One of the beaches we visited from Railay, Krabi Province
Sunset on Railay Beach, when Nathan finally got to use that tripod he's been carting around all this time
Firecrackers exploding in Trang during the Vegetarian Festival
The local marching band passing by
The view from the pier at Chiew Lan Lake, Khao Sok National Park. After much useless questioning of travel agents and websites, we made our way to the entrance of the national park on a mission to find some floating bungalows. The numerous guest houses there all advertised the same trips so, lacking other options, we went along with a rotund little hobbit of a man on a two day trip out to the lake.
Firecrackers exploding in Trang during the Vegetarian Festival
The local marching band passing by
The view from the pier at Chiew Lan Lake, Khao Sok National Park. After much useless questioning of travel agents and websites, we made our way to the entrance of the national park on a mission to find some floating bungalows. The numerous guest houses there all advertised the same trips so, lacking other options, we went along with a rotund little hobbit of a man on a two day trip out to the lake.
Love those long tail boat rides - after an hour those wooden planks get a little less quaint
At last, we found our floating bungalows, and they really were as cool as they look (the bathroom was across a barely-floating walking on the mainland, if you're wondering). Where else can you dive off your front porch into warm, clear, 75-foot deep water? There were even some plastic kayaks in which to wander around the lake.
Part of the excitement of our trip was a short walk (called a "jungle safari") through the nearby woods which was slightly slippery due to the torrential rains of the morning. We saw some long-tailed langurs and heard tons of gibbons, although they all seemed to be saying "it's the falang, run away, run away!"
From Khao Sok we hitched a ride up the eastern coast to Surattani, Chumpon, and then Prechuap Khiri Khaun. We hiked up 396 steps to a wat perched on a hill above the town where a couple monks were feeding bananas to the resident monkey troup. On the way back down we walked through a street festival, Thai style. That means frying everything from chicken legs to grubs and little birds, selling bathmats and tattoos (the permanent kind), and playing Thai pop music as loud as humanly possible.
The next afternoon Nathan and I headed 4 km from the city to the air force base that also serves as a popular weekend beach for the locals. It was pretty entertaining to cross the tarmac in a tuk-tuk, and then emerge into a bustling hub of Thai families cavorting in the ocean and lounging in chairs under the pine trees. Nothing like a little sand in your toes before a 5 hour bus ride to Bangkok.
At last, we found our floating bungalows, and they really were as cool as they look (the bathroom was across a barely-floating walking on the mainland, if you're wondering). Where else can you dive off your front porch into warm, clear, 75-foot deep water? There were even some plastic kayaks in which to wander around the lake.
Part of the excitement of our trip was a short walk (called a "jungle safari") through the nearby woods which was slightly slippery due to the torrential rains of the morning. We saw some long-tailed langurs and heard tons of gibbons, although they all seemed to be saying "it's the falang, run away, run away!"
From Khao Sok we hitched a ride up the eastern coast to Surattani, Chumpon, and then Prechuap Khiri Khaun. We hiked up 396 steps to a wat perched on a hill above the town where a couple monks were feeding bananas to the resident monkey troup. On the way back down we walked through a street festival, Thai style. That means frying everything from chicken legs to grubs and little birds, selling bathmats and tattoos (the permanent kind), and playing Thai pop music as loud as humanly possible.
The next afternoon Nathan and I headed 4 km from the city to the air force base that also serves as a popular weekend beach for the locals. It was pretty entertaining to cross the tarmac in a tuk-tuk, and then emerge into a bustling hub of Thai families cavorting in the ocean and lounging in chairs under the pine trees. Nothing like a little sand in your toes before a 5 hour bus ride to Bangkok.
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