The Rainbow Mist Waterfall, a name that many may not be familiar with or have never heard of. This waterfall is located in the protected forest area of the Klong Naka Wildlife Sanctuary in Ranong Province. The waterfall was officially opened to tourists in February 2016, so not many tourists have visited yet. The best time to visit is during the rainy season, from August to October. I contacted the "Klong Naka Wildlife Sanctuary Unit" to request permission and contacted the officers for a guide, a pickup truck, and food.

Our weekend trip required us to sleep on a friend's car to save time, losing two nights of sleep. We, a group of five, took a 999 bus from Bangkok to Kaper, departing from the Southern Bus Terminal and arriving at the Kaper Market. Upon arrival, a district official was waiting with a pickup truck. We loaded our luggage onto the truck and walked to the market for breakfast, where the official kindly watched our belongings.



This market has only one restaurant with seating, a curry shop next to 7-Eleven. We ate with 5 people, 5 dishes (large bowls), and the total price was 300 baht. There were even leftovers (the portions were really big).

After finishing breakfast, we set out to find the most important item for our jungle trek: shoes. We also packed a lunch for each of us. During our phone call with the park ranger, he told us to wear sandals and that we could buy hiking shoes at the market for only 60-70 baht a pair. He also emphasized the importance of shoes with rubber grips.


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The staff provided us with refreshments and assisted us in settling into our accommodations. Officer Lek greeted us upon arrival and explained the preparation process. His wife welcomed us with water, snacks, and fruit. The staff was incredibly attentive and helpful.

The day we were scheduled to climb, there were two other tourist groups also planning to ascend. This required a significant number of park rangers to be on standby, as our group of five required three rangers to accompany and supervise us. (Upon hearing this, we were initially surprised, wondering if we were here for a leisure trip or a life-threatening adventure.)


All unnecessary luggage was left at Brother Lek's house first because we entered the forest here without porters. There were only officials to take care of us. Therefore, all the luggage that we brought had to be carried by ourselves. Anything that was not necessary was left behind. When we were ready, it was time to go.



We took a pickup truck from P'Lek's house. It only took a short while to reach the entrance of the forest. We had to stop to take photos of ourselves looking our best before we started the hike. We wanted to compare them to photos we would take on the way out. (Haha!) The starting point of the hike was a small dam (I don't know if it's called a dam, a weir, or something else). We had seen photos of everyone who had posted about this place taking photos here, so we couldn't miss out.


Less than half an hour after entering the forest, we started wading through the water. I forgot to mention earlier that the way to Rainbow Waterfall is by following the stream. Therefore, the easiest and fastest way is to "walk in the water". However, some parts of the water are quite deep, so we have to walk along the bank. The photos I took were taken during the easy part of the walk where I could take my camera out to take pictures.


Contrary to popular belief, walking on land is not easier than in water. This rainforest presents a multitude of challenges, including narrow paths, slippery terrain, thorny trees, and other obstacles. The narrowness of the paths allows only one person to pass at a time, and any attempt to pass another person would likely result in a fall into the ravine. The slippery ground necessitates constant vigilance and the use of trees and vines for support. However, caution is paramount when choosing handholds, as many plants in this forest are thorny.


The lower half of our bodies were soaked from wading through the water, and the upper half was drenched from the rain. As everyone knows, the southern region experiences eight months of rain and four months of sunshine. However, today was not an eight-month rain; it was an eight-minute rain. On the day we entered the forest, the rain kept falling and stopping throughout the day. So, we could forget about being afraid of getting wet. However, the officials told us that this was a good thing because if it had rained heavily all day, they would not have allowed us to enter the forest for safety reasons. And if it rained heavily, we would have had to walk along the edge of the forest, which would have taken a very long time.


Some sections of the trail may require the use of assistive devices to save time and distance.


Getting out of the water can be a bit tricky.


This task requires translation from Thai to English. Here's the translated sentence:

This task was made possible by a special path that allowed us to quickly cross the rapids. Otherwise, we would have had to take a long detour around this pool.


We started walking at 9 am and arrived at the campsite around 2 pm. It wasn't too long of a walk. At first, I asked the officer where we would be staying. He said that we could actually stay anywhere we wanted, even right in front of the waterfall. However, the path to get there was difficult, especially with luggage. Usually, they let people rest before the path leading to the waterfall to unload their belongings. (Huh? This path wasn't difficult enough? Is there something even harder?)


Upon reaching the campsite, the staff set up a flysheet and arranged our belongings. The resting spot was next to a crystal-clear stream teeming with fish. The officers informed us that these were "pla pluang," and this location served as an excellent fish spa. After a tiring walk, soaking our feet in the cool water was a delightful experience.


He asked if we wanted to go to the waterfall today or tomorrow. He said that if we went today, we would see the sun behind the waterfall, but if we went tomorrow morning, the sun would be in front of the waterfall, shining on it and creating a rainbow. We would also see the mist that gives the waterfall its name. However, if we went tomorrow, we would have to hurry because it takes at least 1.5 hours to reach the waterfall. Since we had already booked our return car, we didn't want to be too pressed for time on the way back, so we decided to go up right away. We rested at the rest stop for about an hour before starting our walk to the waterfall.



The path to the waterfall is too steep for us to capture in photos. The ascent is quite challenging, and the descent is even steeper, requiring the use of ropes to carefully climb down to the waterfall.



This is the beginning of a lovely path. I was only able to capture the beginning of the walk.

The park ranger meticulously instructed us on how to navigate the steep and treacherous path, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a three-meter distance between hikers. He cautioned us to shout if we dislodged even a small stone, ensuring that those below could take cover. (What have we gotten ourselves into?) This seemingly short 100-meter stretch proved to be an arduous and time-consuming endeavor.



Upon reaching the bottom, the expressions of fatigue and exhaustion on everyone's faces instantly transformed into smiles. It was paradise, a paradise within the vast forest. The rainbow waterfall, with its shimmering spray, was breathtakingly beautiful. So beautiful that we wanted to sit and gaze at it all day. And there was no one else at the waterfall except us, giving us the feeling that "the waterfall is mine, the forest is mine".

Watch the video


Due to the limited time we had at the waterfall, we had to return to our campsite before nightfall. As darkness approached, navigating the challenging terrain would become increasingly difficult. The presence of a headlamp proved invaluable, freeing our hands to grasp branches and vines for support.



Upon returning to our accommodation, another staff member who had not accompanied us to the waterfall had already prepared a meal for us. After showering, we gathered around to eat. It was truly a relaxing experience.

This meal was truly a feast, with seven delicious dishes prepared by our chef, Jong. The spread included stir-fried fiddlehead ferns with egg, chicken with holy basil, fiddlehead fern curry, battered and fried water spinach, and shrimp paste chili dip. Each dish was incredibly flavorful, making me wonder if we were truly in the middle of the forest. It wasn't just hunger that made the food taste so good; it was genuinely delicious. I wouldn't mind taking our chef back to Bangkok with me!


Two large field kitchens were filled with cooked rice, but those who had traveled far and were tired could not eat much, no matter how delicious it was. As a result, there was a lot of leftover food and fish was distributed to everyone.



After dinner, it was time to sleep. In other places, we might have slept in tents, but here there was not enough open space to pitch a tent. And we were also staying by the water. So the safest and easiest way to sleep was in a hammock. The guides had already tied up hammocks for us. There was only one hammock with a mosquito net, and the rest were just regular hammocks. So we let our only female friend sleep in the hammock with the mosquito net. At first, she was worried about mosquitoes, but the guide told her that mosquitoes only come out in the early evening and are gone by late at night. And since we wouldn't be back at the camp until late in the evening, we wouldn't have to worry about mosquitoes when we slept. And it was true, as the guide said, there were no mosquitoes to bother us. Even though we were sleeping by the water.

Despite sleeping in a hammock, I was so exhausted that I slept soundly. However, as anyone who has slept in the forest knows, it gets very cold at night.



The next morning, Phi Rang, Phi Lek, and Phi Chong woke up early to prepare hot water and cook rice. For breakfast, they had fried eggs, meatball curry, chili paste with shrimp paste, and stir-fried shrimp with cabbage. (I still insist, are we really in the forest?) At first, I thought Phi Chong had brought the chili paste from home, but it turned out that he had just made it fresh in the forest. The tools were bamboo cylinders and branches. (O.o)

After finishing breakfast, we relaxed and enjoyed the scenery while waiting for the older students to pack up. We wanted to help, but we didn't want to be a burden, so we took photos instead.


Watch the video

Watch the video


As they were taking photos, they noticed P'Lek doing something.

The masseuse said that she saw many people walking yesterday and they were very tired, so she wanted to give them a massage before they started walking back. It's not just a regular massage, it also has a hot compress to warm them up. How comfortable it would be!


After packing our belongings and getting ready, we were prepared to walk back. Before leaving, we took a group photo with everyone in the faculty.


We walked back the same way we came. We entered and exited through the same path, as there were no shortcuts. On our way back, we stopped to play in the water at the calm bends of the stream. Finally, we reached the last resting point before exiting the forest. Here, we played in the water and had lunch. For lunch, we had instant noodles, which is a simple, convenient, and quick option. While the noodles were cooking, Brother Rung started crafting something again.


After a short wait, we received our eating utensils: chopsticks. In previous meals, we had only used spoons to eat rice, without forks. We try to carry as little as possible when we go into the forest, but it seems impossible to bring spoons to eat instant noodles.


The most enjoyable way to eat instant noodles is to share them with others in a competitive setting. The excitement of vying for the noodles while seated by a waterfall creates an unparalleled dining experience.


After finishing our meal and playing in the water, it was time to leave the forest. We walked for less than an hour and emerged from the dense undergrowth onto a wide, flat path. This path was nothing like the slippery, narrow, and treacherous trail we had been following through the forest. It made us wonder why we had even bothered to go into the forest in the first place.


And of course, before entering the forest to take pictures with the dam, we also had to take pictures as a souvenir when we came out.


After leaving the forest, we took a car ride to Brother Lek's house to shower and change clothes. If we had returned to the city directly from the forest, the tour bus wouldn't have allowed us to board. After showering and packing our belongings, we said goodbye to the officers and were driven to the bus station by another officer's pickup truck. Before dropping us off at the bus, they took us to a nearby restaurant for dinner. We ordered a ton of food, and it was delicious. This trip was definitely a culinary adventure.


Thank you for the beautiful pictures from Bambypix and everyone who joined the trip.





Total travel expenses for this trip:



Bus from Bangkok to Kaper (round trip) 914 Baht/person

Breakfast at the market costs 60 baht per person.

Lunch: 30 baht/person (purchased from the market and eaten in the forest)

Hiking shoes 70 baht/person

Wages for staff + 3 meals + transportation 7,500 baht/group (1,500 baht/person)

Dinner before returning to Bangkok, 150 baht per person.



Total cost: 2,724 Baht per person



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If you would like me to translate a specific sentence or phrase, please provide it to me.



Preparation



  • Waterproof bag (for storing various electronic devices, because ordinary backpacks will definitely get wet)
  • Place clothes in a plastic bag before putting them in the backpack.
  • Headlamp (preferably hands-free)

- Over-the-knee socks (for protection against leeches)

- One set of long-sleeved and long-legged clothing (for round trip)

- Casual outfit 1 set (for sleeping + staying at the accommodation)

- Sleeping mat + Flysheet (Tents are not recommended as there is no space to pitch them.)

  • Hiking boots

- Basic first aid medication

  • Camera (waterproof preferred, as we will be wet all day).
  • Boxing oil (This can be used not only for massage, but also for application. Apply it once and it will come off easily from where it was stuck tightly.)



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