Khao Luang trek

Khao Luang trek

by Marc Deschamps

Thailand holiday a bit different.

We all heard it before: “My holiday in Thailand was great!”. Many tourists and other travellers refer to islands, beaches, palaces, temples, street food, tuk tuks, parties and friendly local people. But there is much more to explore in Thailand. Let me share with the more adventurous amongst you a very different way to explore this wonderful country. An exciting visit you will describe with words like jungle trekking, sleeping in hammocks, exhausting ascents and descents, blood sucking leeches, stunning nature, backpacks and hiking boots, a team experience, local culture with, local food, an unforgettable experience for sure.

We, my friend and I, decided to join a ‘four days three nights’ trek organiszed by Bangkok360 to climb Khao Luang in Nakhon Si Thammarat National Park in South Thailand, organised by a licensed local tour guide in May this year. A small team of nine friends, locals and foreigners, mixed gender, from young to a more experienced age.

Khao Luang is the highest mountain in South Thailand and the summit stands at 1835m above sea level. The trek is the only way to that mountain top and it starts at near sea level, so you know what to expect. A flight or drive to Nakhon Si Thammarat is how you get to the starting location. A one night’s stay to get to know each other over a delicious local Thai dinner at Pi Bao’s guesthouse in the “Tea House in Rain Forest” follows. He offers very simple but coszy accommodation and sufficient time to prepare your gear and back-pack for an early rise the next morning.

But wait! You need to consider a number of things before you embark on such a trek. Are you fit enough? Can you take your kids? I suggest not younger than 14 years of age, or when ‘are we there yet?’ is not used anymore. Do you have the right equipment? You sleep in your own hammock, with or without a mosquito net is your choice. Do you have good hiking shoes or boots? You will be wet and so will your shoes. How much can you or should you carry?

I suggest not more than 15kg in a 70 litre backpack. It is humid and hot when you start. It can be cold, wet and windy on the top. You will meet leeches regularly along the way. You get used to them, no worries – and you wear leech socks and long hiking pants. You will be drinking water from natural streams. A filter bottle is a good idea. Water will be essential. There is no light switch in the jungle at night, a headlamp helps. Your toilet is the forest.

You have no phone signal either. Use the phone purely for photos. Power bank? Think it through, get packed and get excited. And The local tour operator can help you with advice and material if needed. After breakfast on day one, you load up for a short pickup car ride to where you meet the local team and park ranger at the National Park entrance. The local guides show us the way, carry food for the group and will cook most outstanding South Thailand dishes for us during the trek. The team pose for the compulsory ‘tai roop’, the first team photographs (we are in Thailand – remember) to document the moment for all.

Full Story: https://expatlifeinthailand.com/travel-and-leisure/khao-luang-trek/