Canoe Adventure in Khao Sok National Park | Anurak Lodge
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Wonderful Khao Sok Canoe Adventure

Frans Betgem has been working in the adventure travel industry for more than 30 years. He manages several companies and websites. He is a frequent visitor of Anurak Lodge and loves the outdoors.

Anurak Lodge guests on Khao Sok Canoe Adventure

Wonderful Khao Sok Canoe Adventure

We spent a half-day on a Khao Sok Canoe adventure in the National Park with Anurak Lodge.  Our guide met me at the lodge for the short drive where our canoes where waiting for us, something I had been looking forward to. We had to enter a small cave with Buddha statues to get to the Sok River where our canoes and their paddlers were waiting for us.

Although we are not within the boundaries of Khao Sok National Park the landscape is stunning. The park is traversed by a limestone mountain range from north to south with a high point of 950 m. This mountain range is hit by monsoon rain coming from both the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, which makes it among Thailand’s wettest regions with an annual rain fall of 3,500 mm. Heavy rainfall and falling leaves led to the erosion of the limestone rocks and created the significant karst formations seen today. Having someone paddle you gives you the opportunity to admire the stunning scenery. We passed through areas of flooded forest, which was beautiful. We were at the height of the rainy season so the Sok River had overflown its banks and was at places more than 200 meters wide.

We spotted sunbirds and the common kingfisher. Sometimes we just floated along enjoying the peace and silence of the jungle environment. It was a magical experience. I made some great pictures. We passed local people bathing in the river and they were all smiles. The paddle guides offered us delicious fruit of the season, a grapefruit-like fruit called pomelo. And on we went through the majestic limestone formations and palm trees. After a bit more than two ours we disembarked our canoes at a place where our vehicle was waiting for us. Our guide escorted us back to the lodge after a wonderful day Khao Sok Canoe trip.