Where we stayed:

We arrived at the park and stayed in Smiley Bungalows on our first and third nights for the low price of $9 USD! These accommodations are in Khao Sok town and are bare bones - just a bed, small bathroom, mosquito netting and fan (no AC or Wifi). Since we weren’t planning to spend much time in our room we were fine with that. There was Wifi available in the lobby which worked well.

For our second night in the park we stayed on the lake in the Smiley Lake House as a part of an overnight tour. More on that below!

What we did:

We booked an overnight stay on the Cheow Lan lake to be able to really experience the park. The lake exists because of the Ratchaprapha Dam which we learned was constructed by the Thai government in 1989. The construction of the Dam displaced some families and is a bit controversial amongst Thai people today. The booking through Smiley was 2500 baht ($80 USD) a person plus the 300 baht fee to get into the park and it included quite a lot - 5 meals, all transportation, our overnight accomodations on the lake as well as the boat and cave activities we took part in. I'm glad we booked through Smiley Bungalows as I’ve heard that it’s difficult to do the park on your own.

We had an early morning breakfast and hopped in a shared van to get from Smiley Bungalows to the lake which was about an hour drive. Once we arrived at the lake we all got into a longtail boat for an hour ride to the lake houses. The lakehouse was beautiful! There’s a long single row of bungalows, each with their own private bathroom and the common area with picnic tables in the center.

The first few hours were free time and we swam in the water, floated around in tubes and generally relaxed. Later that evening we hopped in another longtail boat for a sunset safari around the lake. We saw a few monkeys and birds, but the highlight was enjoying the scenery and sunset. The lake is full of limestone mountains that truly look like something straight out a movie. We finished our day with a delicious dinner and a very comfortable night's sleep in the bungalow.

The next morning we woke up early for a sunrise boat safari and saw quite a few animals this time (more monkeys and birds) and came back for a quick breakfast before heading to prepare for our cave trek. We got back on the boat and made our way to the jungle where we hiked for about an 1.5 hrs to reach the Nam Ta Lu cave. Armed with headlamps, we were led into the cave by our awesome guide. There was a tragic accident 12 years ago where a group got trapped inside after a quick rainstorm that flooded the cave so it isn’t accessible at all during the rainy season, but since we were visiting during the dry season it was safe. The trek through the cave took about and hour and we saw tons of bats, cave crickets, frogs and spiders. There is a stream flowing through the cave and at one point it was neck deep so it was definitely adventurous making our way through. After trekking back through the jungle we got back on the boat to enjoy one last lunch at the lakehouse before departing.

We really enjoyed our time on the lake and would highly recommend Smiley’s lake house.

Best Thing We ate

Khao Sok town has plenty of affordable restaurants but we weren’t wowed with any of the meals we had there.

The food cooked up at the lakehouse however was SO good. I was really surprised by this and didn’t have high expectations but every meal was delicious. Our lunch and dinner on the first day were buffet style with rice, chicken, curries, tons of veggies and fresh fruits. The staff had also caught some fresh fish and cooked those up for dinner which were tasty. We had pad thai for lunch the next day which was also really delicious.

Expenses for 3 nights in Khao Sok National Park, Thailand in USD:

• Accomodations/Activities (grouping these together since the tour was an “all in” cost): $173.80
• Food: $35.14

Total spent: $208.94

How to get to Ao Nang:

Ao Nang is relatively accessible from seemingly anywhere you’re coming from in Thailand. We were coming from Ko Lanta and took a ferry and a short tuk tuk ride to reach our place. It’s not far from the Krabi airport if you are flying into the area.

Where we stayed:

We stayed at an AirBnB that was about a 15-20 minutes walk from the beach. Here’s a link to where we stayed.

The AC and wifi worked really well and we liked that this place was a bit tucked back from the tourist strip of town. Our host Adeelah was also so sweet and cooked us breakfast twice at her bakery (which was right across the road from the AirBnB). We did lose power once for a couple hours and the roosters woke us up EARLY but all in all this was a great little place for $23 a night.

Here's a link to get $20 off AirBnB if it’s your first booking!

What we did:

There is a lot to do in the Ao Nang area and a LOT of tourist stands trying to sell you a plethora of tours. We made an effort here to try and stay away from that and to find our own way around.

1. Tiger Cave Temple

After figuring out how to take the local bus which cost 150 baht ($4.80 USD) each there, we made it to the temple which is about 30-40 minutes out of town. The local “songathews” are mini vans/pick-up trucks with a covered open seating in the back that you just kind of hop in and out of. We flagged down a driver, hopped in and hoped for the best!

Once we arrived we headed to the steps to start the climb - 1,237 steps to the temple! A lovely couple on the bus had warned us to pace ourselves on the steps since there are some really steep ones and it’s quite hot and humid. Some of the steps were SO steep they were almost knee height so it was a bit of a challenge but we successfully made it to the top!

The temple itself isn’t necessarily “wowing” but the view from the top is really beautiful and it was nice to spend some time walking around and seeing the town from all angles. On the way down it had gotten much hotter and more crowded, so we were glad that we made an effort to come early. We hopped in a songathew to get back and paid 75 baht each (not sure why it was a different price). Considering the cheapest way to book a “tour” to the temple was 1500 baht, we felt pretty good about navigating this ourselves!

2. Walk to “Monkey Trail” and Hang out on a slightly secluded beach

If you walk alllll the way to the southern end of Ao Nang beach (past the “boardwalk” area and hotels, you’ll find an unsuspecting, unmarked pathway called “Monkey Trail.” The quick hike over the hill only takes about 15-20 minutes and has some steep steps, but you’ll be rewarded with a mostly secluded beach on the other side! The beach I believe is technically owned by the resort there, and we had to sign in as visitors but there is no fee. There are trees shading the back of the beach that make for a lovely area to set up for a few hours of relaxing time by the water. We really enjoyed lounging on this less crowded beach in the shade. It did appear that on the walk back there was a small sign labeling the trail so I do think it’s relatively maintained. This was one of our favorite, low key days in Ao Nang so I’d definitely recommend checking it out!

3. Rent a kayak for the day and explore Railay, Tonsai and the Phra Nang Cave

There were lots of boat tours and excursions that offered to take you to Railay and Tonsai, but we decided to rent a kayak and try and make it there ourselves. Again, we walked all the way to the southern end of the Ao Nang beach and rented a double kayak for 1000 baht ($32 USD) for the entire day. The paddle to Tonsai took about 45 minutes and we did cross paths with quite a few long tail boats but it was generally not too tough. We laid on the beach and watched the rock climbers on the nearby cliffs for a while before jumping back in the kayak to get to Railay and the Phra Nang cave. Railay was beautiful but quite crowded. We stopped in Phra Nang cave which is a “love” cave with many, ahem, phallic statues. There was a traditional Thai rock climbing wedding ceremony taking place here as well which gathered quite the audience. After exploring the caves a bit we hopped back in the kayak to head to the eastern side of Railay. Unfortunately, the winds had picked up and all the sudden we were facing 3-4 foot swells and a dicey paddle. We ended up having to turn around because the wind and water were fighting us too much, so we didn’t make it to the Railay viewpoint. The paddle back was quite tiring and took maybe 1.5 hrs, and we ended up with our kayak for about 6 hrs all in and certainly had a less-touristy kayaking adventure!

4. Get a traditional Thai Massage

I had heard that a traditional Thai massage was quite the experience and was set on getting one while we were in Ao Nang. After strolling a few minutes from our AirBnB, I popped into a street side place charging 200 baht (X USD) for an hour which seemed to be the fair price. The massage was far from relaxing, my masseuse quickly hopped on my back and started walking all over me, twisting my body in all sorts of ways, and cracking my fingers, toes, back, neck - you name it! While it wasn’t the usual massage experience I’m used to it was definitely unique and I felt quite limber afterwards! It’s certainly worth getting a massage in Ao Nang for the experience - just be prepared that it’s a far cry from a swedish massage :)

Best Thing We ate

Hands down- Kodam Kitchen is the place to eat! We ended up eating here twice during our stay. This place is a little tucked back away from the beach but wasn’t a far walk from our place. The massaman curry here was amazing and the atmosphere was really charming. I’d recommend having a reservation if you are planning to come here - we didn’t and only had to wait about 30 minutes but it was certainly a happening place.

The other notable place we are (for me more than for Josh) was Govinda’s which was an Indian restaurant. I had probably the best falafel I’ve ever had in a wrap with super fresh veggies.

Expenses for 5 nights in Ao Nang in USD:

• Accomodations: $141.53
• Food: $154.05
• Transportation: $24.00
• Laundry: $6.62
• Activites (kayak rental): $32.00
• Misc (sunscreen, a few other things): $21.41

Total: $379.61

We’ve just left Ko Lanta after staying for 4 nights. The overall vibes were relaxed and beachy which is exactly what we were hoping for for our first stop. Here’s a recap of our stay and some helpful info if you’re heading there:

How to get to Ko Lanta:

We flew into Phuket Airport and took the ferry from Rassada Pier on Phuket to Ko Phi Phi and then transferred to a second ferry to get to Saladan Pier on Ko Lanta. Once we arrived we hopped in a shared van to get to our accommodation.

Where we stayed: We stayed at the Lanta Nice Beach Resort on Klong Nin beach. At $37 USD a night, it was the most expensive accomodation we booked in Thailand, but in general the prices on Ko Lanta seemed a bit higher. If you’re on a tight budget there are a few hostels on the island as well.

The location of the hotel was excellent, it was split into two sections, one on the beach and one on the other side of the road (we stayed on the other side of the road) and was walking distance to tons of restaurants and places to rent motorbikes. Our room was clean and comfortable, though the AC didn’t work quite as well as we would have liked. Overall, no big complaints and it seems like Klong Nin beach is definitely a good location on the island to stay.

What we did:

Mostly - lay on the beach! We came to Ko Lanta to soak up the sun and Klong Nin beach was perfect for that. You can get a massage on the beach for 300 baht (a little less than $10USD), have fruity drinks and relax away.

There are lots of “tourist information” stands scattered about that will sell you basically any water related tour you can think of. We ended up booking a long tail boat trip online (here) to island hop a bit and hang out on the water for 1000 baht each ($32 USD). Considering I didn’t even fully read the description of the tour (whoops), it was a great day.

We were picked up right from our hotel and taken to the Old Lanta Town pier where we hopped onto a Longtail boat with about 25 other people. This was our first time seeing a long tail boat and they’re definitely a unique and cool style of transportation. The boat took us about an hour away from shore to two different snorkeling spots. The water wasn’t super clear so the snorkeling was just ok, but it was nice to swim around in the Andaman sea for a while. We then stopped at Emerald Cave, which entailed swimming 80 meters through a dark cave to an emerald colored pool. Even though there were quite a few people at the cave, it was still beautiful and definitely worth seeing. We finished the trip with a picnic on Ko Ngai and headed back to Ko Lanta. All in all, it was well worth the money and we’d recommend doing something like this while on the island.

Best thing we ate:

There are two memorable meals/restaurants to mentions, the first being the picnic lunch that we had during our longtail boat day. It was simple- rice, red chicken curry and lots of veggies, but it was delicious and felt like the most authentic thai food we got to eat while there.

I feel a bit guilty calling out our other favorite meal(s), but they were at the French Bakery.

Most useful thing we packed:

We’re living out of carry on sized suitcases, so we tried to think through everything we brought with us since space is limited. The most useful thing we packed for Ko Lanta was definitely our dry bag.

How much we spent:

For 4 nights (in USD):

Total: $380.26

Money thoughts - we spent a bit more than I think we should have on food, but that’s mostly because we were just trying to get our bearings and figure out how much things should cost. We knew our expenses here would be a bit higher here since this was our priciest accommodation.

A couple years and 1,043,067 credit card points saved later, and we’re officially off!

We’ve been talking about traveling for a long time so it’s surreal to finally be on our way. The past few months have been filled with lots of preparation, an annoying amount of craigslist postings to sell our stuff, and lots of time with the people we love and will miss while we’re gone.

Right now, we’re in a lounge in JFK waiting to board the 2nd flight of our journey (a 14 hour one!) and will eventually end up in Ko Lanta, Thailand. We’re planning to spend about 3 weeks exploring Thailand (and getting some much needed sunshine) and will generally be exploring South East Asia for the next 4 months.

We’re hoping to share the highlights of our travels but also the financial side of things and how we’ve saved and credit card hacked to be able to take this trip, so stay tuned for all things travel to come!