What You Can Expect
Embark on a 5-day houseboat adventure upon Thailand’s Khao Laem Lake. After arriving in western Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province you’ll board a communal houseboat that docks in a new location each night. Spend your days lounging in a hammock, kayaking, interacting with locals and participating in scheduled activities like hiking and visits to hillside villages. This inclusive sojourn includes meals, transportation to and from Bangkok and your choice of a single, double or six-bed dorm room.
Each day the houseboat moves to a new part of this beautiful lake, and you'll take excursions around the lake by smaller boats with your guide. Enjoy the tranquility of misty mornings and sunsets on the lake, which is surrounded by lushly forested mountains.
The houseboat holds up to 24 passengers and features a well-equipped lounge area with a large sundeck, lounge chairs and a bar. Provided amenities include kayaks, floating tubes, fishing equipment, hammocks, and coffee and tea. Three meals a day are cooked fresh on board by the staff, and alcohol and soda are available for purchase. You have your choice of a single room, double room or 6-bed dorm room. All rooms have French balconies; bathrooms and showers are shared.
Itinerary
Day 1: Bangkok – Khao Laem Lake (L, D)
In the morning, meet your guide in central Bangkok, and travel by air-conditioned minivan about five hours northwest of the city to reach Khao Laem Lake. Along the way, your guide shares commentary about the Kanchanaburi province, where the lake is located. You’ll stop for lunch at a restaurant near Sai Yok Noi waterfall.
When you arrive at the lake in the mid-afternoon, board the houseboat and cruise to tonight’s anchorage spot. Enjoy a freshly prepared Thai dinner, and chat with other travelers while you watch your first sunset on the lake and soak up the pretty twilight scenery.
Overnight: Houseboat
Day 2: Khao Laem Lake (B, L, D)
Wake up for a healthy breakfast, served each morning between 07.00 and 09.00. Depending on the season and water level you will either do a short jungle walk to beautifully flushing waterfall, or you will explore the Lijia cave and the nearby local village.
The waterfall is cascading and impressive when the water level is high (usually Sep-Mar), inviting you for a swim after the short trek through the jungle.
As the water level detracts, you will instead do short trek to Lijia village, where you can get close to local life. Continue to the Lijia cave where you can explore the inside. If you are lucky, you might find a few treasures. It is believed that Japanese soldiers left these treasures, including gold, in the area when they built the Death Railway during the World War II. If time allows, you will visit the nearby school or fisherman village.
When back on the Lake House you will be served a nice Thai lunch. The afternoon is free for you to enjoy Lake House Living. Swim in the lake, do a bit of fishing, kayak the calm water or doze the afternoon away. As day turns into night, enjoy a delicious Thai dinner and watch the stars spark high up in the sky.
Overnight: Houseboat
Day 3: Khao Laem Lake (B, L, D)
Today, your excursion by boat takes you to Coconut Island, named after its prized product. Your guide introduces you to some local people who explain their village’s history and offer samples of fresh coconut water, coconut meat and other tropical goods such as jackfruit, cocoa and cashew.
Return to the houseboat in the afternoon and move to a new anchorage spot. En route, you have time to kayak and join your guide on a trip to an ethnic Mon and Karen hill tribe village. Back on the houseboat, enjoy free time for lake activities or relaxation for the rest of the afternoon and evening.
Overnight: Houseboat
Day 4: Khao Laem Lake (B, L, D)
Enjoy a leisurely morning with the chance to take a boat trip to steep cliffs that jut out of the water, where you might spot monkeys in the treetops or birds like eagles and hornbills. After lunch, the houseboat slowly moves toward Sangkhlaburi. Visit a temple that's hidden away in the forest and known only to a few locals, and then see another temple that has been covered by the lake and is only partially visible. (Depending on the water level it can be fully visible, while at other times fully covered with a meter to spare)
Anchor near Sangkhlaburi for the night, with free time in the afternoon to spend at your leisure on the houseboat.
Overnight: Houseboat
Day 5: Khao Laem Lake – Sangkhlaburi – Bangkok (B, L, D)
Enjoy a very early morning breakfast and prepare to disembark your floating hideaway at 09:00 latest. You need to pack all your bags and belongings, as it will be transported to our rest house while you are out exploring. We recommend wearing clothes and shoes that may get wet and a dry bag for your camera.
Around 09:30 you will be picked up and go by local Songthaew or four-wheel drive to the wooden Mon Bridge in Sangkhlaburi town. Not only is it the largest wooden bridge in Thailand that connects the two sides of Mae Nam Kwae Noi, it also connects the three ethnic communities Mon, Karen and Thai. Cross the beautiful bridge by foot and at the other side, continue by car to the outskirts of Sangkhlaburi from where you do a short hike through the forest, along the riverbed. Cross river streams, walk over simple bamboo bridges and through dense grassland. At an opening in the forest, change means of transport to bamboo rafts or rubber dinghy’s, depending on the season and water level. Sit back and enjoy nature slowly passing by, the dense jungle leaning over the river. Occasionally, steer through a small rapid before you reach an opening in the jungle and a simple lunch is served at the river bank
