Samui Heritage Resort Ko Samui

... that evening and sampled a little of our favorites: spring rolls, panang curry, and cashew chicken stir fry. We found a new favorite in our dessert: mango sticky rice. If you haven't tried it before, we highly recommend it. We did some souvenir shopping and then called it a night as we had an early ferry and flight back to Bangkok.

... wrapped in banana leaves and off we went. The morning
went well – although very hot and humid. It was Ok while walking,
but within seconds of stopping to look at something you can feel the
sweat dripping from every part of your body! We saw monkeys swinging
from trees, a stupidly big and scary spider and more chameleons...and
felt the bite of lots of damn mozzies!

We stopped by a waterfall after Dean
and Dave were admiring an army of termites ...

... aound caves and through limestone passages and across open stretches off the sea. Then we headed back onto the boat for lunch where we were served up a tasty thai buffet including lots of fruit and rice which we only had a short time to enjoy before our next and final stop. This was the best bit. We were dropped off by long tail onto the most beautiful place i have ever laid eyes on. It was this powdered white sandy beach with crystal waters leading ...

... turns out later this isn't really Surat Thani as that's a big sprawling city, so who knows where we were), we eventually board a bus which drops us off a couple of hours later in at a service station where a songthew (roofed pickup truck) awaits us. We head off to Khao Sok National Park but there's a lot of debate over what's going to happen. Originally the plan was to go to the ...

... see the weekend market Chatuchak , but not without a visit to the Gems and Jewellery store enroute which has one of the most beautiful and fascinating works of jewellery , gems and stones. One can actually see these being manufactured by the locals.The tuk tuk drivers in Bangkok insist on this addition to iternary as they earn a gasoline voucher. The Chatuchak market is a must visit with all kinds of shops selling every thing one can think of from assortment of ...

... ferry ride to the island. That wasn't going to be the case. The bus ride took a good hour and a half (numb bums by the end, not the most comfy bus ride!) then we had to get of the bus and onto the ferry which took an hour and a half. Then from the ferry, we had to get the most expensive taxi ride to our hotel in Chaweng (the main tourist place in the island and it was on the other side of the island from the ferry port) and ...

... we hit a rapid I said goodbye to my sunglasses for good. At the end of the river we were picked up in a songthaew and driven to the monkey temple. This "temple" is built in a cave and holds the remains of a famous monk (canīt recall which one now). Itīs called monkey temple because there are tons of little monkeys that live there - in the wild of course. We didnīt see monkeys, so we headed to a waterfall...as we ...

... but I was RIGHT next to the huge windshield of the second deck and I couldn't help thinking what a goner I'd be if we were in an accident.  I still stayed there and slept. At 5:30 the bus arrived on Koh San Road in Bangkok.  With the sleep barely out of my eyes I ran off the bus and was bombarded by the taxi and tuk-tuk drivers.  I was determined not to get scammed again so I refused them all and started walking down the street, to where I don't know.  Finally I ...

... im ****** about this and say no. after 20 minuets the guys comes back and says " just tell them that you already paid and get on the bus" i say cool and jump on this bus. there are a total of 11 seats on this bus, but we manage to fit 13 people with everyones backpacks into this clown car .. mind you its also a tree hour ride (not a three hour tour) - so what ever, after that ride we stop somewhere outside of Krabi. We are then told its 150 ...

... wanted. One thing that was very much stressed and obvious was that practicing a medatative life is very much up to the individual and that there was not going to be anyone chasing you around making sure you were doing what you were supposed to be doing. You could put as much or as little effort into your practice, but were told that the most effort shows the most positive results. (Side note: During chanting, there was this one Thai monk who would make us chant this one part ...