Khao Sok jungle hike: journey to the giant bamboo

In terms of an epic Khao Sok jungle hike, our recent trek to the ‘Chiang Ruun’ bamboo ranks among the best! The hike featured dense jungle with unique karst geography and flora, along with some truly bizarre insect sightings. Additionally, we saw the ‘Chiang Ruun’ bamboo, growing on a mountain ridge high atop a limestone karst mountain.

‘Chiang Ruun’ (ไผ่เฉียงรุน) is a member of the Dendrocalamus family. It is the largest species of bamboo in Thailand, and grows in only a few places throughout the south. One of the sites for this natural wonder is Klong Phanom National Park, just up the road from Khao Sok. Compared to Khao Sok, Khlong Phanom is tiny, with 90% of the park’s area occupied by steep limestone karts. Due to this fact, the park is virtually unknown and almost never visited. As a result, Khlong Phanom has maintained much of its natural diversity.

Our Khao Sok jungle hike to the ‘Chiang Ruun’ bamboo began in the back of a 4×4 pickup truck. At first, the road was level, with potholes and well maintained palm oil and rubber plantations on either side. Then, as we continued higher into the mountains, however, the road grew steeper. Potholes turned into ravines, and plantations grew increasingly wild. Finally, these gave way to healthy rainforest.

At this point, the road ended in dense jungle. Massive tropical hardwoods were everywhere and liana vines stretched from tree to tree. The air was thick, and full with the sounds of birds and insects.

Even though our trail was under water due to the heavy monsoon rain, we were able to find a path skirting the base of the cliff. As we made our way around, we took in the unique ecosystem of the low-level karst cliffs: strange flowers, grasses and trees sprouted from tiny cracks in the rock. Massive trees clung to the cliff face as well, their roots like melted cheese dripping to the ground. Moss and lichens covered nearly every surface.

Chiang Ruun Bamboo

Soon we gained the ridge, and the tops of the ‘Chiang Ruun’ bamboo became just visible over nearby trees. Next, we descended to a small shelf below, and found ourselves at the goal of our Khao Sok jungle hike. Finally we were in the ‘Chiang Ruun’ grove! There were about six separate thickets of the massive bamboo within sight of each other.

Our guide estimated each grove to be over 100 years old. The massive trunks soared upwards. Whereas other bamboo tends to lean, these trunks were arrow straight, and aiming for blue sky. All around were ‘Naw:’ the new shoots. Similarly, these were gigantic, some taller than a man. We marveled at the age and size of the bamboo, which took two of us to wrap our hands around. Simply being among those ancient plants, high on a mountain ridge, was amazing!