Wang Tai Hotel Surat Thani

... proof of the influence of Mahayana Buddhist on Surat Thani. Phra Boromathat Chaiya is the most revered and important historical place in the province. It is believed that the pagoda contains Buddha relics.<br><br><br> Today, Surat Thani is an important commercial and shipping hub for rubber and coconut trading.<br>

... be a big driving day so after lunch we got straight back on the road heading for where we would spend the next 2 nights - at 'Kao Sok' national park and rain forest. This is meant to be one of the oldest rainforests in the world and is huge! It was a horrible rainy day - torrential rain where we couldn't see even 5 metres infront of us in the car.. so the drive took forever - well about 8 hours!! Nightfall came and we were still driving through this large ...

... really fun but eventually we found our way to the other side and then had a bit of a trek back to the longtail. We then had a little dusk safari on the lake. We saw monkeys (langurs) and lots of hornbills flying overhead. We had tea and an early night as we had ...

... find ourselves a beachside bungalow. No geckos this time but instead we have a 3 ft Monitor Lizard for company. There are parties on this island but we're taking that with a big pinch of salt collected from my skin after arriving covered in the stuff from our 'Pirates on the Ocean' exploits in getting here. In other news....9 districts around Chiang Rai in the North of Thailand have declared states of emergency as 2 people have died due to the temperature plummeting to a freezing.....54 degrees.

... apparently. No one seems too worried and in a few hours we were up and running again. ? Still boggles my mind till this day! So our upgraded aircon express sleeper train turned out to be a window seat slow train delayed 4 hours with no food or light! :) ..... But its still better then the bus! I think! In the end we arrived to Bangkok, and booked a flight to Chaing Mai that evening! We got to Chaing Mai met up with eddie and Linds and went to the night market! Our ...

... shops selling clothes, curios and foreign exchange vendors, massage parlors etc. Later in the evening we took a Songthew(a local bus open at the rear and can take upto 15 passengers) to the Krabi town.The ride to Krabi town through the lush green jungles,along small hillocks and occasional brush with seacoast was thoroughly enjoyable.The small fruit and vegetable market was very interesting and haggling with the vendors was a nice experience! 26 May 08- Accosted ...

... people fall the 20 foot drop onto the beach, injuring themselves on the sharp vast rocks below. It was terrifying....there was no sign of our boat and even if there was we had no hope of getting on it. We considered trying to get booked into a place for the night on Koh Pha Ngan but the chances of that were remote as the island usually sells out weeks ahead around the Full Moon Party. We got talking to these two Aussie couples who were also stranded and desperate to get ...

... round tanks of water around the dormatory where clothes washing was done. Washing your clothes by hand with cold water was another new activity that took time to learn and get used to. There is an art of soaking, scrubbing, rinsing and wringing as I suppose, there is in all things in life. My room was number 108 (an auspicious number in eastern religions I'm told) but was the same as every other. A contrete box with a wooden door and small window with bars on it. There ...

... to add an additional shaker to my salt and pepper set when I get home :) As for flavors, I've noticed lots of lemongrass, basil, coriander, ginger, garlic, lime juice, coconut milk and yes, more chilli. It's interesting how these spices are found in all facets of thai life here, not only in the physical food. The other thing I am loving is how lots of foods are sold in cute, perfectly proportioned bags that can be set out in a display case (never refrigerated - barely anything ...