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Published: November 24th 2006
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Ahhh....swimming, playing cards, drinking. It all makes for a wonderful vacation. If Northern Thailand was busy busy busy go go go, then Southern Thailand is completely the opposite. So far the hardest decisions I have had to make are what drink to have next, and weather I should have a nap or go on the internet first. It is exactly what I needed after Borneo and Northern Thailand.
We took the overnight train from Bangkok to Surat Thani, and then from there a bus to somewhere, transfer to a mini-van to go somewhere else, and finally a longtail boat ride to our floating rafthouses. It was a shitload of travelling, and we were all pretty worn by the end, but the destination was so worth it all. Oh my god, paradise!
The lake is a man made lake made by the Ratchaprapha (I have no idea how to pronounce that) dam, which was built about 25 years ago to provide electricity to most of Southern Thailand. The result is a huge lake of emerald green colour, with limestone karsts jutting out of it, and think jungle growing on the karsts. The floating rafthouses were so cool, located in the
Khao Sok National Park. The whole structure, from the bungalows to the kitchen to the mess hall, was all on water. In the morning I would walk out the front door of my bungalow, take one step, then be able to jump into the lake, which was so refreshing in the hot Thai weather. Looking out my back door (which I could have jumped out of into the lake, if I wanted) and the front door, was a view that was just about unbeatable. Big limestone karsts, mountains, and islands. It was truly so gorgeous, I didn't want to leave. This is the first place that actually competed with the Borneo jungle camp! The first morning we were up at the crack of dawn for a kayak ride to see the sunrise and a family of gibbon monkeys playing on the shore. In the evening we took the boat out to see one of the most gorgeous sunsets I have ever seen, then watched as hundreds of bats came swooping out of the jungle for their night's foraging. We also had the opportunity to explore a jungle cave, which was so cool. I have never been in a cave before
Sunset
At Khao Sok National Park (can you believe that!?!) so it was all very new and exciting for me. Back to the rafthouses for more swimming, cards, and relaxing. The food was great, the company was great, the water was great. In all, the whole experience there was more than great. The one and only problem was the 'happy house' (Thai english for bathroom). It was basically the long walk of shame. To get to the happy house, you had to walk past ALL the other huts and the kitchen and the mess hall with roll of toilet paper in hand, just so everyone would know exactly where you were going. And maybe walk is not the right expression. Teeter and totter is more like it. Because they are floating rafthouses, the bamboo walkway isn't exactly steady. And the closer you got to the bathroom, the worse it became. It started as a nice bamboo walkway, down to a not so nice walkway, degrading into a bunch of sticks tied together and thrown in the water. By this point a suspension bridge would have been preferable to what we were walking on. After that you were to climb the steepest set of muddiest steps a
person ever saw. One had to plan there potty breaks well, so that you weren't almost peeing your pants by the time you actually got to the toilet. Needless to say we didn't drink alot here. It was a combination lesson in bladder control and balance, the likes of which I am sure I will never experience again. Thank god.
Stupid Cathy note: The lake right off the dock is 40m. of crystal clear water. It was at this point I decided to dive into the water with my glasses on. Bloody hell! That's the second time in my life I have done that, and believe me when I say it's a costly mistake. Stupid Cathy.
Alas, the morning came when we had to leave this amazing, glorious, wonderful place. It's on to Art's Jungle Lodge, also in Khao Sok. The park is so big, that it took us two hours of travel time to get from where we were to where we were going. Art's Jungle Lodge was, again, beautiful. Here the hardest part of our day was transfering ourselves from our patio tables to the restaraunt table. And the pillow on the bed. Swear to god,
it was like laying my head on a big marble slab, the pillow was so hard. An afternoon of tubing was in order on arrival, which turned into an afternoon of survival, as tube tipping apparently is a big part of Thai and New Zealand culture. And since half my group are Kiwi's, and we have three Thai guides, the situation got out of hand almost immediately. Because of my 'centre of balance' problem, which one person so kindly reffered it to, I was tipped alot. All in good fun though. The next morning was another elephant trek. (Life is so hard in Southern Thailand, isn't it??) This one was WAY calmer than in Chiang Mai, which of course made it a little less exciting. The elephant actually listened to the mahout here, rather than just do whatever it damn well pleases. Imagine that! It did give me the opportunity to ride the elephant's neck though. I am an honourary mahout! Bloody hell that was the coolest thing I have ever done. You could feel it's massive shoulder joints moving beneath your legs. And the top of it's head was spongy soft. Not at all hard like I thought it
would be! Stop at a lovely waterfall for a quick cool down dip, then back on the elephants for the journey home. An afternoon of nothingness. Sweet nothingness! In the evening we went to a cool rasta restaraunt and bar (Sam the tour guide loves these places!) for an amazing barbeque chicken dinner. Alas, I was unable to enjoy the food, as I have seemed to pick up a stomach thingy along the way. But it looked amazing, anways. And all the others didn't hesitate to tell me just how good it was. It wasn't all bad though, as I was able to sell my portion of the bbq to the highest bidder (A piece of chicken and half a baked potato for the whopping price of 50baht!). Upset stomach didn't stop me from having a good time though, and a few drinks later I somehow found myself sharing some of my most embarrasing moments ever. (Don't expect me to share them with you here. I am stone cold sober now). I think the best part of the night was the musice. Especially the reggae version of Britney Spears "Oops I did it again" and Stings an Englishman in New
Fire show
At the rasta restaraunt York. Aptly retitled "A Jamacian in New York". There was also a fire show this evening, which really was the icing on the cake. Or was the icing sitting on the open patio watching the most amazing lightning show in the distance? Or maybe the icing was just being in Thailand, having an amazing time, and loving every minute of it all? It's all icing here, baby.
Tomorrow it's off to Ao Nang for some serious beach time. I was afraid I might get a little bored during this part of the journey, but as I said this is exactly what I needed. Some real R&R before Cambodia and then home. I can't believe that my trip is half over. just two and a half weeks before home, snow and coolness! Speaking of which, let me jsut say that it is sooooo much easier to dress for cold weather than it is to dress for bloody fucking hot weather.
TTFN,
Cathy
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Auntie Sue
non-member comment
don't complain
Enjoy your heat...and I don't think it is easier to dress for heat...It is supposed to go to -30 on Tues night here...I'm glad you're having a relaxing time and enjoying every minute. Love Auntie Sue