Hello again, eager readers! Im back with a brand new installment of "Mattis Goes To South East Asia", this time from Thailand! Ive been travelling for over 3 and a half months now, experienced a great range of climate, cultures and traditiones, and Thailand just keep on bringing more and more action. Its a country most would say its impossible to be bored in, and youll hear no objection from me! After Christmas in Bangkok, did some sightseeing around the city, the Grand Palace and a huge golden Buddah, I left on the 28th on a night bus to go down to the island of Koh Phangan for New Years:)

Dec 28th-3rd: My time spent on Koh Phangan was....intense. The beach I stayed at is called Haadrin beach and is famous for their "Full Moon Party's". The days warming up for new years were spent on the beach swimming, playing with the thai "Poi" that I had (tennisballs on a string essentially) and watching the entertainment they provided in form of beach-football and beach-volleyball. In the evenings the place changes face, it becomes home to one of the sickest dance party's ive ever seen with buckets of alcohol being the standard beverage of choice. I got to some cool things on Haadrin, I got to jump rope that was set on fire! infront of quite a few people and later I also stepped up to try some Fire-breathing! Tasted horrible but on the 3rd or 4th try I swear I was blowing maaassive fire-balls.

The mornings here were very same same. Wake up whenever the other people in my 16 bed dorm would start talking and moving around, go downstairs & watch a movie and get some breakfast. Back to the beach or watch more movies, and then out again in the evening^^. The night before New Years I was going to pay for a ticket to go see Muay Thai, but for some reason or another ended up just staying at the beach again. Hopefully Ill get to go at some other time! New Years Eve itself was a helluva day. All day Ide watch people getting ready by buying some of the provided BRIGHTLY coloured t-shirts and shorts for the UV lights, and also applying great layers of body-paint with added UV-light effect. I myself did don some bright yellow paint on my face and arms and had a good time with that:) We didnt even leav the hostel untill like 10pm. 30.000 people I heard made it to Haadrin this year, you couldnt walk on the beach that night, just a sea of bright colours and loud party music! Spent two hours getting "ready" and I must admit to a slight case of memory loss when the clock actually struck midnight BUT I do remember a huuge fireworks display. Very pleased.

The next two days we just chilled out, watched movies and sorted pictures. Had a spot of rain but no worries. After spending 4 days in this gigantic noise-bubble, I had the strongest urge to get off the island and go somewhere cheaper and quieter. I also had to do a socalled "visa-run" so I booked a ticket to take me back to the mainland, take a bus+boat over to Myanmar and back to Thailand to go to the Khao-Sok National Park, where I am currently seated:)

Visa-Run: It was a long day of travelling getting to Burma. Lots of fuss at the border-town but no worse than 10$ spent on the whole thing. We got to spend an hour or so actually on Myanmar soil and Ive got the stamp in my passport:) I would liked to have spent more time there but its one of those places its still hard for tourists to get in and you have to have a special permit which I do not have:( It was a crazy hour none the less. I high-fived a guy with 6 fingers (so technically a high-six!) and had a quick lunch. Got a money souvenir and went back to Ranong. I had to spend an extra night in Surrathani because my bus had allready left but that only ment another place to discover at night:) Arrived at the Khao Sok National park the next morning and have now spent a full week here.

Jungle-Hut: Landing on the choice to come here was one of the best ones Ive had. Ive been trekking, canoeing, tubing, swimming, going on Safaris and eating great food. My bungalow that Im paying 200Baht for a night (under 50kr) has everything I need, bed, running water, and a light. Everyday theres a group of monkeys that do their "rounds". They run and jump over anything and at times when they get really close you have to stay inside! I had one monkey that I gave some watermelon to on the first day, one monkey turned into 10 and now they think my bungalow is an awesome place to sit and relax. I did a "Two day One night" program organised by my guesthouse and it was legendary. Cruising for an hour on a longboat inbetween some of the most beautiful terrain ive ever seen. Much like Halong Bay in Vietnam actually only with more jungle! We stayed at a Raft Village and had the most beautiful lake directly outside my front door. Swimming and jumping off a bamboo-divingboard for hour upon hour:) We had signed up for a trek in the thickest jungle Ive ever been in and it took us 1 1/2 hour to walk through rivers and bush to get to a cave (said to be the highlight of the whole trip). If you dont like the dark, giant spiders and bats, then this one is not for you. It was precisely that, dark, filled with bats, and we spotted at least 2 of the 3 biggest spiders ive seen in my whole life. I wore nothing but my swim shorts and shoes, because after 30minutes in the cave, we had to jump in a deep pool of water and navigate ourself for a good 20 minutes either up to our necks in freezing water or slipping along the wet rocks. Ill never be in a cooler cave as long as I live. I did slip once and cut my leg and knee but you just keep on going. Took a looping path in the jungle back to the raft village and did some more kayacking before enjoying a huge thai dinner with grilled fish and veggies. The nights entertainment was provided by our hillarious guide "Big Man" who is just the funniest thai person ive met and would always say "Oh My Buddah!". Kinda looks like buddah aswell..

Night Safari at night, we spotted the following: a Cat-Bear, Howling-Deer, Maquace's and firefly's. It had rained so not the most successful outing but still a first! Good nights sleep swaying back and forth on the water, utter silence with the exeption of 100 different insects humming away outside. In the morning we went on a "Morning Safari" and little more luck than at night. Saw more monkeys and different birds, hornbills and eagles mostly. Took the Longboat over to a new part of the park and went on another spectacular walk through the lushest, greenest jungle you have ever seen. They say its older than the Amazon:) Bamboo rafts and another cave, new animals and scortching heat made for a very tiring, but exciting day. Back to Jungle Hut's Guesthouse and time to relax.

So for the last 4 days or so Ive not done much other than sit around watching and listening to the amazing nature Im surrounded by. Met some cool people here aswell from all over the world who Ive been eating with, playing cards and going for walks with. Really love this place and its a grand change from the busy touristy beaches of Thailand. I went for a 4 hour walk in the National Park and just got lost in the beauty of it all. Went swimming in the Khao Sok river with no other people around me, dense thick jungle on either side and only a small path to take me back to civilization. Its been a calm couple of days for me, but Ill have to make a move soon, my visa is allready expiring in 4 days or so so I need to make a plan. Its been good getting down to do this blog again, It doesnt seem that long ago I was writing only like 10 lines every 4 days in Japan. I was going to write in Norwegian this time but I have zero chance with this thai/english keyboard. Ill update ya'll again in a few days.

Happy 2011 People!!

Mattis