodation area is home to a large number of tinfoil barbs. We can feed them, but it is not recommended. Keep the bread for when you are hungry. 55555 And this is the atmosphere around our accommodation.


After settling into our accommodation, we decided to cool off by taking a dip in the crystal-clear water. The water was so inviting that it was impossible to resist. However, for those who are not strong swimmers, it is advisable to wear a life jacket as the water is 150 meters deep and can be quite dangerous. With a quick countdown, we plunged into the refreshing water, feeling instantly rejuvenated. Unfortunately, our plans to watch the sunset with our friend Hiyam in the evening were thwarted by a sudden downpour. Nevertheless, we still have two more mornings to catch the sunrise, so we're determined to make the most of our time here.



Day 2

After breakfast with Ovaltine, we went to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately, the sky was cloudy. However, we were lucky enough to see about 6-7 hornbills and a gibbon. Even though we didn't see the sunrise, it was still a good experience. P.S. I couldn't take pictures because my iPhone 5 camera is too bad. So, I'm just sharing some pictures of the morning atmosphere.

The highlight of this place, if you haven't been here, it means you haven't been to Khao Sam Kaelon.


We then returned to the floating hut for breakfast as usual. I didn't take many pictures of the food because we were so hungry that we just dug in.

After lunch, we asked the staff and our boat driver, Phi Yam, about other places to visit. There were two options: 1. Hike and see the coral cave. 2. Visit the waterfall and look for animals. Since we were already there, we decided to do both programs. In the morning, we would hike and see the coral cave, then return to the raft for lunch. In the afternoon, we would visit the waterfall and look for animals. Let's go! After a 15-minute boat ride, we arrived.

We have arrived at the 500-acre sea! We need to take a boat from here to the coral cave. A staff member from here will take us there.

On the way back, we were incredibly lucky to encounter five southern gibbons up close, almost to the point where they were going to defecate on our heads. I apologize that I wasn't able to capture the other gibbons on camera in time. The photos may not be the best quality, haha. We returned to the same floating restaurant for lunch. As we were leaving the forest, we wondered where our guide, Mr. Yam, had disappeared to. To our surprise, he emerged from the forest carrying a sack full of bamboo shoots for our dinner that evening. What a treat! After lunch, we continued our journey to a waterfall, the name of which Mr. Yam did not disclose. He led us on a tour of various floating restaurants, including the 500-rai restaurant. The trek to the waterfall was a bit challenging due to the slippery path caused by the previous night's rain. We had to be very careful. We then rested at the Klong Saeng floating restaurant (Klong Hia unit) while waiting to go on a boat trip to see wildlife. Mr. Yam informed us that the most commonly sighted animal is the banteng, but the number we see will depend on our luck. Note: We inquired with park officials, who informed us that only Mr. Yam and his brother are qualified to take visitors on wildlife boat trips due to their extensive knowledge of the area. Around 4 pm, we slowly embarked on our boat trip. We had to keep a sharp eye out because even though the banteng are large, they can smell us and flee if we get too close. Throughout the journey, we spotted around 12 banteng, but only from a distance. Our cameras couldn't zoom in enough to capture them clearly, not even our DSLR. We'll just have to cherish the memory. Upon returning to our accommodation, we enjoyed dinner and relaxed.



Day 3

The party had to come to an end, and we had to say goodbye. The morning atmosphere was fantastic, with fog and rain. We had to wait for the rain to stop before we could travel back. After a 15-minute boat ride, we reached our destination, the pier at the dam's crest. After saying goodbye to our boat driver, Phi Yam, he suggested we take pictures at the dam's crest. We took some pictures for you, but the rain wouldn't stop, so we could only take a few. Before returning, we stopped to take a picture of the heart-shaped mountain, which is located near the dam and is easy to find. Here it is!

This concludes our first trip. See you in our second trip to Krabi and Phang Nga.

#firsttriptotheuksouth

All photos were taken with my trusty iPhone 5. I don't have the money to buy a camera, so I used the VSCO app to edit them. If there are any errors, I apologize.

Instagram: zongpa

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