Chaba Cabana Hotel Surat Thani

... and no one seemed to understand my pronunciation of "Ko Tao," even struggling with the ticket itself. Eventually one woman sussed out my destination and as it turned out the idiot driver had taken me to the wrong part of town, back I got into the bus and was driven to a different office ten minutes away. Once I arrived, a guy of perhaps eighteen manned the desk, accompanied by a docile dog on a sofa nearby. He spoke decent English, took my ticket and proceeded ...

... for wildlife, and after nearly an hour of searching, we caught some rustling in some trees where we sat and watched around 20 monkeys at play. Back home for breakfast when we realised why they call it the rain forest - a huge rain storm came over us out of nowhere...and disappeared within 10 minutes.

Then off back to the mainland for a drive to Khao Sok National Park to stay at our hotel deep in the jungle, by the river, within the trees.

... the end, we didn't even eat our breakfast because the beautiful landscape excited us and we all took the cameras out. Traveling is just like this, it has so many unexpected moments that would leave footprints in our heart. I breathed in the fresh morning air and I feel the pure love and happiness from being in the present set in. Friend at Krabi We all met Ae, a friend of Pan who took us around town. First, for our breakfast, he ...

... ran off and the bus driver starts pulling out our luggage - 'hurry' he says 'ferry about to go' (WTF?? Why didn't you simply leave earlier? We've been ready for the last 3 hours!!). Meanwhile, we saying back to him 'give us bags and we'll go'. We got on OK, however, I'm not sure that all of our bus did... The ferry was hot outside, hot inside and the VIP room (50 Baht) didn't look like anything special so we stayed ...

... man and his brand new air-con pickup with leather seating was a welcome change from the butt-destroying chicken buses, especially considering our battered condition. The Krabi Province countryside we drove through was like something out of an ancient Chinese painting, covered in light jungle with towering limestone facades all around. A few of these rock formations had temples on top. About an hour in the landscape flattened and gave way to endless rice ...

... in bulk! If you have to buy shoes, you need to buy at least six pairs and so is true for most of the stuff. The narrow allyways are congested with people and hawkers but are truely enchanting!.The local handicrafts, clothes, bags literally everything under the sun is available. 20 May 08- A vist to Pratunam Shopping Area and Patpong Night Bazar Yet another day in the busy market of Pratunam was rewarding! A vist to the Patpong Night Bazaar was very interesting ...

... other Thais who were also likely to get sea sick!). I unloaded our bags, and I went off to find a cheap room for the night. Found something quite cheap and very basic - but reasonably clean. She is fine today, and we are now booked on a speed boat for Koh Samui (a 2 hour trip). Have to say I didn't mind too much as I didn't relish the idea of this boat!! So tonight we will be in Koh Samui... ...

... laid back feel of the island, we have definately stepped things down a gear since getting here. Our routine each day is much the same. We get up about 9ish, have breakfast at our resort and walk along Bophut Beach to settle outside a fab place we have found called Coconut Calm Bungalows. Its set right on the waterfront, has loads of sunloungers we can use, plays cool tunes all day long and does cheap cocktails and gorgeous food. The staff ...

... the silence and a reliable daily routine. The daily routine: Big bell rings at 4 am, continuously for 15 minutes to wake everyone up from their restful sleep on their concrete beds. By candlelight, I would wash my face, brush my teeth, change clothes and head out the dorm to the early morning session. At 4:30 in the meditation hall, everyone would be seated on their cushions, and we would listen to a reading on a specific area of meditation pactice or about Buddhism. This ...

... The pineapple and mango go surprisingly well with chillis - heh, I think I'm getting hooked. Anyway, I'm off to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand where I have already enrolled in a day-long Thai Cooking School. For my next posting, I might walk you through the making of a curry or something else fun. Until then... PS - Happy belated 4th of July! You'll see a picture of my surprise American bbq by the beach. Nothing like celebrating your national holiday in Thailand. Truly an adventure...