Khao Sok: Floating bungalows under limestone

Khao Sok protects a rainforest thought to be around 160 million years old — older than the Amazon — and at its centre sits Cheow Lan Lake, a reservoir flooded in the 1980s where limestone karsts rise straight out of jade-green water. You sleep on the lake itself, in bungalows floating on pontoons, with no wifi and no road for miles.

The Lake

Cheow Lan is a 90-minute drive from the park village, then a longtail boat ride out among the karsts. Trips run as day tours or one and two-night stays, and the overnight is what makes the trip: the boats leave in the afternoon, the day trippers disappear, and the water goes still. Book through your guesthouse or a licensed operator, as the rafthouses are managed by the national park and sell out in high season.

• Bring cash, a torch and a dry bag; there's no power for much of the day and no shops
• Kayaks are usually included, and dawn on the water is the best hour of the trip
• Some tours include a walk into a river cave — check whether it involves swimming through in the dark before committing
• Nights are noisy with insects and gibbons, which is the point

The Jungle

• Trails from the park headquarters follow the Sok river to waterfalls, and can be walked without a guide
• Guided night safaris and longer treks go deeper, with a decent chance of gibbons, hornbills, macaques and langurs
• Elephants, tapirs and clouded leopards live here but are very rarely seen
• Rafflesia, the world's largest flower, blooms between roughly December and February
• Leeches are common in the wet season — socks and repellent help

Getting There

• Buses and minivans run from Surat Thani (2 hours), Krabi and Phuket (3-4 hours)
• It slots neatly between the Gulf islands and the Andaman coast, which is how most people fit it in
• The park village has guesthouses, restaurants and tour offices along one road
• The wet season peaks from May to November, when trails are muddy and leeches are at their worst, though the jungle looks its best

Do not do this as a day trip. The lake at dusk and at dawn, with everyone else gone, is the entire reason to come, and you only get that by staying the night.