Hey everyone

Saturday was one of the most incredible days of both of our lives. Get ready for an amazing blog entry! But it didn't start that great, read on to find out why...

The overnight train was not an enjoyable experience. Despite being really tired, and christina wanting to go to bed at 8pm, we both found it almost impossible to sleep on the train. This was because of the bright lights in the carriage, the noise of the train, the smells of the thai countryside and the driver's emergency breaking at every station. And randomly between stations too. The train was really loud (and wobbly), and sometimes when trains went past the noise was almost deafening. Needless to say, sleeping was difficult. Christina tried all her tricks to get to sleep - her eye mask, ear plugs, and even her 3 song playlist on her ipod. None worked. Alex was on the bunkbed above her, and had probably managed a few minutes sleep in the space of a couple of hours. Then, just as he managed to fall asleep, 15 minutes later christina's head popped up from underneath the curtain and alex heard, "aaallleeeexxxxx, I can't sleeeeeeep, come doowwwwnn and sleep in my bed pleeeeeeaase". Alex was not best pleased. Fortunately though christina found it easier to fall asleep, but the night was still very restless for both of us.

We were 'woken up' at about 7am, and shortly afterwards we were off the train and in a cafe having breakfast (good scrambled eggs and a much needed cup of tea...with powdered milk). We tried to take some money out of a cash machine, but alex's card was locked (we later found out it wasn't and it may just be dodgy cash machines). Thai cash machines are famous for taking money off your account but not giving you the cash, only to put the money back on your account a week later. We're now waiting for the natwest fraud hotline to open on monday, the moral of the story being tell your bank when you're going travelling or else they'll lock your card.

After breakfast we got a songtheaw (google it) to take us to the jungle. A windy hour and a half later, as the roads slowly got quieter and the scenery got more amazing, we arrived at the Morning Mist resort, just outside Khao Sok National Park. It is the most beautiful place ever. Our wooden cabin is in the jungle surrounded by beautiful flowers and trees, with mountains in the distance.

After a quick shower, we decided on what activities we would do throughout the day. Next thing we knew, we were on a songtheaw to the elephant trekking camp just down the road. Christina had been looking forward to this since we started planning the trip and was very excited. We arrived at the camp and right in front of us were several elephants munching on bamboo and...whatever elephants eat. We were taken up to a platform and with a bit of a wobble we got on an elephant. There was one wide chair strapped to the elephants back, and christina was worried that we would be too heavy for the elephant. So off we went! It was quite a long trek through the jungle, along streams and up and down banks where we had to hold on extra tight. Half way through the trek we stopped at a small, secluded waterfall, where there happened to be a film crew making an advert (alex says: sorry dad I didn't spot which camera they were using). Christina had a little play on the rocks and in the water, and we took some lovely photos. Christina was eager to get back on the elephant, and on the return journey she got to ride on the elephants neck! The elephant hooked his ears around her legs to keep her safe, and when it sprayed itself with water in the face, christina got a little sprayed too. At the end of the trek, we got to feed the elephants bananas, which they grabbed hold off with their (snotty) trunks and threw them into their mouths, all two baskets full. All in all, it was a wonderful experience.

We went back to the resort (on the way stopping off at a beautiful view point) and had a quick bite to eat before embarking on our next adventure of the day - tubing! This was our first group activity together, and it was so much fun. Tubing is when you sit in a big, thick rubber ring (the inside of.a tractor wheel) and float down the river on it, being taken by the current. When we jumped on the ring at the start, there were loads of fish around us, and the tour guide decided it would be funny to throw fish food beside the girls as they jumped in - the fish went crazy! The girls went crazy too and started screaming as the fish bit their bums. The cruise down the river lasted at least 2 hours (amazing value for £5!), the river was lovely and warm, and the views were breath-taking. The river wasn't very fast so we had to paddle quite a lot, but christina ended up behind the group and kept on stuck on the banks and in the shallow water on the rocks. After a scary incident with a dead fish in her ring (which later turned out to be a leaf), christina gave up on paddling, held on to alex's tube and was pulled along the rest of the way. The other girls were quick to follow, and this resulted in a long chain with alex at the front struggling to paddle and pull 10 people along. It was so much fun, everyone enjoyed themselves, and some of us were really tired at the end of it...

On the way back from tubing we stopped off at the 'monkey temple' and got bananas to feed to the monkeys. Christina fed a baby monkey, he took the food right out of her hand, but the mum clearly didn't like this as she came over and hissed at christina. We soon found out that the monkeys preferred peanuts, so had great fun feeding them (christina had an encounter with an adorable grandad monkey) before heading back to the resort.

When we arrived back at the resort we were told that our group was invited to the resort owner's wedding that evening! So after a shower and putting on some nice clean clothes, we went down to the reception, all wondering what the evening would be like. At first we felt a bit uncomfortable, but soon tucked into the traditional thai cuisine. There were spicy prawn crackers, crab curry, fish (with head and tail), rice, fruit, calamari (christina's favourite), nuts, and duck eggs marinated in horse wee. After the food, the karaoke began, and it wasn't long before a couple of us were dragged up to do some dancing. An hour later, everyone was on their feet and the drinks were flowing. The thai children had great fun dancing with the girls, and some of the thai gentlemen had great fun providing the lads with drinks... Alex performed some magic and amazed the others in our group, along with the thai children. A couple of thai girls had fun picking flowers for christina and the other girls in our group, and they ended up with beautiful bouquets to take back at the end of the night.

A few hours later, after lots of dancing and lots of laughs, we retired to our huts in the jungle for a much needed sleep. What a day. Xxx