10/07/2025
Sophie here - reminiscing on a trip from a few years back, and wanted to share it with you!
You all know I am a big fan of Southeast Asia, and back in September 2024, myself, my partner (who is a hiking guide), and our 12-year-old son, Charlie, set off to Khao Sok National Park in Thailand to do a three-day hiking adventure. The idea was that we’d hike through the day, and each night sleep in hammocks in the jungle; amongst the monkeys, elephants, and whatever else was out there... How amazing! We were so excited!!
Being September, I realised the flights were cheap for a reason, it’s monsoon season in Thailand, and as you can imagine, the rain was unbelievable. I’m talking that sideways, can’t-hear-yourself-think, kind of rain!
We’d planned to do a river float one afternoon, but the river was closed due to dangerous conditions. I said to my partner, Hayden, the night before our hike, “Surely we can’t be hiking in this tomorrow?” Reception confirmed that the guides were on their way. No cancellations. So, I hoped it might at least ease overnight 🤞 But it just proceeded to rain even harder!
The next morning, our guides, Tao and Tun, arrived. Tun wearing a t-shirt that read; 'I don't need Google, my Mum knows everything' (that reminds me, I need to get that one for Charlie 😉), both in shorts, thongs, and carrying a machete and a plastic shopping bag, each. No raincoats. No English. And, off we went..
We set off on our 10km hike into the jungle, but the trailhead, well actually, the entire trail, was flooded. The mud was deep and there were leeches everywhere! We climbed over slippery tree roots and crossed rivers multiple times. What was meant to be ankle-deep water was, for me, waist-deep, and for my son, chest-deep at times.. which he found hilarious. We felt safe holding the guides’ hands, but they definitely had their work cut out for them.
At lunch, Tao and Tun put up a tarp for a bit of respite from the rain and pulled out banana-leaf-wrapped fried rice and pineapple. All from this miraculous, bottomless, Mary Poppins plastic bag they'd both been carrying.
During lunch, I whispered to Hayden; “We can’t possibly sleep in hammocks tonight.” He said, “Don’t worry, I’ll sort it.” So, Charlie and I waited while Hayden went off to speak to the guides. He returned with the biggest smile on his face:
“We’re sleeping in a cave tonight.”
Oh?
“A bat cave.”
Oh. 😬 (Would you say he 'sorted it'? 🤔)
Turns out, we were talking about the same kind of bat cave. Charlie was giddy, so what choice did I have but to go along with it? So, we hiked the rest of the afternoon and eventually, this huge, dark cave came up on the right hand side. There were elephant prints leading into it, bats flying overhead, and a mysterious hole at the back that I wanted nothing to do with. Naturally, Hayden and Charlie couldn’t help but explore. Thankfully, one of the guides took the tarp and covered the hole. In broken English, he explained it was “to stop animals coming out.” Brilliant.
The guides then collected and chopped bamboo; building a washing line, a fire, carving out cups, bowls, spoons, even a cooking stand. All with their Machete's. That Mary Poppins bag came out again, and from it: coconut milk, chicken, soy sauce, sugar, and chilli. They cooked us one of the best curries of my life!
They used the ferns we’d collected while hiking, and while waiting for dinner, we played cards, drank hot chocolate, and tonight we were to sleep on sleeping mats in human-sized rim pools.
Just before I went to sleep, I leaned over to kiss Charlie goodnight, and my headtorch lit up the crevice in the wall behind where we were sleeping and it was ALIVE spiders. Did I tell him? Absolutely not. We both needed the sleep 😅
Tao and Tun took it in turns to stay awake and steer away monkeys with their flashlights. In the morning, we found a porcupine quill, which now lives in Charlie’s treasure chest to this day.
And would you believe it? Despite the spiders, the bats, and the monsoon rivers… it was one of the best sleeps, and experiences, of our lives 💚
Now that's my 'Wild-side of Thailand' story.. have you ever been in a situation where you're just thinking... 'How did I get here?' Please share, so I know I'm not alone, because sometimes I feel this is the story of my life! 🤣👇
