Spend 24 Spectacular Hours At A Beautiful Raft House on Cheown Lan Lake In Khao Sok National Park. Even though it is man made, you will be blown away with natures beauty. This man made lake in the centre of Khao Sok National Park is surrounded by limestone mountains and has clusters of islands dotted through it. Home to elephants, gibbons, monkeys, hornbills and many more varieties of birds and animals, this place is truly special. Due to being one of the worlds oldest rainforests, this area is highly protected. Reachable from Khao Lak, Surat Thani and Phuket, there are many options as to how you can get here.
A finite number of Raft Houses allowed on the lake, ranging from basic to luxury. This is to help protect the wildlife and from pollution and too many tourists. Aided by having only one way on to the lake at Ratchaprapha Pier, guarded by staff at all hours. Prior to departure, tourists are checked in and charged a small port fee. This tax is extra on top of the National Park Entrance Fee of approx 200bht each. However, if you stayed in Khao Sok the night before and go on a night safari as we did, this ticket is valid for the next day on the lake too.
Ensure you have made a booking at one of the Raft Houses to avoid disappointment. Your chosen company will collect you at the pier, sailing you to your chosen accommodation. The previous night we chose to stay at Our Jungle House in a treehouse lodge, amazing! Our Jungle House organised our lake accommodation and transfers, taking all of the hassle out for us.
First Glimpse Of The Beautiful Raft House In Khao Sok
Dependant on which Raft House you have chose, the journey can take over an hour. Thankfully the scenery is truly amazing and the time will fly. Surrounding you are mountains covered in thick, lush jungle, and are home to many species of birds. And if you are very lucky you may spot elephants drinking at the shores. Lime stone cliffs appear out of nowhere, creating their own islands in the lake. Emerging from the water are dead trees, the water is very deep in places. The lake was created when the land was flooded years ago, the trees signs of villages long lost.
The middle lodge is the little raft house which was our home for the night. It had a private shower, toilet, two beds with a glass panel in the floor beneath them (see photo below). And they even supplied towels! It was clean and comfortable with views all around to die for.
Our Raft House
Our porch had a table and chairs and you could jump right in to the lake from it. Life jackets were provided in the rooms as the lake is very deep. Extras were hanging on the railings of the pathway at the back which linked all of the rooms. Each one has a ladder to climb out again once you have cooled off.
Our choice was either chilling on our veranda with a cold beer to watch the sunset, or an evening safari. Swiftly purchasing a beer from the on site bar, we settled down to watch the sunset. We relaxed, watching the sun set, and we had the entire raft house to ourselves. Not only that, nobody saw anything on the safari! After a delicious dinner, the evening was spent chatting with the others in our group.
Early Morning At the Beautiful Raft House
Early in the morning we got up to go on the dawn safari, sunrise was stunning. We also managed to see about 50 hornbills feeding in a tree and gibbons swinging around with their babies. Totally worth the alarm clock!
The rest of the morning was ours to kayak, swim or just relax until our transfer back to the pier. A packed lunch was even provided for our onward travels as we left before midday. 24 Spectacular Hours At the Beautiful Raft House In Khao Sok was had by all. I thoroughly recommend visiting this lovely lake and Our Jungle House.
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