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Lau speaking!
So, we left Laos by bus and headed to the border crossing. What we didn't realise was that there is a leaving fee...(you have to pay to leave a country?!) So after we had budgeted all of our 'Kip' to last us the whole of our last day in Laos we had to borrow from some guy on the bus! He trusted us enough to let us pay him back in Baht when we got to Thailand. The worst part of it was that if we hadn't have bought that last pack of mentos we would've had enough!
Anyway, after an uncomfortable 13 hour-over night journey into Thailand, we made it into Chiang Mai. In Chiang Mai we took a tour to the jungle, which was the most amazing of tours! The first day was spent trekking. We were driven into the jungle and stopped for lunch before the big trek started...we were provided with fried rice (Lou's favourite!) for lunch and they told us to sit on this bamboo platform to eat it. We perched on the edge as it looked quite unstable, but they pretty much insisted that the 11 of us sat on it. Then another 11 joined us. Then there was a crack! and the right side collapsed down the hill!! 3 people went flying backwards, lots of people lost their rice but me and lou made a quick run for it, rice and bodies intact! Phew. But what a start to the trek! After trekking we stayed in a local village in their bamboo huts with a mattress and mosquito net each. Of course as we were sat around the camp fire someone shouted from inside our hut..."There's a massive spider on my bed!!" which put me into a mega panic! Lou was very courageous and made sure that when we went to bed we were trapped tightly inside our mozzie net but it was difficult to sleep with the cat roaming around the hut and the cockerel's blaring in the early hours!
The next day was spent riding ELEPHANTS!! We of course were paired with the naughty elephant who took us off in the wrong direction to find some food! We were then taken down the river on a bamboo raft then 5 of us out of the 22 carried on trekking to another village. Here we stayed with The Long Neck Tribe, the women who wear the big necklaces around their necks like a neck brace. It was really interesting to see them, amazing that they actually sleep like that, it looks so uncomfortable! We spent the evening singing around the bonfire with the 'Old Man of the village', legend! Then on our final day we went swimming in a nearby waterfall and then did white water rafting! It was one hell of a 3 day trek.
Our next stop in Thailand was Kanchanaburi. This is where Grandad was a POW for a little while, where he helped build the Thai-Burma railway and where the Bridge over the River Kwai is. We visited the bridge and the war cemetery, and then went to the Death Railway museum, which was really interesting, really great to learn more about Grandad and what he went through.
Whilst there we also went to Erawan Waterfall. Very beautiful place, but so high with 7 tiers, it took us most of the day to get to the top!!
We then headed to Koh Tao, an island in the Southern Gulf of Thailand. We had our very own bungalow on the beach (consisting of a bed and a bathroom but also a porch and two chairs!). After our first night out, Lou decided that diving was for her and signed up for 3 days to gain her PADI certificate (which also involved homework and mini tests, in which Lou will be pleased to announce she achieved 100% in all!!! Teachers pet!)
We left Kao Toa and 'Island Hopped' to Koh Phangan, just across the water. This is where we were spending Xmas and New Year...Christmas Eve was spent on the beach, drinking beer and eating banana splits. We then met some friends from Koh Tao who knew of a party taking place. We had to get a wooden motor boat across some very stormy waters but the party was ace and we didn't leave until 4am! We then got on another wooden motor boat that we struggled to get off the beach so everyone (well the boys) had to get out and push, and at the same time the sail swung round and trapped Lou's hand! So when we returned to our bungalow, nurse Lou had to talk me through how to bandage a broken finger. Christmas day was spent on the beach, treating ourselves to white wine! We had a christmas dinner at an Aussie bar (no where near as good as home but it was a good substitute!) We then went to the Full Moon Party in the evening which involved lots of vodka buckets, lots of body paint and dancing til 8am, enough said!!
The next island we went to was Koh Samui, where we had a lovely bungalow with a pool! Fancy. The island also had a massive Tesco on it with a cinema (with an English speaking film playing!!), it was like being home! On New Years Eve we got a speed boat back to Koh Phangan and spent another night at the Full Moon party, another goodun!
Our next stop was back on the mainland, Khao Sok National Park. We found a nice bamboo hut, high off the ground to stay in. We went for a short trek around the National Park, saw many monkeys, massive alligator lizards, many spiders and even some tarantulas popping out from their little holes (not my most favourite part). Lou also had a nasty run in with a leech, who managed to leap out of the mud and cling to her for a good 5 minutes until she realised and had to rip him off...NOT nice for either party involved.
Whilst at Koa Sok we also seemed to have our own little national park following us around. The first incident involved 3 rough, angry looking dogs who wouldn't let us past their field without barking madly at us. We managed to run past them once they had calmed down a little but as i'm sure you can understand, Lou was a little shaken by this ordeal. So to make matters worse, on our walk into town in the evening (bear in mind we were walking along a dark woodland path with only a torch to guide us) we came across another dog (I believe the same one!) who barked madly at us, ALMOST stopping us gping for dinner (although...as if I was letting him get that over on us!). So we then had to walk back that way and there he was agaain! So Lou was especially brave and we zoomed back to the safety of our wooden hut...or so we thought. I then walked into the bathroom and walked straight back out again after seeing the BIGGEST spider i have ever come across. NO exaggeration. Even Lou was shocked by the size and speed of this one. But the brave soul that she is managed to scoop it into the bucket (used to flush stuff down the toilet) and took it far away. But oh my...it doesn't end there. After wrapping ourselves into our mosquito net later that night, pretty shaken up, we then heard this noise underneath the hut. It sounded like a cross between a duck's quack and a pig's grunt and it's footsteps as it walked away sounded loud enough to be a tiger. I swear! Still, neither of us was brave enough to take a look so that one remains a mystery!!
Thailand To Be Continued...
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