Wang Tai Hotel Surat Thani

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Not a lot to do when we got to Surat Thani, had some very good Chicken Fried Rice and a couple of beers, checked our emails an chatted to a couple of lads from Germany and then boarded the overnight sleeper train to Bangkok.

This time we had booked second class sleepers which are contained within the main body of the carraige, but you have quite a large ...

... to take a 1 day hike in to the jungle. There we were expecting a nice stroll, maybe a little bit of off road terrain to clamber over but generally a nice day ahead of us.. how wrong we were!! There were 4 of us plus the guide on the 'trek' and we trekked way into the jungle, climbing over and under trees, hanging around trees off sheer cliff edges, clambering and manouvering our way over rocks and rivers.. a full 8 hours of climbing, walking, clambering ...

... be up and out at 7am. I struggled to sleep and got really frustrated and Nick tried to calm me down. I still only got to sleep at 2.30am and then got woke up by hooting gibbons at 5am so I was very tired. At 7am we went on a dawn safari where we saw macaques ...

... the next day). In the evening we ate under the moonlight at a beach restaurant. Returning home we passed a bungalow which had constantly been chucking out a sweet smelling smoke for a few days. And it still was. After 108 days (and who's counting?) my patience finally snapped and I had to go and ask the question. A German guy, about 50, was laying in his hammock completely pole-axed. And on the very friendly side of friendly. Bliss.

... and the company of these marine creatures is a blissful experience.The return journey was uneventful and we retired in our room. 29 May 08- An Adventure in Hilarity- Kayaking!! I got up earlier than usual at 3.45 AM ! Later after breakfast, we waited for the pickup and watched a grouup of 30 odd Chinese toursits who descended into the restaurant for breakfast noisily.. Today, we hwere to kayak at Ao Thalene. The forty min drive through thick foliage of rubber ...

... and then wait to be picked up to be taken to the Surrant Thani train station over 200 kilometers away. The transportation was late and it wasn't clear how I was getting there. Finally 45 minutes later, a van shows up and we then drive around picking up other passengers until the van was packed full. OK, it was going to a cramp ride I was thinking. But we drove to the company's bus depot where everyone got out and we registered where we were going ...

... the routine and found myself quite sleepy. But from the fourth day on, I found naps were no longer needed. 2:30 pm- Big bell chimes. Back to the meditation hall. The group gets some instruction on the meditation practice and then gets a chance to practice until 3:30. Then another 45 minutes of walking meditation followed by 45 minutes of sitting meditation. Then it was time for some chanting, which was usually a welcome change at this point of the day, as you can imagine ...

... taxix and ferries and skytrains, aiir conditioning and starbucks and so many people and the khoa san ****in road....except the sly thief in the night revisiting the mexican nightmare. To decisions or no decisions.....other countries...and it will be Malaysia first, a temptation of Indonesia and the Cambodia................till August!!!

... into every lift that came past. The weight limit alarm kept going off for this one large woman and we left them still chattering away excitedly. We tried to get to the pool from where we were but couldn't, so had to return to the lifts. We saw the large lady going down in one lift and then an instant later another lift arrived and spat her out. We did a double ...