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Published: September 21st 2007
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I stopped using this blog near the end of my trip and began sending mass emails. I'm copying those emails into here now for my own memories.
Sent: July 14, 2005 6:18:35 AM
Hey everyone!
Well I stayed on Ko Phi Phi a little longer than expected, it was awesome. It was demolished by the tsunami but its slowly getting things back together as backpackers swarm in to volunteer - I did a little rubble clearing and gardening myself. I had a real scare the first day I was there - there was another earthquake off of Sumatra and hours later the tsunami sirens started going off in Phi Phi resulting in Mayhem - people running down the streets in a panic trying to find high ground. Naturally I followed the mob unsure of where they were going but we ended up on the roof of a bar and no tsunami ever came. I felt bad for the Thai people though, one woman fainted. At least we know the warning system is in place!
Anyway, I'm off to Ko Tao now where I'll start my scuba diving career, so I'll write again after that and let you know about my
underwater adventures!
Sent: July 28, 2005 3:06:23 AM
Hello everyone!
This just might be the last mass email of the trip, so I hope you enjoy. I think last time I wrote I was about to find Nemo, so I'll take it from there.
Scuba diving in Ko Tao was awesome (and yes, I did find Nemo!). I did my open water course, and liked it so much I signed up for the advanced class as well. My ears didn't like it so much and protested by completely shutting down for a couple days, so I took a couple days off for some chilling out on the beach. Made it through the whole experience unscathed, despite surfacing in a rip tide and some scary motorbike rides.
From Ko Tao I went to an inland national park called Khao Sok - a rainforest older than the Amazon (so says my Lonely Planet book). It was really out there in the wilderness...bats in our room, insects larger than I thought possible, monkeys bathing in the river...it was awesome. We went on a night safari the first night, which is just walking through the rainforest when all the tigers and
bears are hunting, waving a flashlight around and making noise, as if to say "me, eat me! i want to be tiger food!". The only wildlife we saw were civet cats, frogs, chameleons, and more types of spiders I cared to know existed: little jumping ones, big yellow hairy jumping ones, big assed poison black ones, ones that dangle on a web in the path in front of your face...those of you who know who I feel about spiders can imagine how I felt about this. The next morning we attempted a more challenging 4 km "path" through the jungle to some waterfalls. It took 30 minutes for the french man to turn back because of the leeches, so it was just me and an American girl. We saw a snake eating a frog, which was kind of cool. Two hours in my flip-flop broke (you may be asking yourself - what was she thinking hiking through the rainforest in flip-flops? Really they're all I've worn most of the trip, and have prooved reliable in previous hikes, so thats why). Being the resourceful, outdoorsy woman I am, I attempted to tie the shoe onto my foot with a combination of
hair elastics, and then we turned back. That worked for all of two minutes when my other flip-flop exploded. Barefoot walking was not an option in this leech/snake/spider infested hike, so I tied a plastic bag on each foot and made my way back slowly and slippery.
It was shortly after that I began feeling a little sick. By the time I made it back I had a high fever, headache, bodyache, was shaking and crying, dizzy and confused and remained that way for the rest of the day. And the next. Having diagnosed myself with dengue I decided to head back to Bangkok a few days early to see a doc. 36 hours later, when I actually arrived in Bangkok, I was feeling much better, and have decided I probably don't have dengue. So here I am stuck in Bangkok for a week instead of some tropical beach.
I think thats all for now!
Cheers, Nic
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