On Jun 26, 2017 (Monday), we (9 of us) visited Erawan National Park, Kanchanaburi. It is located at the northwest of Bangkok, near the Myanmar (Burma) border. It's known for the Erawan Falls which cascades down 7 tiers (one of the MOST beautiful waterfalls in Thailand). The entrance fee for foreigner is 300 THB (adult) and 200 THB (children). As we were driving (Ford Ranger) there ourselves, we were charged an additional 30 THB per vehicle. It is open for visitors everyday all year round (7.00a.m. to 4.30p.m.).
There are many caves in Erawan National Park include Phartat Cave, Ta Duang Cave and others. As time doesn't allowed, we only focused on the major attraction, which is the Erawan Falls with emerald green ponds. To reach the Erawan Falls, we had an easy walk from the parking area before hiking up. We know we were on the right way when we saw the large welcome sign. Continued on the right side path into the jungle.
It is 7 tiered and spans over 1.5km, each tier has also number of smaller falls into ponds full of fishes. While hiking up, we noticed the path and waterfall is well maintained (clean).
We found fish everywhere in the ponds. The fish aren't shy and as we placed our feet into the water, they came and 'nibble' our feet (eating the dead skin). It was a strange feeling at first and we got used to it after a little.
The way up to the last 2 tiers isn't really built out and can be slippery. Many people recommend to climb up with solid shoe only. I've done it with sandals without any problems. We were so excited and motivated to reach the peak even faster when a couple from Netherland told us it's so pretty up there (they were coming down). We hiked up all the way to see all 7 of the waterfalls. It took us about an hour to reach up there. Tho it was low season (the water flow wasn't great), the beautiful sight was certainly worth the hike.
We frolicked at the 7th tiers. It was so amazed to see the blue hue natural pool (perhaps due to minerals) with our own naked eyes. We got to enjoy the natural fish spa as well. The cool pristine water is just way too good to cool down after the sweaty climb up. Later, the crowd starts to build up. I would say Erawan Falls has a huge number of 'Ang Mo' visitors. They changed to swimming shorts and bikini, then enjoyed the sunshine and ice-cool bath up there. After an hour plus relaxing in the pool, we started our way down. It was slightly crowded to come down as many visitors was just on their way up. We got to cleaned up ourselves and changed at the open air shower before leaving. See you again!
No doubt, the Erawan Falls is a MUST visit place in Thailand!
