Stacks

The lowest level seen from above

The details:

'This waterfall is located at km. 556-557 on highway No. 4 3 kms. from Kra Buri township with another 13 kms. on the leftside of the main road along the laterite road to the fall. Bokkrai Waterfall has many steps with fascinating nature surrounding'. source

Bokkrai, Bok Krai or Bok Kray. Sounds and looks pretty clear and this time around, it is clear. The road makes it all the way to Thungraya - Nasak wildlife sanctuary's entrance, another protected area along the spine of Thailand, straggling Burma or the Andaman coast. After we pay the 100 THB entrance fee (~$3) and receive a stack of tickets in exchange (good deal, 30 tickets of 10 THB instead of just the normal 3 of 100 THB), we proceed to the deserted car park just beyond the entrance.

Ranong's landscape is nice and lush, the minor road up to the sanctuary entrance winds it's way through mostly rubber plantations with the odd oil palm plantation thrown in for reasons of variation.

>Anyway once in the sanctuary, the bush is still lush but more lustrous. Quite wet, a good track goes to the namesake waterfall, only 200m away.

Bok Krai, the main lower level.

There one learns that there are more levels, 7 no less and we take the good looking track up. However the higher one climbs the more muddy and less maintained the track becomes, like having to fight oneself through a jungle.

But, what a beautiful place. Well deserted with some the gracious pools. I hate to disturb the free flowing nature with my own natural antics but why else come all the way from the modern world if not to merge with the natura?

Sorry for the disturbance!

Elsewhere on the net are another blog entrance as well as some more photo's by nobythai.

Hit or miss? The latter

Kampot province is Cambodia is largly well-known because of the natural setting, at the foot of a high mountain range (Bokor), the sea and a fertile plain. The town of Kampot lies on a broad river which springs from the Bokor mountains. Visits to town seem to mean that a visit to the nearby Tek Chou rapids is called for, them being just 5 kms upstream from town.

Until now (January 2010) I've been able to avoid this tourist trap, simply because it's that. But all things must come to an end and thus last month I visited Teuk Chou (or Tek Chhou). There's a blanket charge for visitors, which seems steep for what one gets. One gets nothing. Along a 100 m stretch of the river, about 10,000 stalls are vying for the best place and get visitors to stay and spend some cash. Between the river and the stalls is a dirty area which seems to make this a natural area to be enjoyed redundant. And it seems that with the dam just upstream under construction the river and the rapids themselves have gone, leaving behind a couple of pools of tepid and dirty water. Avoid at all cost.

More photo's from internet:

Photo's from times with more water. Sources above and below.

Do note that this is only my opinion. Under the caption

'Teuk Chou's brook nevelrfails to win local and foreign fans'

comes the following first hand experience:

'It was not difficult to find 'Teuk Chou'- a local out-of-sort resort by a rocky brook only a few minutes drive from town. On arrival, we were greeted by many stalls by the road selling all sorts of foodstuff and fruits.
As we got out of our vehicle, we were immediately approached by food vendors rushing and pleading to take our order for lunch. These vendors can be quite persistent but since we needed lunch anyway, we permitted this big lady to lead us to a place under a tree by the stream. This was a makeshift platform made from some planks and neatly covered by a grass mat. Under the shade of trees by the stream, it was really quite cozy and comfortable.
We ordered lunch and, believe it or not, they actually served a full meal with fish, vegetables, chicken, soup and rice. The place was quite crowded with holiday-makers picnicking and having fun in the water.
The water in this rocky stream was crystal clear and cooling as well but unfortunately it appeared as though it was fast drying up and there was not much left to cater to the crowd, all rushing for what's left of deeper areas. For us, it was a rather pleasant place to have lunch'.

Teuk Chou's time is up apparently, recent reports [March 2011] on the Khmer 440 forum refer is as a 'fetid creek'. Certainly not worth a visit.

Elsewhere in Kampot province reference is made to Anlong Thom waterfall. Anyone been there?