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Well a lot has happened in the last two weeks! So here goes
Day 1: got to the Bangkok Centre Hotel around 4, got talking to some girls on one of the other tours and went to have lunch in china town, got back to the hotel to meet my group and tour guide (PunPun). We all went out for dinner along Cosan road, after dinner we went and had some drinks then went by tuktuk to see the ping pong, it was slightly disturbing.
Day 2: Southern Thailand Tour, day in Bangkok, went to see the reclining Buddha with PunPun our guide who was very informative. Caught the sleeper train from Bangkok station at 6pm, that was an experience! It's slightly disconcerting to try and go to the toilet when you can see and hear he track below you! Also if its morning and someone has left the window open you might even get to wave to the locals as the train speeds past.
Day 3: arrived at Surat Thani about 9 am and caught the bus to khao Sok national park where PunPun worked for about 5 years, the long tail boat then took us around the lake where we stopped off and had a swim, after swimming we then boarded the boat which dropped us off at a hut by the lake where the locals had made us lunch. Lunch consisted of rice, fresh fish and vegetables which was all very tasty.
After lunch we had 2 hours to do as we pleased, Emma and I decided to kayak round the lake for an hour and go swimming the other.
We then got back on the boat and headed to our hotel however half way through the boat trip it started to rain very hard and we all got soaked and ended up huddling behind our life jackets to try and keep the worst off.
Got to our hotel located at Khao Sok about 5 ish and had just enough time to get showered and changed before dinner. Dinner was nice except for the cicada that kept flying around and randomly landing on people. I didn't sleep very well as it was really hot and I had giant ants that kept crawling on my bed! Too many bugs for my liking!
Day 4: today we go tubing however before we could actually go tubing a leech attached itself to Emma's foot and one to my leg, yuck! Tubing lasted about an hour or so and was fantastic fun however we all got a little sun burnt. After tubing we caught a ferry from Surat Thani and headed to Koh Samui. We arrived in Koh Samui early afternoon and went for dinner at the salad bar around 6 pm.
Day 5: today I have decided to go to Ang Thong Marine National Park as most of the group are either going elephant trekking or having a relaxing day on the beach. Got picked up at 7 am and dropped off at the boat, me Alex on the way who is from America, I got on with her really well so decided to pair up for the kayaking round the islands. It was really pretty and involved going under some cliff overhangs, we were supposed to kayak into the lagoon but apparently the water level was too high in the cave that we needed to go through ! So we kayaked round the edge instead, however it had started to rain and the sea had got quite choppy which meant that paddling was quite hard work. We arrived at the beach and left the kayaks to walk up to the viewing platform, the steps were quite steep and narrow and it ws still raining so made it slightly more perilous. However the view of the lagoon from the platform was beautiful. We then headed back to the boat for some lunch, which was very tasty where we started talking to Colin and Warren, two fellow Americans and Pascale. As the sea was still really choppy that meant the island that we were supposed to go to was too dangerous for snorkelling and also meant that the visibility was too bad, so we had a choice either stay on the boat for a bit or go doing swimming for an hour. About half the group chose to go swimming as we knew that it would be much warmer in the sea than on the boat. We had a great time swapping stories about Thailand and Thai massages! Until we got called back to the boat because the other half of the group were cold and wanted to go home, they didn't look happy. Got back to the hotel to find out how everyone else's day had been, apparently it had rained all day which meant no one went to the beach and the elephant trekking was cancelled. Went out for dinner at arkbar, it was nice apart from the people that keep trying to get you to pay to have your photo taken with a monkey or iguana. Accomodation was nice however the air conditioning didn't work, it leaked!
Day 6: Today we have the morning in Koh Samui before travelling to Koh Tao, arrived in Koh Tao around late afternoon and had dinner at the restaurant opposite the hotel, however before I got my dinner I had to go and book my diving for tomorrow so by the time I got back everyone had finished theirs.
Had dinner then relaxed on the beach, after abut we went to check out the markets, they had some really nice things but it was definitely more expensive than Bangkok and they wouldn't barter!
Went and sat on the beach, had a few drinks and watched the fire show, didn't stay long as I had to be at the dive boat by 6:10 am!
Day 7: my dive instructor really put me at ease which was good considering the first dive was to 26 m! The dive was good, it took me a while to relax though, however didn't really see much which was a shame. I was more relaxed on the second dive and even took some photos, I don't know what their like yet until I find a computer to hook my camera up to. Got back to the hotel around 11 and had some lunch as I was starving because I had missed breakfast, after lunch I sat on the beach, did some swimming and relaxed.
Day 8: we had the morning to relax before catching the ferry to the mainland, we then caught a bus to a restaurant near the train station where we had dinner however I had a migraine so all I could manage was a few chips, PunPun had them set up a bed for me which helped until we had to walk to the train station, once there the beds on the train were already set up so it meant that I could go to sleep straight away.
Day 9: arrived back in Bangkok, dropped our bags off at the hotel and went to have breakfast next door, after breakfast I said goodbye and headed back to my hostel at lub d Siam square. I checked did my washing and had a shower then went hunting for walking boots ready for the next tour to Chiang Mai.
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