Elephant Hills Tented Camp Surat Thani

... of the journey to Surat Thani. We stopped around once an hour at petrol stations; the driver bore an uncanny resemblance to Kim Jong Il and was equally tyrannical, with grumpy pigeon English imperatives thrown at me a-plenty, as if I was a small child who didn't understand basic concepts. "You! Go shop!" and "Come now! In bus!" were his favourites.<br><br>Finally we arrived in Surat Thani around 5pm, and stopped at some kind of transport agency. No one spoke any ...

... forever....looking forward to our full day hike in the jungle shortly!<br><br>We spotted a tarantula's nest, which our guide prodded with a stick to see if anyone was home...Dean hid behind Michelle at this point....so she could get a better look, of course :o)<br><br>But thankfully, Mr Tarantula wasn't home.....or unluckily as we searched around our feet! We spotted Chameleons...which Dean was quite impressed by as one started turning white as the flash from his camera was hitting it ...

... a vivid description of the experience of the folks involved in the organization. They very sadly lost two staff members.) <br><br>I was happy to learn that there were a number of other volunteers on the island with me, since I'd had no idea if it would just be me - Daniella, Anna (my roommate while on the island) and Lucia (a kung fu expert, who gave us a lesson) from Switzerland; and, Julia, Sophie, John and Leslie from England. The staff included Karina from Portugal ...

... fellow travelers were happily in the back, snoring. Heading out of Phuket - we saw a very strange festival going on - the driver called it 'thai lang'? (does anyone know what it is?) Various men and women on the back of trucks in some type of trance. People were lined up along the road, all wearing white with offerings in baskets and burning incense. Have a close look at the photos - why would anyone put a lampshade ...

... the paper plate holding my first one and sent it hurling food-side-up onto the ground. It would've been so delicious. :-( The second crepe survived and made it all the way into my tummy. They're technically called "Thai roti" or "Thai pancakes" fyi, but were more akin to crepes in appearance and flavor so I shall refer to them as such. Google will however be confused by a search for "Thai crepe." The clock struck 3, we hopped on the ferry and bid farewell to the ...

... aswell. And because the monkey was so small and helpless, it was clinging onto the kitten like it was its mother, hoping to be carried around and looked after. Thing was, the kitten was maybe a centimetre bigger than the monky, so couldnt really manage to support this thing on its back. It was all a bit tragic.. thankfully the resort owners did let these creatures out to stretch their legs, and we got a bit of cuddling time with them too :) The next day, I left for koh Samui..

... our return to Khao Lok town, we spent our last night in our $15 room, and stepped up to our new digs, which ran around $40 a night. The room sits in a park like palm tree garden forest. The room has AC, TV Cable, fan, and a wonderful bed. The Pu Khoa lok has a nice pool and wonderful restaurant. and sits across from Nang Thong beach. We will stay here the last two nights in Khao Lok. Each evening we go down to the beach for a Chang beer and sunset ...

... avec des regards de psychokiller de temps en temps) et quelques autres touristes, on rejoint pour l'embarcadere d'ou les longtail boats partent. Le lac est tellement enorme qu'il nous faut 1h30 de bateau pour arriver a notre "residence", des petits bungalows de bamboo et paille flottant a meme le lac. La traversee, magnifique, nous permet de longer de hautes falaises de calcaires et des berges recouvertes de jungle a la recherche d ...

... structures built nearly a thousand years ago, alternating between Buddhist and Hindu civilizations, and later abandoned to the elements. The first afternoon we toured Angkor Wat, the most recognizable temple with our wonderful guide Nak. He filled us with information about the history of the temple, the civilization, its battles, and culture. We climbed to a nearby temple and watched a lovely sunset, along with about a thousand other tourists. It really is the ...