24th-25th Cheow Lan Lake

We'd wanted to visit the lake Cheow Lan also known as the Ratchabrapa dam- party as the Rough guide recommended it and partly as I'd met 2 Thai people who'd raved about it. This was a huge lake within the national park created by building a dam and flooding the area around 30 years ago. Emerging from the lake were the limestone karsts we'd already become familar with creating a sort of mountainous backdrop that was vaguely alpine although the thick vegetation was  more rainforest.
After a short car journey we took a longtail boat, swam on the way and arrived for lunch on one of the floating rafthouses- accomodation entirely floating next to the steep bank. This was where Gemma and I were to stay the night. But first another hike spotting monkeys high up in the trees, another short boat (well bamboo raft with engine really) trip to a cave. Then we were left by our guide and after a swim took a kayak out. With dusk falling we watched Macaque monkeys building a nest for the night.
The night wasn't as peaceful as we'd anticipated due to a generator keeping lights on until 1 am. Trying to disregard the rock hard mattresses and animal droppings over them (we'd thought mice but it occurred to us, thankfully the next day, coakroaches were also possible) we slept fitfully until dawn then into the kayak again. More Macaques and lengurs, we were able to approach stethily and get close. Now, the lake was peaceful and the cliffs partly shrowed in cloud, worth an early start and sitting in a soggy kayak for!
We left the lake and had our first major hiccup regarding transport. Dropped in the nearest town we struggled to flag down any buses for an hour and a half, eventually got a lift in hte minibus of a guide and 2 people we'd actually met at the lake then seemed to take a rather convoluted route to Khao Lak but, we got there!