snakehead and featherback.
If you have never been here before yet the place looked familiar and then I realised that many people have remarked on Ratchaprapa Dam resemblance to Han Long Bay in Vietnam and Guelin in China.
Civilisation
This splendid sense of isolation, of detachment, of adventure even, is dispelled when we moor our boat outside a floating restaurant with a selection of simple bungalows built on giant bamboo floaters. Soon, we’re in the water, splashing and striking out into the deep and even though I’ve never actually swum in several million gallons of mineral water (who has?) this is what it must be like – it’s that clean.
We are served lunch – a giant gourami that was probably swimming in the lake not an hour before. Still, it’s delicious and more than enough for the five of us. On the 40-minute boat ride back to the dam and the jeep we run through several squalls and it’s downright cold for a while until someone comes up with the brilliant idea of wearing a lifejacket back-to-front as wind protection.
This tour is an outstanding, unforgettable and a thought-provoking experience.
Some Facts about Khao Sok National Park:
It is home to one of the largest flowers in the world, Rafflesia Kerrii, a parasite which attracts insects through its appearance and odour similar to that of rotting meat. Raffleasia flowers from December to April and can grow up to 100cm in diameter and weigh up to 10kg.
There are over 100 islands in the Chiao Lan Reservoir
Parts of the park have still not yet been accurately charted
The water in the reservoir is eminently diveable but is too deep in parts to retain visibility