Erawan national park, Kanchanaburi – Kingdom of Thailand

Travel period: 31 May – 1 June 2014 (1 night stay)

Location: Western Thailand

It has been a while since I blogged last. I have done a few trips abroad but I find this trip interesting since it is not written in most travel books or journals. Well, there may be a few articles online BUT Let me show it through my words then. 

I and my friend, Nhong begin our trip at 4:30 am from Bangkok. We drive through Nakornpathom, which is a province before Kanchanaburi. Kanchanaburi province is famous for its rivers, hills and mountains as well as the death railway, the well-known tourist spot for Thailand. There are lots of travel agents that offer a day trip tour from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi from Khaosan road. The tour pretty much includes a commercial tiger temple, a butterfly farm and lunch by the river near the death railway.

To me, Kanchanaburi is massive. When I say massive, it means it covers a large area of parks. I suppose since there are vast areas of mountains and rivers. For a first-time visitor, you should make your way there as well as those who like to go fishing; this is a good place for that.

Since we have been to Kanchanaburi and the death railway so many times, we decided to do a trip further away from Kanchanaburi. The place is called Erawan national park. 

I have been there before about 4 years ago in 2010. What struck me was the turquoise water on the sixth tier. The Erawan falls is well-known for the emerald green ponds. There are in total of 7 tiers. It takes about 1 to 2 hours hike from the lowest tier. The path is easy. It is laid with concrete up to about 4 to 5 tiers then the path begins to look more like a real hiking trail.

The park is open at 8 a.m. and we arrive at 8:15 am, one of the first visitors LoL. We were really excited so. Surely a benefit of being there early is you get to swim in clean water and less crowed, especially avoidance of kids peeing in the ponds.

For those who like something different than any other waterfalls, I suggest the 6^th tier. For me, it is the most beautiful tier of all. With its nice blue colour water, I think it is from the limestone erosion so the water is full of minerals, in this case, calcite. The whole day was spent at the falls. We leave about 5 pm and drive to along Kwai river to find an accommodation and eventually found a place called Wang Yai river kwai resort. It is located by Kwai noi river. The rate is 1,800 THB a night with a stunning view of the river. It was definitely worth it. We checked out at midday the next day and drove back to Bangkok. We stopped by at the commercial tiger temple since Nhong hadn’t never been there. As I said, it was really commercial. From its name ‘temple’, you would think you could find serenity there. For me, it is just a zoo for tourists to come and have their pictures taken with the tigers. I personally like animals myself so I got a few snap shots then. A drive to Erawan park and back to Bangkok is so beautiful.  It is definitely the place to recommend for a weekend escape from Bangkok. 

Pictures below;

Wang Yai river kwai resort.

One of the tiers.

Tier 2.

The Tier 6.

อุทยานแห่งชาติหมู่เกาะอ่างทอง - Ang Thong Marine Park / จังหวัดสุราษฎร์ธานี - Surat Thani

GOING to the beach during rainy season can be a bit of a mess. We were quite lucky to experience an amazing sight of Ang Thong Marine Park without rain and storm. It took us a while to get to our destination though. It was definitely worth it.

Travel date: 21st to 23rd July 2013

Location: South of Thailand

Day 1: (Friday)

We booked our flight with Nokair.com. The flight left Don Mueang Airport at 6:10 am and arrived at Surat Thani Airport around 7:20 am. It was a short flight. Our journey didn't even start yet. After we landed at the airport, there were four of us so we hired a taxi from the airport to Don Sak Pier, located roughly 1.30 hour from the airport. We paid 600 Baht each, including the ferry from Don Sak pier to Koh Phangan.

The ferry took us the longest. It was 2.30 hours! The ferry company was Rajaferry. It left Don Sak pier at 10 am. The ferry was quite big. We got seats in the air-con room. The hightlight was this ferry trip was we saw a few dolphins welcoming us at Don Sak pier. There is the photo. It may be hard to see :-) It was not a log! I didn't hallucinate. LoL

Look closely at the Dolphin Fins!

On Koh Phangan, we booked an accomodation on Haad Mae Haad beach called Mae Haad beach view resort. It is suppposed to be the most quiet beach compare to other parts, especially Haad Rin; that's where the full moon party is. We contacted the bangalow staff to pick us up from the pier. it costs us 100 THB each which I think it is reasonable.

Finally arrived! I remember it was about 2 pm when we actually sat in front of the bangalow breathing fresh air of the south sea. It was so windy that we didn't need an air-con. The bangalow was 600THB for two nights / each person! It was fantastic! Not the best place for people who like to party because it is difficult to get around from there but those who like quiet beach, I recommend. The only thing was there were quite a long of sea urchins and rocky , dead corals on the beach so be careful. It was not that clean either when the tide comes up. Trash were all over. The beach is next to so-called Koh Mak. It is supposed to be an island but according to our guy, it is not :-) That was the reason we decided to stay because we thought we could walk to the island when the tide comes down. We never had to wait!

So we had some food just at the restaurant close by, had a nap and went swimming that day. We ended the day with a walk around the bungalow and literally slept around 9 pm!

Day 2: (Saturday) - The day of highlight

We booked a tour with (an unknown company) via the bungalow staff. A day our to Ang Thong Marine Park (Includes breakfast, lunch, snacks, snorkeling and the mask). Total of 1,700 THB, which I think it is not a lot at all for what we did.

1st stop: Snorkeling

The boat dropped us at this spot where there were many other boats dropping the tourists off for a snorkel. The visibility was not the best but once we got closer to the beach. We could see more clearly. Our boat has a slider. A few of us did a jump from the roof which was about 4 meters tall. Was indeed FUN!  We had about 30 to 40 minutres for the snorkeling & then lunch on the boat. We were served with mixture of thai curries, followed by watermelon and pineapple.

2nd stop: The Lagoon

This lagoon was actually breathtaking. We were not allowed to swim or jump into the water. It was pristine. It reminded me of a place described by the beach movie. Just no one inhabiting the place. The water was green and the plants were healthily growing. Just what we needed to see, coming from a big city like Bangkok. The walk up and down was easy. The steps were contructed for easy access.

Pristine, isn't it?

3rd stop: The Majestic view point of Ang Thong Marine park.

The boat took us to another spot, about 15 minutes away from the lagoon. I was first not allowed to do the hike. Well, because I was wearing a pair of flip flop. We convincted the tour lady to grant us eventually :-) The climb was really not that hard in the begining. Took about 1 hour I think. The last 100 metres was scary  though. You can see it from the picture. Once we got up there, it was just a paradise, we were on this platform 4 x 4 meters & standing looking at the whole thing. It was just memorable!

We travelled back to Koh Phangan, back to the bungalow around 6 pm. We had some dinner just at a place close to our accomodation and went to sleep around 11 pm. No party :-x . It was indeed an exhausting day to remember.

Day 3: Masssage by the beach

We didn't have much time to do anything today. We had to leave Koh Phangan around 13.00 for the ferry. However, we had a body massage by the beach. F*ing brilliant! They did crack our bones! LoL My attention was much into the Aloe Vera Garden! how amazing! They use it for their clients for sunburn. Most places would use artificial gel. I don't remember the name of that parlor but recommend! it is the only one by a corner of Haad Mae Haad Beach. 

So we checked out, got the ferry and got a minivan to Surat Thani to have dinner. The town was interesting. We could tell that there was a lot of Chinese influrence from seeing the Chinese temples everywhere in the center. We waited for our taxi guy from the airport to pick us up and left for Bangkok on a 9:20 pm flight.

 Budget for this trip for each person

Flight ticket: ~ 2,000 THB

Transportation:

600 THB Taxi & Ferry from Surat Airport to Don Sak

200 THB A pick-up from Koh Phagnan pier and back

420 THB A ferry from Koh Phagnan to Don sak

125 THB A Taxi from Surat Town to Surat Airport

1,700 THB Ang Thong Marine Park Day Tour

600 THB Accomodation

500 THB Food

350THB Massage

This cost is estimated.

Contact Info:

Taxi: Khun Kai 092-124-1412 From Surat Airport to Don Sak Pier, Pier to Surat Airport

 (Price is negotiatable)

www.booking.com for Mae haad beach view resort; contact Khun Kaew 089-823-9756

  



!