Day 7: Cheow Lan Lake

There is no way I can do justice to our day today. It was completely magical. I will put in writing what I can, but I think the pictures tell the better story.

We took an all day trip to Cheow Lan Lake today. Here’s what we did:

1. Drove 45 minutes to a local market to pick up some snacks.

2. Continued 15 more minutes to the lake. Boarded a longtail boat and over the next hour experienced the most dramatically gorgeous surroundings we have ever seen. Cooled down with ice cream from a guy selling it from a canoe in the middle of the lake.

4.Docked at a pier on a different part of the lake inaccessible by car. After some delicious local snacks our guide had brought along (fried banana rolled in a ball of sweet sticky rice and coconut and deep fried, and gelatinous coconut with yummy mystery filling), hiked 45 minutes over a ridge to another part of the lake.

5. At a remote floating village, boarded a bamboo raft, rode 10 minutes to yet another part of the lake.

6. Climbed a hill to explore the Coral Cave. Admired limestone formations sparkling with silica that look like elephants, curtains, and people. Admired bats on ceiling.

7. Returned to bamboo raft, crossed lake, hiked back to longtail boat. Rode 15 minutes to floating pier and restaurant for a late lunch of fish and curry. Swam in lake (not pictured as photos are on waterproof camera).

8. Rode longtail boat back to harbor, rode in van back to Jungle Lodge.

Whew. If that sounds like a lot, it isn’t even scratching the surface. Here are some more highlights:

– This morning we had a visitor in our bathroom: a frog. The girls were so excited, and Melina realized he was trying to get down the drain in the floor. We opened it up and sure enough, he hopped right down!

– This evening while we were at dinner, we apparently had another visitor. Our house is in a favorite place of the macaque monkeys, so we have followed the advice of locking up anytime we leave and never leaving food in the room. Which is why we were surprised to find that someone had left us a little present on the floor of our shower: poop. It could have been from a monkey or another small mammal that squeezed in through the eaves or the vent in the shower. The girls were pretty freaked out by that one. In fact, I think Melina will always have a slight fear of monkeys after her encounter in Lop Buri.

– We had the option of a group tour of the lake or a private tour. The private tour was only $100 more so we splurged, and I’m so glad we did! It was amazing to move at our own pace, get to decide on the itinerary, and not have to worry about other people mucking up the experience for us.

– Our guide, Tian, was born in Cheow Lan Lake. Really. It used to be a valley between karst formations with a small lake in the middle, but 30 something years ago it was dammed up by the government for electricity. Families were paid to move, and hers was one that had to resettle on higher ground. At the bottom of the 100 meter deep (!) lake there are houses, temples, and other remnants of this lost city.

– When swimming, the girls were giggling like maniacs trying to climb onto a kayak from the water. A lithe, athletic American girl (probably 11 or 12 years old) swam over and easily pulled right up into the boat. The three of them played happily in the water until we left, plotting to steal a kayak and live on the lake, subsisting on only ice cream from the ice cream boat guy. They were so happy to have made a friend.

– Once the girls were asleep, Zach and I snuck out to the bar for festive beverages and to write this blog. This cat climbed in my lap and made herself comfortable. I love her.

Zach’s note: what an amazing day! I’ve named the cat “Campylobacter” after the bacterial infection Karen got the last time she patted a random cat while traveling. And swore she wouldn’t do it again.