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Hello Niamh and how many modes of transport does it take to get from Koh Samui to Khao Sok?!
Khao Sok, Thailand
Dolly Parton woke us up and we got up and had a cold shower, that was enough to wake us up, we headed down to the very closed reception area at 05:45 to wait for the bus which would arrive between 06:00 and 06:20 AM. We loaded up the WiFi to check on Sarah's Facebook and some great news had happened while we were sleeping, Jess and Paul our good buddie (who I am to be breast man for) had had there first child Niamh Jean Gibson and mother and baby were doing amazing. I was happy Sarah was happy, our little godchild was safe and well on planet earth. The bus arrived at about 06:05 and we were on our way, we got got off the minibus, and loaded on to a big bus, this we found odd as we were supposed to be on a boat after the bus, it then waited for about thirty minutes and drove us around the corner to the port, we were then instructed to get off, everyone was confused. We got off, 'can we have our bags please?' which were underneath, 'no bus go on boat' ah it made sense now. We got off on foot and the bus drove on, the boat trip was two hours long and was very smooth we hardly knew we were moving and it felt like we had only been on there for about ten minutes. We got out and back on the bus, cracked out a crisp sandwich and a biscuit. The bus drove from the port to Surat Thani where we stopped in a cafe/restaurant. The lady in the restaurant said 'forty five minutes wait for bus to Koah Sok' 'thank you' we said, we sat there for an hour and a half (I had a pot-noodle and watched Jackass the movie) then a bloke with a moustache said 'you go to my tuk-tuk to Koah Sok' 'o.k my duck, no problemo' we got in, Sarah couldn't believe we were to travel all the way to Koah Sok (a good 150 km away on a tuk-tuk) he set off the little engine screaming (a tuk-tuk is a little van with a moped engine and a pick up bit on the back, great fun), but after ten minutes he stopped at a place and said 'right you out here' I looked confused, and asked 'why?', he said 'to wait for bus' 'I just have waited for a bus for one and a half hours, what time does it leave?' he said something in Thai to a lady there and then said 'right back in tuk-tuk' in a cheerful manner, we got back in, very confused, 'where are we going now?' 'to get bus' he replied. My patience was wearing thin but I had to keep reminding myself that it was all part of the travelling experience. He dropped us off at a bus station and a man gave us two tickets, 'next bus to Koah Sok 13:50' he said (we were supposed to be there at 13:30). We waited. To be fair at 13:30 we did get on the bus which eventually left at 14:00. The journey was long and hot, with every kilometre we went the greenery seemed to get thicker. After two hours I asked if the bloke collecting tickets could give us a shout when we arrived at Koah Sok. Indeed he did and we hoped off the bus, no sooner had we got off the door shut behind us and he was gone. Koah Sok is a 250 Million acre national park which is a rainforest/jungle. We looked around and as we were slightly up a hill we could see out across the canopy of the jungle, it looked a lot like the start of Emerdale Farm with the tree's but more tropical. We walked across the road, there were three girls there touting for business (not pro's they were drumming up business for there hotels), 'jungle hut, nice accommodation, cheap clean?' one was parading round with a board, 'we are looking for Nung House' we said, she sighed and sat down and the other one stood up gleeful in her triumph and led us to her car (I assure you she was not a prozzy, even though it does sound that way). She drove us the mile down the track road to Nung House, it was set in jungle territory with lovely gardens surrounding it. We got there and a bent lad approached us, we said 'just one night please' he showed us the accommodation and it was nice, a brick built bungalow, no hot water or air conditioning but it was clean and nice, and only 300 Baht per night. We took our bags to the room, there were ants everywhere in the bathroom and I squirted them all with the shower and washed them all down the plug. We went to the bar and the bent lad was now in black fluffy slippers, black smart trousers and a white vest... tucked in. He giggled after everything he said, 'you want to see menu, he ha he ha' 'yes please', to be fair he was very friendly and helpful and had a restaurant full of people to serve and a reception to run. We went for an explore, we found the internet cafe and had an icey cold beery beverage and a club sandwich with chips as a sort of starter as it was too early for dinner but to late for lunch, so sharing a sandwich seemed sensible. We were in there for about an hour and a half, a dog frequently kept coming up to us and Sarah didn't like it, 'can you shoe it away please, I don't like it' she said to me in a scared voice, I pushed it away with the palm of my hand. It bit me. The b****** bit me, it was a sort of German Shepard looking dog but about half the size. This made Sarah scream (possibly with laughter I am not sure), it then walked off and the restaurant owner chased it away with a stick. It didn't cut me or owt like that so I am sure I haven't got rabies... again, just kidding. We then headed for some dinner in a little restaurant near the river having another beer and Pad Thai. We then walked down the now very dark lane to our Nung House Bungalow's, luckily the travelling phone we took had a torch on it. We still managed to trip over the sleeping policeman in the road though. The stars were bright and I was weaving down the road with my neck bent skyward, until I got told off because Sarah was terrified of all the beasties in the tree's. We loaded the photographs on to the laptop and went to sleepyville.
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Sarah Boat, Tourist Bus, Tuk-Tuk, Government Bus = arghhhhh!! It was worth it though! We didnt even go for the cheapest room at Nung House - get us! Thank god we had a phone with a torch for this trip!