Khaolak Merlin Resort Khao Lak

Manta Queen 1 just came back today from the first great 4 day trip to the Similan islands. Bringing nice pic's and videos, will upload them soon.<br><br>Also I will soon move to my new office in Bang Niang in the Beach road, just waiting for the last Furnitures :-)<br>

After a 2 hour wait on the side of the road in Khao Lak a bus did finally materialise and w were soon in the air conditioned confines of the multi-patterned and karaoke blaring interior. Quick change in Phuket to a similar bus and we were on our way to Krabi. The limestone cliffs, Whats and giant Buddha statues helped while away the journey. After bargaining ...

... for a full month of running around bali and java and sulawasi. i hope to get some diving in along with all the other sight seeing tourist things that are a must. its funny how diving has invaded and nudged its way into my life. its half hobby half job so it cant be entirely bad right? anyway, i have included some photos from the similans so you guys can check them out. remember....im getting paid for this lol

... high estimate is that up to 10,000 people died here. The waves got as high as 5 meters (15 feet) in this area, and basically flattened out the whole town. The waves crashed over the beachfront resorts and the flooded the main street in town. You can still find large ships that floated above all the resorts and finally landed on the other side of the road, more than a mile away. The night boat to Khao Lak was another crazy ...

... nail-biting due to the bus drivers chain smoking and serial mobile phone conversations (swapping hands to change up and down gears). he also wove from lane to lane, also carefully utilising the hard shoulder for those sharper bends that required more space seeing as he didnt brake below 80mph at any point!!! but i made it here alive and have checked into the accommodation part of the khao lak seafood place. its not as ...

... un requin leopard dort. Enfin je ne sais pas s'il dort vraiment tu sais, parce qu'il nous regarde avec ses petits yeux...on est une quinzaine autour de lui, c'est l'attraction, une photo, toujours plus gros toujours plus pres. Il ne bouge pas l'animal...il en prend pourtant des flashs dans la figure. Il a du en voir d'autres tu me diras, il est requin lui, c'est LUI la star du coin. Il doit faire dans les trois metres de long, ce requin leopard. Au bout d'un moment ...

... to a hospital for an X ray, and that it really wasn't acceptable to take me back to the camp and let me hang out there while they finished their 3 days in the jungle ... "Jeez, is this really happening ?" I was thinking to myself ... Strong though Joe was, he just wasn't able to keep carrying me alone so it fell to various travelling companions to take a limb each in an attempt to carry me a bit further - this didn't really work. So then the ...

... exchange emails with one young man after an interesting conversation about tradition vs. dhamma (teachings of the Buddha). The next day we went on a 2 day Meditation/Intro to Buddhism retreat up out of the city with a small group of other folks. It really was a great experience all round and one I highly recommend! On a day when Michele and her other Seattle friend Hal went to the Elephant camp outside of town I finally decided to try renting a scooter and exploring the city or more ...

... so we sit on the wall and only watch the end. This is the first year the festival will be celebrated in 2 places in Sukothai: the Old City and the New City. It has never been held in the New City before. I send off a khrathong into the pool with my new friend. The custom is to thank the water and make a wish. When the girl and her friends go home, I go to see my godmother. She wants to know where my German ...

... it was wonderful! Towards the end of the ride around the park (before the 15K back to the guesthouse that is) cycling became mysteriously difficult, the bike just wasn't co-operating very well. Turned out Missy here had driven over a plant called Mimosa which has vicious little spikes that love nothing more than puncture bike tyres. I may not have been my bossy usual self, but I still love a bit of a drama. The boys had the tyre off and on ...