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Khlong Lan Waterfall

An Impressive Waterfall

Khlong Lan National Park is located in the Dawna mountain range of Kamphaeng Phet province.

Khlong Lan National Park stretches across the mountain ranges to the west of the province, covering some 300 square kilometers of land, with peaks reaching up to 1,400 meters. The pristine jungles act as a filter for the rain that falls and flows into the region's streams, eventually reaching the Ping River.

Obviously, as everywhere else in Thailand, there are two distinct prices for access to the national parks... the Thai price and the foreign price...

In Thailand's national parks, everything is always highly regulated. It's normal and almost obligatory, because when you look at some of the foreign tourists, it's easy to understand why.

This is my first trip through Thailand at this time of year: early October. I usually visit these places in "high season" (March/April), but I have to admit that nature is much more beautiful, starting with this waterfall, which is not a simple stream pouring down from the top of its cliff, but a real waterfall, dense, powerful, heavy and well fed by the frequent rains in this season. 

And here's an extremely important point: in October, you don't have to endure the smoke from the slash-and-burn operations that systematically spread throughout the north of the country from February to the end of April, preventing you from admiring, photographing and also... breathing normally!

The waterfall is magnificent, of course, but above all impressive. It must be said that it's October, still the rainy season, and the rivers upstream are well fed... nothing to do with the "dry" season (February to April). Its total height is close to 100 metres, which is not bad at all.
Shortly before arriving at the site, a heavy downpour that lasted about 20 minutes drenched the entire region. As everything was very wet, we limited our movements on the very slippery rocks, not wanting to end up with unnecessary injuries on our first outing.

Leaving this lovely forest behind us, we walk a few hundred meters to find a newly-created Coffee-Shop... very modern, completely out of the traditional and very pleasant to discover.

More and more plas in Thailand, we find this kind of establishment offering refreshments or cappuccino, cafe latte etc...

A coffee-shop out of the ordinary...


For the record, we had stayed in Kamphaeng Phet, where we found a very decent bungalow at a very reasonable price... we had originally planned to stay in Phitsanulok, but coming from the south, this location reduced the distance and travel time to reach the waterfall.

Emplacement géographique (Partie Nord du Pays)