On our way from Thailand to Myanmar, we would have passed several national parks and we had in mind to visit most of them, and stay overnight. As we decided not to go to Myanmar, we also won't be going to those parks. That's OK, only there is one park we really wanted to visit: Erawan National Park. It's one of the most famous Thai parks, and for a good reason: the waterfalls are simply astonishing! Pictures below... in fact, I had been to Erawan in 1993, on my backpacking trip through Asia then - as well as to Kanchanaburi by the way. I don't remember too much of it, except that it was much (MUCH) less touristy then it is now. I do remember the bridge, but there was not the entire infrastructure and tourist hassle around it then. I remember coming to the park, and there were hardly any other people and trails were not paved. Both Kanchanaburi and Erawan haven't lost their charm though, still really nice places to visit. It's a detour of about 100km, but the road from a Kanburi to Erawan was good riding (although not as idyllic as we had expected) and it's totally worth it.
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| Nice spot for a lunch break, on our way to Erawan |
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| Here we are, finally, our first real camp spot |
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| Erawan must get very busy at times, judging by the number of tents (these are the ones provided by the national park itself which you can rent for a fee; each national park has these, but we had never seen that many). Now there was hardly anybody in these tents, just a handful of Thai and foreign tourists. |
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| Petit Dejeuner sur l'Herbe (thank you for the tripod Wouter and Katelijne) |
In Erawan we have finally found a good place to camp! No rain, beautiful surroundings, cool weather (at night at least; we even needed our sleeping bags!). Today we visited the waterfalls; it's a series of waterfalls, with 7 steps. The water cascades down over naturally formed platforms, with glacier-blue like, crystal clear, cool water that invites for swimming all the time. The water is full of fish too - and they'll happily give you a pedicure treatment once you step into the water.
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| Erawan National Park |
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| I just loved this picture, should be called "United Colours of Benetton" |
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| Level 2, the most popular swim hole, late afternoon |
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| The same level 2 in the morning |
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| Level 4 with the natural slide |
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| Somewhere on the way up |
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| It's so beautiful here, I can just keep shooting pictures |
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| Included in the hike: free fish spa! Ellen's feet must be really delicious apparently |
Because we took our time for the hike, and also because it's so very nice here, we stay for another night. The camp site is beautiful, situated at the riverside, with a pontoon for swimming (or sun bathing), decent facilities, some restaurants at walking distance; we have all we need here. Tomorrow morning, after another great "petit dejeuner sur l'herbe", we'll continue cycling!
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| This is the place from where I'm writing this blog post at the very moment! |