Blogs from Erawan NP, Western Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 4

Our tour to the Erawan National Park and Waterfalls began at 8am and for once we actually got a proper air-con minibus. We picked up some unfriendly Isreali and French people and arrived at our destination just over an hour later. It seems this is the time that all the other tour groups turn up too as the place was heaving already. Our guide led us up to the second stage of the falls and left us to our own devices. there are 7 stages in all to the Erawan falls and it seemed that everyone had the same idea as us: to head straight for the top. The going was fairly rugged and I was glad I wore my hiking boots. Most people seemed to be wearing flip flops and they were having a bit ... read more

So we finally left the Islands! They are everything that people say they are and more and we stayed down there for far longer then we planned, as a result we've only got a few days left on the Thai visas and have to get out of the country - I think this is going to end up being a scramble for the Laos border! We caught a sleeper train back up from Surat Thani to Hualampong in Bangkok, dumped our mammoth sized backpacks at the left luggage and went into bangkok to get our Laos and Vientnam visas, then into a taxi to the South bus station and off to Kanchanaburi about three hours west of Bangkok on the way to Myanmar. When we rocked up we were both tired, hungry and grumpy and the ... read more

So we arrive in Bankok on an extreamly hot day. It was maybe 45 degrees and Jordan and I were suffering from a flight hang-over and Jetleg. We decide to get out of the sity asap and head west to a national park. We jumped in a share cab and took a two hour jorney for Kanchanaburi. There we stayed on a floating house. It wasn't quite a boat, just accomidation on hte water. There were elephants roaming the grounds and the sounds of the jugle were surrounding us at all times. The first day We took an amazing train ride through the mountains an allong the largest river in South East Asia. We sat on the steps that lead onto the train and my feet dangled over the water 50 meters below us. They took ... read more

I'm back now and one of my sisters, Gaby, is due to be arriving there...It's like I will never leave that place...in my eyes, the glittering rush of the waterfalls, echoes as a whisper from some hidden realm of the soul. I still recall my awe when I first got there...all my mind could produce was images of 'The mission'. And for the first time I realised that my concept of paradise was a place full of laughter and joy, where local folks indulged in the most naive activities, far from the crowds of tourists... I arrived at the first level of waterfalls at around three pm...there were some kids splashing around and a woman with a baby on her arms half submersed in one pool...I had no words to speak...just a smile melting withing all ... read more