The Sai Yok national park adventure with kayaking, hiking, cycling and sustainable farming insights encapsulates the best of upcountry Thailand nature in two days
Khiri Travel Thailand has launched a new two-day/one-night Sai Yok National Park Adventure Package three hours west of Bangkok. The new trip combines hiking, kayaking, forest ecology insights and an overnight in a comfortable floating raft house on the River Kwai.
The trip starts in Kanchanaburi town to give quick access to a remarkable area. An 0800 start from Kanchanaburi means Khiri clients can swim alone in the Erawan waterfalls before day trip crowds arrive. With their emerald green ponds, the falls are arguably the most beautiful in Thailand.
After an organic lunch wrapped in banana leaves – no plastic used – Khiri guests visit the remarkable Prasat Muang Singh Bayon-style Khmer complex. The 9th century ruins mark the most westerly known outpost of the Khmer empire of over a thousand years ago.
The afternoon is spent in Sai Yok national park at a river beach in a secluded corner of the River Kwai Noi reached by a comfortable raft towed by a longtail boat. Overnight is in the delightful Krit Raft House in the heart of the 958km2 nature reserve surrounded by dry evergreen forest mixed with bamboo, overlooking the mesmerising river.
The 2nd day sees guests rising at 0700 for a tranquil kayak journey downstream with a spot of fishing for the lunch to come. Guests paddle to a secluded beach next to a sustainable riverside base camp that uses solar energy and collects rainfall. When there, the family of a local village chief makes a hearty breakfast. There’s a short bicycle ride before some moderately strenuous forest hiking led by experienced park rangers who tell guests which plants are edible and how to look for signs of wildlife.
A variety of trails are available, depending on guests’ fitness levels and interests. The trip concludes with a shower at the river base camp and a well-earned minivan trip back to Kanchanaburi town.
“Sai Yok allows guests to really dive in deep for a true Thailand nature experience – but with great meals and a comfortable river raft overnight,” says Marc Ruffet, commercial director of Khiri Travel Thailand.
Ruffet says the Sai Yok trip combines well with Kanchanaburi’s other attractions such as Hellfire Pass, the war cemeteries, the Bridge on the River Kwai, or onward itineraries to Ayutthaya, Bangkok or Hua Hin.