Yin dee ton rap (Welcome) to Thailand

Well here we are again .... 27 hours from Bickington to Bangkok, gotta be some kind of record. So arrived totally exhausted and hit by very high humidity and temperatures, so unlike our dear English summer this year!

We did the usual tourist things like took the tuk tuk to the Grand Palace and the Reclining Buddha and met up with the other 10 members of our little group. They are all fine, we are the oldest by a long shot with 2 others a bit behind so both Doug and I sort of feel like we are on a gap year trip - yes, they are THAT young. They seem to have taken us in though and drag us off to bars and keep us up to all hours so am feeling fairly tired as I write this, now on Day 8 of 28 days.....

Us outside the Grand Palace, suitably fully dressed to show respect (and boiling!!)

Part of the Grand Palace...

We duly girded our loins and picked up our rucksacks after a couple of days in Bangkok and headed for the overnight train to Surat Thani where (after a night of cards and drinking on a very old stopping and starting train) we alighted to jump on a local bus, a jeep and then a longtail boat to travel for 5 hours to a freshwater lake at Surathani and a 2 night stay in a bamboo hut floating on the aforementioned lake.

Chaos on the train...

It is fabulous, clear warm fresh water surrounded by mountains and forest, with gibbons screaming in the trees and one of the most primitive toilet blocks I have come across in a long time!! That being said, it was wonderful to sleep on a mat on a bamboo floor floating - bit like a water bed really. At the end of the row of huts was of course the obligatory bar and somewhere to get some simple food - perfect. Group all bonded nicely with lots of swimming, kayaking and not much else really.

Our hut.....

The food has been great, Doug having eaten just about every colour of curry from green, to red, to yellow and then some more. I am doing quite well on noodles, rice, veggies and tofu and am actually losing weight (not sure how as the beer intake has gone up, but the weather is so hot you just drip it all off, yuk!!)

After leaving there we headed by longtail boat, then pickup truck (yes, us all in the back with the bags...) for several hours (I lose count really, all I know is the bum goes numb and the water intake goes up and most talking stops after an hour.....) to Art's rainforest retreat where we were duly installed in log cabins on stilts beside a fairly fast flowing river.

One of the many forms of transport...



Art's Rainforest Lodge

First afternoon there we went "tubing" which is just what is says on the packet, you sit in an inner tube and float down a rapidly moving river until you reach a part not passable then you drag your inner tube out and go around the rapids and back in. Great fun, most amusing comment of the day was the "youngsters" were amazed that we did this sort of stuff.... sad really, they have no idea..... Mozzies abound here but they don't seem to like me much at the moment. Tired out but still having fun. Not sleeping well as there is no such thing as a soft bed in Thailand apparently - the bamboo rafts were the nearest to it. The cabins had what Doug described as a concrete slab with a sheet on it to sleep on - and he wasn't joking..... Our dining room table would be soft by comparison I jest not!

Had one of the best massages here that I have ever had (needed it after all the kayaking, tubing, dragging rucksack on and off buses, trains etc). I could wax lyrical here about how wonderful it was to lie with your eyes closed listening to the sound of slick oil easing away the aches and pains, the rain pattering on the tin roof, the gentle sound of the Thai ladies murmuring to each other as they pummel you - bliss - what more could a girl want eh? Had to chase off one of our party who thought it might be a good idea to take few photos through the curtains on us all flat out on our stomachs in our underwear, but boys will be boys I guess....








Some local fruit at the market...


Next up we headed off for a homestay with a Thai family in small village a few hours away where we were split up into 4's to stay with several family - ours was a lovely lady of 70 who spoke no English but was entranced by the postcards showing Devon, Exeter, Dartmoor, snow etc and also her daughter was much interested in the photos of Jamie and Shaun - why???? Sadly the bed here was non-existent and we slept on the floor of her beautiful teak wood house living room but she did cook the most amazing supper for us before dragging us off to see fireflies - brilliant.



the bed...... and the house!

I am now writing this sitting on the beach at Koh Panang, one of the small islands off the Gulf of Thailand (I think, I'll have to check, no time for reading much here...) We came over on the ferry this morning after yet another trip in the pickup truck for a couple of hours, then 2 hours by sea. It is beautiful here, white sandy beach, hut with a marginally softer bed which I am looking forward to getting into after supper tonight - don't think it will be late somehow. Tomorrow we are off to another island (Koh AngThong Marine Park) leaving the rucksacks here and just taking day packs with enough to spend a day snorkeling and swimming then camping on the beach before returning back to Koh Panang for another day here before moving on again. Apparently the "kids" are taking us to a Half Moon Party on the beach which goes on all night for which I need dayglo makeup.... so I had better get some kip before then me thinks.

Having a brilliant trip and looking forward to catching up with everyone soon. If you read this, please email and let me know if anything important is happening to you - it is so easy to get out of touch !

Our "hut" on the beach ................. ...................................... Ted "chilling"..... ............................... Koh Panang beach..... ............