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For the past 2 days I have been staying in Khao Sok National Park. We got here firstly by overnight train (a wonderful experience!!!) and then by songthaew (a 4-wheel jeep with a canvas back). I got to sit right at the back of the songthaew so got an awesome view of the journey into the park as well as bit of a sun tan. The national park is situated in the middle of the rainforest and we are staying in an idyllic little hotel right in the middle where the rooms are bungalows. You can just wander out of your room and see different bits of wildlife such as banana trees and beautifully coloured birds and butterflies. The downside is that I did share my bed with a hyperactive lizard. Yesterday, after we had had a bite to eat (the food is gorgeous ranging from the bacon sandwich to chicken lemon soup), we went to do some tubing. This involves floating over the rapids that run through the forest in rubber wheels and was great fun. We also got to swing from a monkey swing as well as having pranks played on us by the Thai guides. Unfortunately the weather changed towards the end as a monsoon shower began so we got a little cold. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a Monkey Temple. Here us girls had to cover up our legs because of the monks who aren't even allowed to shake our hands in greeting. The monkeys came to greet us, knowing that food was on the way. The Thai boys duly produced some bananas which the monkeys absolutely loved. It is fantastic to watch them eating them as they peel them themselves and eat the inside, just like a human. Some of the mothers were carrying their young around their stomachs, it was really cute. We ate dinner at the place we were staying and spent the night getting a little drunk on some horrible rum/whiskey that Yohan (our guide produced)...ughhh!!!! Today we woke up early in order to go and ride some elephants. This involved sitting on chairs on their backs as they walked through the rainforest to a pretty little waterfall guided by their trainers. Apparently they go and get these elephants from an elephant school on the Cambodian border when they are young and the connection they make with each other is unbreakable. Also their memories are really extraordinary...apparently if you feed them and stroke their tongue, they will stare at you and remember who you are for life. When these elephants die some of the bones are buried and some are given to the Buddhist temples since the elephant is thought to be the protector of the Buddha. I named our elephant Nelly and Nelly didn't seem to like being told what to do by her mahood given the loud trumpeting noise she made on the way home. The ride was not the most comfortable especially when we experienced another monsoon downpour but was amazing all the same. We got to feed them when we came to the end and they gobbled up the bananas as if they were chucking things into a rubbish bin. They eat 15 banana trees a day which is a huge amount. We finally made our way home, absolutely soaking, to get a hot shower and relax for the rest of the day in preparation for our long journey to Krabi tomorrow.
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