Back to civilization

I've spent the last few days outside of Khao Sok National Park, on the baseof a mountain, surrounded by lush greens, and incredible wildlife. Needless to say, it was not a priority to update my blog (nor an easy task to find internet acccess to do so!). Apologies.

Tonight I am writing from "Paradise" - Ko Phi Phi, Krab province. For the majority of you, you will know this as the island (next to) where the famous "Beach" movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was filmed. And yes, we - mom and I- will take a day trip the the unihabited island - very exciting.

Mom has been an amazing travel companion, and has endured more than I ever expected to put her through! While eating dinner upon arrival at the hotel near the park (www.cliffandriver.com), we were approached by a rather large frog or two, and after mom stopped screaming for help, she ended up laughing at the situation that I, her "loving baby". had just signed her up for. Er, over the next two nights, things got quite a bit more interesting. Our private bungalow had an unimaginable view; unfortunately, so did the open-air toilet, and shower. After barely sleeping on the hard mattress, we were moved to a new room the second night. Once settled in, we were much more at home with the enclosed showerroom; we cleaned up, and sat down to play cards. About 45 minutes later, we moved rooms yet again, after we realized there must have been a nest of some sort underneath our mattress - I would rather not sleep with a million bugs. Thanks to the amazing Cliff and River staff for being so kind (and not laughing at the American women).

Okay so all of that was quite stressful, but absolutely added to the story, and memories. Yesterday was our last full day in Khao Sok, so we employed one of the hotel guides to take us to the lake, to the park, and everywhere in between. Luckily for us, this included a stop at a local coffee "house", where we got to taste locally grown coffee, and I'm betting my money we were the first guests from the USA! It was great. After our coffee break, we waited for the rain to stop, then went to a half-secret location outside the park and waited patiently....peeling bananas....and FED WILD MONKEYS! Mom and I had alread told our guide, Nong, how much we LOVED monkeys, so I was only slightly embarrassed when we both took several steps back as the monkeys approached us at full-speed to recieve their dinner. It was really an amazing experience.

The entire day with Nong, our guide, was amazing. The lake at Khao Sok was made about 28 years ago from the Dam, and is absolutely more beautiful than any sight I remember visiting in Hawaii. Mom agrees.


Navigating through Thailand has proved to be quite easy, and I only have the Lonely Planet company (and its books) to thank. For future reference, however, I will tell all my friends that the prices are by no means set in stone, and that perhaps the books prices are a bit outdated. While I understand that I am a tourist, I am doing a respectable job bargaining with the locals and their prices, but still sometimes paying much more than the listed prices in my "Thailand's Islands and Beaches" guide.

Ode to the 20 baht per minute internet cafe in Bangkok; now I am on 2 bahts per MINUTE on the paradise island of Ko Phi Phi. Perhaps this will be a good excuse to tell you that, once again, it may or may not be several days until my next update...

Love, from Thailand.

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