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