Hi all,

Today's main aim was to get the hire car that we will keep until Phuket and have a look around Hua Hin. This was partly achieved - at least getting the car was no problem, nor is driving around. Really just like driving at home and forgetting half the road rules (Geoff would be a natural!) In truth there are no speed signs and you have to watch out for motorbikes more than Aus, but no probs so far - we didn't even get lost.

The only failure was that we didn't get much sightseeing done - by the time the car was available it was 11:30 - 1:30 before I got the troops moving. We decided to drive up the mountains behind Hua Hin, which form the border between Thailand and Myanamar (Burma to some). This is about 60km, so we were there by 2:15. On the way there are signs warning about the wild elephants (one in photo album). Trust me these aren't just to fool the tourists, there are signs of elephants everywhere, not just big piles of poop but you can see where they have pushed through the bamboo and trees at the side of the road, forming elephant-sized tunnels. Unfortunately however no sightings of actual elephants.

The guide we read informed us that after the drive there was a further 700m to go on foot. What it didn't say was that these were vertical metres. Turned out to be a 4km walk. Due to time constraints we only made it half way, so we didn't see the best of the falls - if we had tried we would have been stuck there because it shuts at 4:30. Cal, Geo and I did make a push for the fifth tier, which basically involved a near vertical climb up loose rock. After 10 min straight climbing we could tell that we weren't even half way there, so had to turn back. Note however that we didn't see anyone else even attempt to go higher, so we did OK.

Anyway the most interestiung thing was that, just after we turned back I noticed an olive green plastic disc shaped object wedged against a tree. It was about 50 to 70 mm thick and as big as a dinner plate - with a k*** sticking up. I thought it was some sort of lid from a large polythene container - but it sure looked a lot like a land-mine. The light was shocking and I didn't want to get too close so the pictures are bad, but have a look and tell me what you would have done. Remeber this is a stones throw from Burma where there is significant political unrest and there are known incursions into Thai territory. So I decided better safe than sorry (while thinking "you've spent too much time in Cambodia and too much time thinking about the Vietnam war").

Anyway after some hesitation I showed the people at the gate my pictures, expecting them to laugh and tell me I was the third person that day to spot the thing. Well they didn't. They seemed concerned and took copies of my photos. With the language it was difficult but after about 20 mins discussion I think we all agreed it was someones harmless prank, but they had a good description of where it was. Makes a good story anyway.

So tomorrow we are off to Chumphon - more later.

Shane