Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Day 6: Kho Suk National park + floating bungalows
Arrived at 6 am off of the train and dropped off our big backpacks at a guy called Tuk's grandparents house to be looked after. took our overnight bags and travelled for a few hours to get a long tailed boat through the national park which is a maaaassive lake with huge limestone cliffs and really clear water. Was the most amazing beautiful place we've ever been so have quite a few photos! we stopped off for a swim for an hour, jumping off the boat and the cliff. the water was really warm and not salty atall which was nice...we could wash our hair in it and everything! We then went to the floating bungalows at about 3pm and chilled and swam for a bit with rubber tyres and sunbathed. Took alot of photos of us jumping into the water but theyre on other peoples cameras. We then went to get some sea kayaks which were free and decided to set our aim as the wall of the cliff opposite...us and laura in one and si and laura in another.We spent about 40mins rowing out to this wall (it was alot further than it looked!) and found out that we were filling up with quite abit of water...didnt think much of it. We hit the wall and there were hundreds of spiders running around so we all had a panick attack and hazel burst our eardrums screaming and decided to rock the boat which filled it with water even more! then we were sinking quite alot and it was really off balance every time we moved and in the end we capsized and all fell in, by which time si and laura were already quite far ahead. we tipped the kayak back over but it was really full of water, got in and fell straight back out again so we ended up having to be towed back by si and laura's kayack and us 3 swimming by the side. apparently we were gone for about 2.5 hours so took a while to get back! Chris came to save us when we were about 5 mins away haha. We were then starving and shrivelled like prunes but had a massive buffet dinner at 7.30 which made us feel better. We sat and learnt how to play poker in the evening listening to music by candlelight as they only had electricity between 6.30 and 11 which was weird but we were provided with lanterns which was nice. we even saw one of those flys that light up when the walk and fly!
Day 7: day of travel to Koh Phangan and my birthday beach party
We got the bot back for an hour then a minibus for 2 hours to the ferry port, stopping at tesco on the way (yes..they have tesco in thailand!). we were the only tourists there as it was the middle of nowhere so everyone was staring at us. its a bit weird because whenever we are taking group photos the local Thai people and others take photos of us aswell. apparantly the whiter your skin the richer you are, which is why most moisurisers and stuff has bleach and skin whitener in it. Its a bit weird though how many photos are taken everywhere. the ferry was 2.5 hours and then got another taxi for 30 mins to the hotel. the hills WERE CRAZY in this place....worse than in wales! pretty much vertical...no zigzagging up hills to make it easier. We went up quite a few in 1st gear which was entertaining. there are loooads of mopeds and stuff but we were told not to try it because its crazy and loads of people fall off. we got into the hotel then shopping for uv tops and shorts,and for a meal and then went back to get ready in our UV gear. We went to a tattoo artist who painted some cool things on our arms and legs in uv paint and then headed to the beach. it was crazy busy because it was the full moon party the night before so there were still alot of people on the island from then. There were people playing with fire and a fire skipping rope which a few of us had a go at including hazel, and Rob singed off some hairs on his leg. not many people lasted long skipping but it was funny. there was a big foam canon and the foam came to above our head level so we were pretty much swimming in foam for ages. was a pretty crazy night and got a few good photos.
Day 8: Bryony's birthday - Koh Phangan: snorkelling,waterfall and thai boxing
Set off to get a long tailed boat again owned by Tuk called 'Snoop Dog'. The guys taking us round were called Pan (he called himself peter pan because he was 41 but looked younger) and Motel. We went snorkelling four about an hour and saw some fish and coral but it wasnt the best place apparently...there werent many bright colours. A few people cut their feet on the coral but pan had some iodine. We then went to get some lunch on Bottle Beach which can only be reached by boat as there are no roads there. Pan found out it was my birthday so he made me a necklace with a shell on the beach at this stall thing and gave it as a present. We then went to a waterfall place where the water was freezing but felt lovely as we were all sweating and sturggling with the heat (it was a 20 min walk to the waterfall). as soon as we got there pan jumped in and climbed a huge roch with a rope upside down then started jumping up it to the top then dived in from the top. We all got into the water and went under the waterfall which lead around to come outat the topa bit further round. There were loads of the waterboatmen spidery fly things on the water so everyone was a bit reluctant to go in certain places. Pan said he would give 5 free buckets of alcohol for every girl who managed to climb the rock and jump into the water and we thought he was joking. most people had a go but in the end it was Si, me, hazel and emma who managed it (with a bit of help). Then we went back and to the hotel thenfor a meal at a Jamaican place. We thendecided to go see thai boxing at the arena as there were some big fights that night so got our tickets for that and it lasted about 2 hours. Didnt expect to enjoy it as much as we did...was pretty cool and the fighters were tiny and some looked really young.
Day 9: Elephant trekking, Massage and party number 2
We went to a place about 40 mins away to do some elephant trekking. when we got there we met a baby monkey and a monkey that had a pet cat. if u sat down he would come sit on your lap and was really friendly then when the cat was put next to him he would hug it and check it for fleas. when the cat tried to leave the monkey pulled it back and wouldnt let it haha. We fed the elephants a few bananas each then got onto the chair thing. There were 2 big elephants which took me and hazel, and emma and Christine,and a small younger elephant which took Rob while the other 5 went to the beach.The trek was about 15 mins long and we had photos and were told to sit on its neck as it walked which was quite scary...its crazy how strong they are. when Hazel was sat on it the elephant kept hitting her with its ears aha. When we finished we had orange stripes on the back of our legs from the rust which wouldnt wash off with water so we had to walk around like it all day! we went to the beach on the van holding the baby monkey and sat for a drink untilwe were picked up. It was quite cloudy that day :(
Later we got back and went on the internet for a bit then had an hour-long thai massage. felt sooo good afterwards! was really relaxing..at the end they crack your toes,fingers and back! we went for our farewell dinner at a really posh place which was outside on the beach and as it was free we all got the most expensive thing going which was steak. then at the end of the meal the lights went off and everyone started singing happy birthday and they brought out a chocolate brownie with a candle in it! it was too windy for the candle to stay lit though so i blew it out as soon as the lighter touched it. Was a really yummy brownie. Then Chris gave us an evaluation form for the week which we filled out. We then went straight to Pan's place and he actually had 15 buckets with alcohol and coke stacked up ready...he wasnt joking! we sat and listened to si and chris singing and playing guitar and Pans song that he made up in thai and explained what it meant. We then went down to the beach to watch the fire people and dance again. I learnt how to do one of the bottle tricks off the bar men on the beach and hazel learnt how to do some of the fire stick twirls with out the fire. This was meant to be the farewell party but we all stayed together the next 2 days anyway.
- comments