YES EVERYONE WE ARE OKEY!!!

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First things first... the quail and I are OK and completely seperate from anything going on in Bangkok.

Now for the post....

Today we set out to Anh Thon National Marine Park for a day of sea kayaking and snorkeling. We booked it through Blue Stars Charter Service which we found to be a very well run operation. A little word of advice, don’t go for the snorkeling. Visibility is at about 1 foot and the water is very murky so you basically run into the sights before you actually see them, (problem of course because of the sea urchins have these unbelievably long spines) The sea kayaking on the other hand completely makes up for the lack of good snorkeling. And who knows at other times of the year they may both be perfect. Rowing around this park and through its sea caves is absolutely stunning. Take every word you can think of describing beautiful scenery… string them together in on 100 leter long word and you may just touch on describing how amazing this place is. Words don’t do it justice. To put a cherry on top of this wonderful adventure we took a quick yet grueling jungle hike to a mountain lookout to peer down on the remarkable green lagoon that used to be connected to the sea by an underground river but has since been closed off by a collapse and now has this breath taking mountain lake surrounded by limestone cliffs that is the color of grass which is quite the contrast to the mineral blue water of the gulf.

We met this very cool English couple Neil and Elaine from London who are here for their honeymoon. Elaine works for Clear Channel and I gave her probably a bit too much grief about her company killing music in the Bay Area but she was a great sport and they gave us plenty of grief about our lack of vacation days. Apparently straight from university you can expect at least 20 standard days off. No wonder we have only really met two couples from the states here. Who wants to give up 4 days of your vacation days on traveling. As far as I’m concerned they are days well spent.

Neil let us in on a bit of knowledge that let us know how segregated we have been in our beach bungalow with no television. Apparently they have been watching BBC World News and there has been a military coup here. The details are still a bit here-say but as far as we can gather the thai military which has allegiance to the king has taken back control of the presidential house. Apparently coups here are not much of a big deal but a military coup happening in a stable democracy can’t be too good especially since it hasn’t happened in 15 years or so.

We are not only disconnected from information but we are disconnected from the whole situation. Apparently flights have been suspended and there are tanks on the streets of Bangkok. We on the other hand are pleasantly protected by the island thais that live by our tourist dollars and love to inform us that there is nothing to concern ourselves about.

We will keep ourselves informed as things unfold and make sure to figure out whats safe before we head back to Bangkok. But until then we will happily keep ourselves stuck in paradise.

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Photos

I have found my new home!!!
Apparently they want me to be the fourth.

Singh Beer... YUM!!
I think I could be the new Singh beer poster boy.

Beach in Paradise
You can leave me on that beach anytime.

Our Kayak Line
Not a conga line silly.