| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Distance | 45km |
| Difficulty | Hard |
| Terrain | Hilly - mostly up |
| Blog | 8th Mar - Finished! |
| Gallery | Khao Yai |
The journey
It was 5km from Moon River to the park entrance. Khao Yai park is B400 per person entrance fee. It's more up than down for 30km to the park centre. The hills are very steep at first then there are some level stretches between the hills. It's worth the effort but start early to avoid the heat; the weather is cooler once you're at the top. There was next to no traffic.The first waterfall (Haew Narok) is dry during the dry season. There's a restaurant, drink shop, accommodation information and visitor centre at the park centre. It's 7km to the Orchid campsite. From the visitor centre we turned left at the Watch Tower, then missed the right turn to the campsites (it's down a road marked as closed with a barrier at each end) and ended up on a very steep uphill. There are two campsites, one to the right as you come out of the closed road and Pha Kluai Mai (Orchid) to the left which is closer to Haew Suwat falls. The falls are 3km by trail or 5km by road; it's easy to hitch a ride back to the campsite from the car park.There's a toilet and shower block, small shop and cheap restaurant on the campsite. Many animals wander around the tents. The restaurant is supposed to be open 7.00am to 7.30pm during the week, 6.30am to 9.00pm at weekends, but they closed at 6pm and opened 7.30am for our midweek stay. It's best to avoid the weekends and holidays as Khao Yai gets very busy at those times. It got quite cool at night. Mountain biking is popular and there are bike trails around the park and bike lanes on some roads.
Kat broke a spoke again.
The room
Pha Kluai Mai (Orchid) campsiteTent hire was B150, blankets were B20 each, a pillow was B15 and a mat was B35.
Toilet and shower block with cold water, shop and restaurant at the campsite.