Along the Mae Klong River
This page is a supplement to the Umpang & Tee Lor Su Home page.
The Mae Klong river passes through Umpang past the Tee Lor Cho
waterfall and on to a site not far from Tee Lor Su. Outside of the rainy season (the only
suitable time to visit Umpang) it is a sluggish stream only a few feet deep. During the
rainy season, July to October, it is apparently quite a torrent. Travelling by rubber raft
from Umpang to a site close to Tee Lor Su takes about five hours.
A second leg of the journey, from Tee Lor Su to a pick up site close to the metalled road, takes about three hours. The journey is through tropical rainforest and past strange limestone outcroppings. This combined with the silence of the raft and occasional glimpses of monkeys and other fauna make the trip an experience not to be missed.
Rafting from Umpang begins with the Mae Klong little more than a stream meandering through low land bush. After the confluence with Huai Nam Yen river it gathers strength and enters a limestone gorge. Tee Lor Cho (sometimes written as "The Lo Cho") waterfall is one of the first sights in the gorge. The river then passes some hot water springs. The most curious rock formation is a naturally occurring limestone bridge between two escarpments. At Tha Sai (sandy wharf) visitor can leave the river for a 10 kilometre journey to camp site close to Tee Lor Su. There is no real road just a track through the forest, transport is by a bone breaking pick up truck. The camp site is little more than a collection of very small (two person) tents. There are a few Thai families living there. One women does a bit of cooking now and then. There is a sort of shop, no sign its just a house that sells things, that is sometimes open and sometimes has supplies of instant noodles, canned fish, eggs, packaged snacks, cigarettes and, if you are very lucky, beer. Take your own supplies!
The second stage of the rafting trip is from Tha Sai to Ban Palatha. The raft often passes under rock overhangs. Here stalactites and naturally occurring stone pillars have grown from the limestone walls of the gorge.
Local guest houses can organise these river trips at reasonable rates. Visitors need to be warned, however. Most trips are made up of Thai groups whose general idea is to sing songs and make as much noise as possible. (Amateurs singing Thai songs sound like the noise you get when an American football player stands on a cat's tail) This scares away the animals and hides the sound of the forest, thereby defeating the whole point of the trip. It is worth arranging an individual trip no matter what it costs.