River Kwai Jungle Rafts

We spent two beautiful days there. Very welcoming and friendly atmosphere, and the no electricity and Internet in the rooms concept worked very well for us. We also visited the Mon village and learned about Mon history. Our guide was answering all questions and shared a lot of interesting information with us. Swimming down the river was fun! I would go again.

The original Jungle Rafts on the River Kwai. Accommodation is basic with no electricity or hot water in the rooms, but we knew that when we booked. The rooms are dark to keep the heat down but the led hurricane lamps that have recently replaced the kerosene lamps aren’t bright enough to light the bedroom or bathroom so stumbling around in the gloom makes getting washed and dressed a bit of a challenge. Beds are comfortable with decent mosquito nets but a lack of breeze in the valley bottom makes the room stifling until the early hours of the morning when the temperature falls considerably. Don’t expect a good night’s sleep, and brace yourself for a cold shower next morning. However, the setting is out of this world. You get to/from the hotel by long tail boat. The staff are friendly and the food and service good. Meals are set meals served to your table. You buy drinks from the bar, and the prices are reasonable. The resident elephant comes down into the river at breakfast time and guests can feed it fruit. There are opportunities to float down the river in a life jacket or on a pontoon and be brought back up by long tail boat, or simply swing in a hammock and listen to the river flowing under the rafts. A great experience for one night.

The idea of "being with nature with no electricity" is cool. But the accommodation of the room could have been done so much better with the price (not that cheap). Of course we knew that it will be no electricity, no light, no air-con. The room should designed to let the air/breeze come, also big window or something that let the light come in. It was super dark even in the day light. Anyway, there are some good parts of the hotel. The jumping into the river is quite fun, but a bit dangerous since the river was strong. The location was nice to be in the middle of jungle. Amazing experience to wake up with the morning fog and the voice of water. Even though the room has no power, you can charge your things at the lobby. Some staff was nice, some was a bit rude.