Well we finally left Phuket and started some proper travelling! After Phuket we caught a local bus (after lots of herbal Aconite on my behalf!) up north to Khao Sok national park on the east coast. We originally were going to head up the west but after realising that; 1) Kho Samui was like Phuket and 2) we felt too old for a 'full moon party', we decided to head away from tourist back packer land!



Kho Sok was perfect, we stayed in a bamboo hut within the tropical rainforest which cost us about two pounds! The hut was luxury to us but to some of you, the bucket to flush the toilet, freezing hose pipe shower, cockroaches for friends, tarantulas in the hut to the right and guy with suspected malaria to our left, might have not been but we loved it! First we explored through the trees and rivers, crossing dodgy made briges, and seeing kids and monkeys playing in the water, this place was a wicked hideaway and hardly any other person here, just fab! Then a beer by the fire writing the diary amongst the jungle made us feel VERY lucky to have come here...




We decided to take a ten hour hike the next day through the tropical rainforest - Khao Sok National Park, hiking to many water falls, which was sweltering but brilliant!


The wildlife noises were incredible too, a tiny animal made a noise as loud as an air raid siren!!!, it was really something.... After the trek we then found a jungle style bar in the trees and sat drinking beer, watching monkeys playing in the river...surreal!!


That night round a campfire some travellers threw fire around...uum very chilled.












After the rainforest we headed up north again and caught a local bus from the road, which in my world was my first experience of travel hell!!





Hot, overloaded, almost rolling round the mountains and VERY claustrophobic! I spent most of the time by the door (thank god!) convincing myself I could survive it by without valium and just about managed it, but it was very close to abandonment, believe me!




We then got an air con bus (thank god!!) which had a monk at the back on his mobile phone!!to a place called Ranong which is where hot natural springs lie within the village and where we really felt we had hit a typical thai town.... full of bustle, motorbikes, food markets and songatheuws (tuk tuks with 4 wheels!) and it was fab!


We attempted to join the locals in coping with the hot springs but I managed a toe whilst the 80 year old lady opposite emerged her entire legs and it must have been about 60 degrees.... boiling!

They also had an open air chill out area where the floor was heated by the spring and the locals were asleep on it (or in some cases doing sit ups!!!). Ads and I managed bare foot on it for about ten seconds and felt VERY british to say the least!!


That evening we headed out to a buffet style place where you cook your own meat...we were getting it all wrong but thankfully an english couple spotted us and gave us some tips!

After chatting to them I just happened to ask how long and how they were travelling to which it turned out that they were the now famous couple from the Isle of wight that are driving across the globe in a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car which I know about VERY WELL as their back up crew is my mums partners work colleague and my mums old badminton partner!!!

We both knew so many of the same people from home, it was cool and just goes to prove how small the world is, I couldn't believe it, totally crazy!!! Tomorrow we are heading out to an island to which I expect will be a far cry from the hectic madness of Phuket...heres hoping!