After 6 days of trekking, elephant riding, exploring a lake, hiking through caves, running and swimming, I decided on a bike ride…

I rented a good mountain bike from Our Jungle House, and off I went.  Bodhi showed me the track to follow on google maps, and me being me, I nodded, pointed at the track and agreed on where I was going!!!  However, I didn’t really have a clue after the first turn.  I thought, “Brilliant, I am going to have a Goonies vs Jurassic Park experience!”  And that I did!

The first few kilometers are pretty simple with a great dirt track that winds around and up a tiny hill where I rested and had water.  While catching my breath, I turned around to a stunning view of the limestone mountains behind me, took a good few photos and then set off again.

There are some great hills to pick up speed on the way down – but hey what goes down must go up!!!  The hills aren’t terribly steep, but some are long and windy.  They are all possible to cycle up, but I walked some.  If you walk up, then you’re able to take photos – that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

It’s really pretty flat all the way and straight forward to find.  There’s really just one main track that leads the way; there are other smaller tracks diverging off but just stick to the main path.

I’d say a child of 10 would enjoy this and would be able to deal with the terrain.  Ages up to a 50-60 year old would enjoy this ride and reap the benefits of this enchanted jungle journey.

Each twisting courner presents a different tree, bright flower or interesting smell that keeps you pedaling for more.  I didn’t want the journey to end.  It’s one of those paths that’s so quiet with almost no traffic.  I didn’t see one western person on the whole bike ride, and the Thai people along the way were some of the friendliest and inquisitive I’ve seen.  Maybe they were thinking, “Look at this crazy white girl cycling in this heat round here”…

Eventually, after around 7kilometers / 35 minutes, I met the main road and cycled 2 k’s to where I stopped at a street stall for water and a banana shake.  I met a lovely Thai lady who practiced her English with me.  Likewise, I spoke my broken Thai, and we both seemed happy with our language lesson.

Onwards I continued for a few more k’s.  I found a spot where I could cut back into the jungle path, and after a few twists and turns, I was back on my original track.  On the way back, I was loving the downs that I had conquered on the way up – what goes up must come down!

After about 100 “Kodak moments,” smiles from the locals, smells from the jungle I could not previously have imagined and the brightest green trees and flowers, beautiful enough to make even a florist envious, I headed back to Our Jungle House for a wash down and much needed lunch.

The ride totaled around 15k, and the bike cost 200 baht a day to rent.  Again, I think that the terrain is doable for 10-60 year olds.  Take a good camera, 2L water – oh, also some padded pants for the saddle sores!!  Make sure to return to Our Jungle House for a good lunch and watermelon shake to rehydrate.  This ride is a must do while you’re staying at Our Jungle House.

The farmer held out the gourds in his hand, smiled at me, and said, ”f**k.”

I looked at the farmer with a confused expression, and then over to Lek for some sort of explanation.

“F**k,” Lek exclaimed.

“What?” I said

“F**k, um, ah, f**k,” he replied, and continued on, “Thai f**k, English I not sure.”

Grasping the nature of my misunderstanding, Lek seized one of the gourds, laughing heartily while waving it in front of me. “This is fahk, in Thai language we call this vegetable fahk. It’s very healthy, but can taste a little bitter.”

So, I learned some Thai , and the farmer had a good laugh when Lek explained the “lost in translation” nature of our misunderstanding

Flooding means Fun!

We have been staying at Our Jungle House for the last week.  It is the middle of dry season, the River Sok is running very low, usually no more than a foot deep in front of the lodge.  Guests have inquired about the possibility of tubing, but the seasoned staff have had to be party poopers:  “Oh no, you can’t go tubing. The water is too shallow. Sorry!”  The last few days have seen thunderstorms every afternoon, with impressively soaking rains.  Yet the river has not risen significantly.  Last night we had another heavy storm, but this time the river surged up many feet.  Perhaps the previous rains had saturated the ground.  Perhaps it is related to upstream construction activity.

This morning, the river had fallen somewhat, but was still flowing strong and turbid, the color of hot cocoa.  The morning was cool, not yet the sort of heat that drives one into the river.  But then we hear from Bodhi, “If you want to tube, tube now. This might be the last opportunity until the wet season!”  With orders like these from the management, what is one to do but obey? We scramble into swim trunks, grab tubes and hop into the bed of the truck, with camp dog Toast riding along.

The tubing put-in is below the bridge at Khao Sok.  The river is wide and shallow, covered in cobbles that riffle the surface. The river level is lower than the town, giving the folks hanging out on the riverside patios ample opportunity to offer up hellos, heckles and good cheer.  My two companions easily settle into their large donuts; I slip around awkwardly as I realize that my smaller tube was not the most brilliant decision I had made that day.

I look at the river banks and note how they change.  In town, they are clearly artificial, built up with cobbles to preserve the defined channel.  When passing riverside establishments, the banks are high, demonstrating how high the river must rise to flood the businesses,  which it does with frequency.  Often, when the river is shooting around a bend, the banks are exposed as skeletons of tree roots and large rocks – all the dirt has been removed by the scouring action of floods.

Wildlife abounds along the river. Frogs and snakes frequent the roots of the riverbank, countless bugs skip around the surface of the river and who knows how many fish swirl beneath our bums perched in donut holes. Stalking birds in wait for fish awkwardly take off into flight as we approach.  The canopies are alive with song birds, and of course the macaques are shaking branches up above. Toast, a surprisingly impressive swimmer, charges a grassy patch, and almost instantly a serpentine form with a triangular head the size of a paperback is observed whipping rapidly across the water.  It bisects a section of water that is bookended by my two friends, who shriek with simultaneous excitement and terror.

I lie back in my tube and look up at the sky.  The clouds of Thailand are floating past, engaged in their daily drama of drifting, coalescing, building into thunderstorms, separating and dissipating. The canopy over the river is agreeably sparse, allowing me to visually explore each individual tree.  I dip my head all the way back into the water, until my eyes are practically level with the river.  Now the river is the ceiling, the canopy is the floor, and the sky is a terrifying long fall below. The river inexorably makes its way towards the 600 foot tall cliff that towers behind Our Jungle House.  As it passes beneath the cliff, the dizzying sheer vertical wall appears to actually hang over the river.

No inner tube float is complete without landing breaks for fun and games.  Rope swings hang from trees, inviting us to swing out and over the river, bellowing like Tarzan until the cliff echoes our joy. Slick muddy limestone, scoured smooth by floods, becomes a water slide.  Even the cliff itself offers the prospect of a short climb and free fall.  The shallow river is just deep enough for a round of water wrestling as well.

Soon, my burning skin tells me that it is time we reached our destination. We stealthily try to sneak past the first take-out, located in front of the reception area, but Toast gives our presence away. We decide to continue our journey anyway, floating past the cliff face to hit up one last rope swing in front of Romance Tree House before exiting our watery playground.

We reach for our headlamps (torches) and move in.  The entrance is tight, lots of foot over hand maneuvering.  Almost immediately, we encounter calcite formations coating the rocks.  The path is defined by rock that is more evocative of chocolate ice cream than it is of crystallized minerals; in fact, you must use the melted ice cream as hand holds to haul yourself up. And then, just beyond the reach of your hands, a sugary crystalline aspect sparkles and enchants.  We have learned an important lesson about the vulnerability of carbonate cave systems. The melted chocolate ice cream formation is in fact the same as the crystalline formation.  Human touch, specifically the oils in our hands, tarnishes and dulls the brilliant crystalline expression of calcite, the mineral responsible for the flashy sugary texture.

We continue to maneuver through narrow passageways with the help of our thoughtful guides in addition to broken down rickety stick ladders.  We are not really into the cave just yet; our eyes still remember sunlight, our ears still hear birds, our noses still sense jungle air.  And look! A cave toad! Or is it just a normal toad, happily chilling out in the cave, looking for food or protection?  The toad has normal coloring, it lacks any bizarre appendages, it has eyes that are looking at us.  We are not in cave world just yet.

We push further in, through another tight squeeze.  As we wait for the person ahead of us to crawl through the constriction, we hear gasps of amazement.   The gasps are repeated with every person’s entrance.  Directly ahead of us is a waterfall in stasis, a crystalline waterfall of sugary gypsum crystals cascading from the shadowy recesses into the center of the room.  It is adorned on either side with long pleated columns known as draperies, which look like the folds of a flowing dress.  We are in a wonderland.

The wonderland has its own unique denizens.  A cave cricket hops away from the headlamp beam.  It has absurdly long front appendages, perhaps three times as long as the body of the cricket, which are used to sense its light-less world.  We do not spot its primary predator, the cave centipede, but we do come across a Whip Spider, which also preys upon the cricket, calmly perched upside down on the ceiling.  Evidently it is not hunting for gravity-bound crickets.

Calcite flow formations abound, some dazzling with shiny reflections, others stained red from iron oxidation, and others tarnished by mud.  The obligatory stalagmites and stalactites are seen as well, but they are not the show-stoppers here.  Rather, unusual formations found on the ceiling are revealed as we walk underneath a low roof that allows our eyes to be just inches from the overhead surface.  Tiny white worms of carbonate twist and writhe in all directions from the ceiling.  These are known as helictites.  They do not follow the normal vertical logic of water droplets migrating to the tip of a formation and falling to the ground.  It is as if the white arms are growing by their own curiosity, probing into the cave’s darkness.

We round a corner and come face to face with a solid limestone wall, lacking any flow formation adornments.  Yet the flat surface has its own treasures as well.  Our lights illuminate strange circular white shapes embedded in the dark grey limestone.  Fossils!  Truly spectacular examples – complete conical shells six inches long, perfectly sliced through in cross-section, defined by their calcareous sections alternating with limestone.

Further into the cave we press, and eventually we emerge into an enormous room, where our headlamps barely penetrate the darkness of the ceiling.  However, the beams are just bright enough to expose the room’s inhabitants: bats! But there are only a dozen of them, hanging from an overhanging rock perhaps 20 feet above us.  Our headlamps startle them, and they fly off into the recesses of the cave.  As we walk underneath their former roosts, we note drops of guano on the ground.  There is something strange; bats roost by the thousands, and have guano piles many feet deep.  Are these bats new colonists? Or are they all that remain of a former colony?

We turn around, and head back for the entrance.  We walk silently.  We have exhausted our “Oooohs” and “Aaaaahs.”  We are contemplative.  The sounds of our feet echoing against the floor dominate.  Strangely, some steps resonate more than others.  We walk past a sinkhole in the floor, perhaps five feet deep and a couple feet across.  Our steps sound as if we are walking across the skin of a drum.  It is only a matter of time till another sinkhole opens up.  Best to tread lightly in this cave.

Perhaps the best part of any cave exploration is the reemergence into the outside world.  The air is fresh and warm and wet with rain, the light is invigorating, and the sounds of the jungle birds are new once again.  We happily descend towards the river, but quickly realize that the rain has given our path a treacherous aspect.  The ascent was steep and hard on the muscles.  The descent is downright dangerous; every step is either a muddy slide or a slick rock.  The rope, so unnecessary on the way up, is absolutely critical.  We cautiously descend, with everyone taking their turn to slip and fall in the mud.

If you enjoy speleothems (the weird rock structures that grow in caves), check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speleothem for more information.

Disclaimer: I am a geologist, or at least I aspire to be.  This cave is particularly interesting due to its unusual variety, and quality, of speleothems.  A speleothem is scientifically defined as “a weird rock formation that grows in a cave”.  This is the first cave I have ever seen helictites in.  They boggled my mind, defying any ability to imagine how they might have formed.

In this interview, Our Jungle House’s manager offers his view on the following questions:

What exactly is “ecotourism”?

How can people outside from the area learn to help?

How do we know where our money is best spent?

An excerpt is below, and you can read the full interview here.

You can also read more about Our Jungle House’s commitment to sustainability here. 

Kaizen: So what exactly is “ecotourism”?

Bodhi: Well, in its most common form, it’s tourism in the eco-system and I think unfortunately that really is how it’s defined by most people.  But to my mind eco-tourism incorporates an aspect of responsibility as well; of trying to not degrade the resources you’re going to enjoy.  And if you see human beings as part of the environment and part of nature then the natural segue to that is also making sure that it respects the human community.  So I prefer the term “responsible tourism” because it incorporates responsibility to the environment, to the community, to the economic situation and yourself.  What is eco-tourism?  It’s a marketing phrase.  It’s not in depth enough to really describe the practice.

Lisa: And so what are the important elements of “responsible tourism” to you?  What is it you aspire to contribute in terms of tourism, if you take away the marketing piece and get the heart of the practice?

Bodhi:  We have a wildly unsustainable global system that is extracting resources and producing people at rate that our planet cannot keep up with.  One side is to try and support the communities that are moving in a more sustainable direction and living in a more sustainable way and then the other part is to try and effect and transform the guests that are visiting.  When people go on vacation they’re open to new ways of life and new ways of thinking  - their minds are open to how they might change the way they live so if they can come into a more direct experience with nature, if they can see that the rubber and the cooking oil in their house comes from the destruction of the rainforest that they’re enjoying so much. The more people understand the system the more sustainability is a natural conclusion.

Kaizen: How can people outside from the area learn to help and contribute?

Bodhi: One thing that is important is that while you’re traveling here to try and figure out where the money you’re spending while is going.  Is it going to ethical people or not?  When people make economic choices they have a responsibility for where that money is accruing.  If I send a rock down a hill and then walk away, it’s still kind of my fault if that rock hits someone.  So, that’s one thing that’s important to think about when we travel; to ask where we’re accruing benefit.  Are we accruing benefit to people who are working for a positive future or are we accruing benefit for people who are just trying to milk tourism for as much cash as they can so they can go buy another car or another rubber plantation?

Lisa: And as tourists how can we tell?  How do we know where our money is best spent?

Bodhi: I think doing research, trying to be informed, checking in with the people you’re visiting to see if they’re aligned with that vision or not, generally speaking, trying to keep travel to more local places, not the large chains, not to big resorts, not to places where the standard of living is way higher than any of the villages around it.  I think those are some good ways to start.  Traveling with respect and acknowledging that responsibility. And then the other part is trying to generate some practical, on the ground good.  Just something small to know that your visit had concrete benefits for someone in need.

Lisa: Can you give an example of that?

Bodhi: Sure, well there was this researcher doing research on a fishing community up north on the Northern Andaman coast and she was sure that her research was going to contribute to a better-informed policy about how climate change was affecting global fishing communities.  But I wasn’t so sure so I asked her to challenge that notion and find something she could do as well and she found a kid with some development challenges and helped get him into a special school instead of just sitting home all day.  So for you guys, when you’re traveling, I guess you don’t have that much time and depth of knowledge but it’s still possible to connect with good people doing good things and give them a little bit of help.

Travelling to Thailand for the first time, following friendly connections, we reached Our Jungle House in January 2012.

I am writing from Khao Sok national park at Our Jungle House. Bodhi, the manager here, is a pretty solid dude with exceptional skills in free styling to some ukulele jams. As a college student currently learning Geology and Geological Engineering, my studies in college have proven to be incredibly useful here in Khao Sok Park. Typing the name of the park into Google images will yield stunning photos of the huge, high standing monoliths that have intrigued us so much since we’ve been here.

Originally the area around Khao Sok National Park was a shallow sea and the current monoliths formed from sea shells and other organisms with a calcium carbonate shell (Limestone). We have found loads of collectable samples but alas leave them here and take only our photos with us. I’ve seen wonderful examples of karst topography, found some perfect limestone and calcite samples with well formed crystals, and found some of the more rare granite samples. The granite is rare because after the limestone was well-formed there were several igneous intrusions into the overlying limestone. Since these intrusions had a high silica content, the intrusions formed granite and quartzite. However, the majority of the rocks here are carbonates and erode faster. That’s the reason the Khao Sok Park landscape is full of caves, ground water, and disappearing streams.

Being a geologist in training and visiting this place has been incredible. It’s every geologist’s dream! If you understand the way rocks form and the way the topography is created, it’s like being able to read a history book of the natural world.

There were monkeys in the trees, the house we stayed in “Thai House” was a good value and perfect for our family of five…

We did an elephant tour and a great night safari (and saw some super cool things that night with the guide), both of which were arranged by OJH. I wish we’d had time to go to hot springs…

very involved in making a positive difference through involvement with a school for Burmese kids…

Oh, and we found it pretty wild and lovely to have the combined pleasure of jungle access and environment with fast and free wifi.

Read the full review

The tree houses are simple but stunning in the most beautiful location, we spent the nights laying on the balcony looking at the stars and were woken by the sound of gibbons in the national park…

the restaurant was amazing, reasonable price and delicious food, especially the dry curries (the basil one was great) the staff were great! …
I learned a lot and saw many things i wouldn’t have seen without the guide, plus he made us coffee using only bamboo! …

I can highly recommend you stay here and if you can’t get a room eat here!
Simply amazing!

Read the full review

From a recent guest…

Many concerned locals in Phuket thought we were completely mad driving a Honda Click 250km in the middle of the night from Phuket to Khao Sok…. we shall call the midnight journey to Khao Sok a “bonding experience” and both really enjoyed the entire trip, sore backsides and all. Insects feel like golfballs on your cheeks at 80km/hr. Two full tanks and a 5 litre Vixol bottle filled with gasoline will see you through…

We really enjoyed being up there in Khao Sok, even if just for one day, I am now back at work in Phuket and could really do with a good week or so up in the park to make the most of what is on offer up there. It is an amazingly beautiful place and I think that what you are doing is great, the setting is brilliant and we loved being in such bare accommodation considering all the crap one can pile into their lifestyle living in the ‘civilized’ world. Sadly one part of my being kept thinking of how easily one could gouge the Phuket-type tourist for big money if you had a swank western restaurant in Khao Sok,
but we drove past the Organic Resort a few times and realised that maybe those guys, with their big security gate and fences, are doing just that. I imagine they lock their organic guests in to keep them safe and out of harm’s way….

We will be back and will definitely recommend your place to others, cheers and hope to be up there again in the near-future.