Hi everyone,

Hope you are all keeping well.

I've finally managed to make time to update my blog. It's so difficult when you're constantly on the go sight seeing (i know, it's a hard life).

Anyway, my last blog finished with me arriving back in Bangkok after a fantastic week trekking in Chiang Mai so i'll start this one from there.

Saturday 9th May
On the first day back in the capital I said my goodbyes to the guys in my first tour group and met up with those in the second going to the south. As with the first group, there was a mix of people from different backgrounds; a guy called Jaime from the Dominic Republic, a fellow essex boy - Chris, 2 girls (Hannah and Jen) from Oxford, a lady called Farasana from Washington and Lucy, Marinder, Jade and Vicky all from the Bristol area. With the intensity of the travelling lifesyle we soon got to know each other really well and had a brilliant trip together. A few members of the group are in Oz around the same time as me and we plan to meet up there.

Anyway, after our first dinner together (surprise, surprise more noodles and rice!) we set off the following morning to go to the floating market via river taxi. It was interesting to see the locals congregated at the river bank buying fresh fish etc from the sellers on their longtail boats.

Sunday evening saw the group catch a sleeper train to Ao Nang in the south (another very long journey - 12 hrs on the train and then a 2 hr bus ride). Having checked into our hotel we headed straight to the beach. I know the term is over used but it was truly like paradise with the sun glistening over the turquoise, tranquil sea and the beautiful view of islands on the distant horizon.

We all jumped straight into the sea but, it has to be said, jumped out pretty soon after as Lucy was unlucky enough to get stung by a jellyfish! A nice lady selling drinks on the beach helped by getting some leaves that are meant to help relieve the pain (urine is another thing that is good for the stings but none of us volunteered ourselves to help in that way haha).

That evening we had dinner and drinks in a restaurant overlooking the seafront; the sunset was spectacular.

Tuesday 12th May
One of my highlights so far - 'Discover the Andaman Sea' boat trip. As there were 10 of us plus our tour guide, the lovely Lek, we were able to hire a private speed boat that took us to maya beach, phi,phi (where the movie The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed) and monkey island (as can be seen in my photos the boat got very close and we fed them bananas - thought they were going to hijack the boat there was so many of them)!

It was a brilliant day, I really enjoyed snorkelling the reef area and also just snorkelling in the shallows - there were so many different types of fish swimming around our legs . The best of all - I FOUND NEMO :-) I now intend to do a diving course so I can really experience the beauty and wonder of the ocean and it will be great for when I get to the barrier reef.

Snorkelling aside, it was great to just explore the islands and it felt as though I was a million miles away from the drudge of everyday life. I just couldn't stop smiling and it made me realise how lucky I am!

Wednesday 13th May
My last day in Ao Nang saw me Kayaking. I enjoyed it but as there was an odd number of us I went with a professional so it took the fun out of it a bit - as the rest of the guys had a laugh about their steering (or lack of) I was just leisurely rowing, taking in the view secure in the knowledge that the guy in the back had it all under control! Again, we had a visit from some crafty little monkeys who swung down from the trees but they didn't jump onto the kayaks as we were told they might.

In the afternoon we went elephant riding. I decided to do it again because the landscape was different from Chiang Mai (lusher) and this time I got the opportunity to come down off the seat and sit on the head - it felt very funny to have the elephant's ears slap against my legs as it tried to swat away the flies. My elephant was a bit of a liability and kept veering off course but we were the first back to the finishing point so he obviously knew what he was doing!

That brings my time in Thailand with GAP Adventures to a close. Next stop Malaysia!

Will update you again soon,
Paul