Wow, I have just spent three days in the rain forest that is Koh Sok National Park. You hear about these places in geography classes at school, but you never really think you'll actually go there. On our arrival at Koh Sok we met Bob( his nickname), a fun loving Thai tour guide who loves his Chang beer (6 blinking percent) and ended up being our companion throughout our stay. Bob took us on a two day tour around the park, where we saw some amazing creatures and sights. Our first stop was a two and a half hour treck up a mountain (Don't think I read the leaflet properly when I signed up for the tour!) We walked uphill through the forest, where we saw chameleons, wild boar poo (yes it counts!) butterfly farms and a gibbon swinging through the trees up above us. Finally, to reach the summit, we had to climb up some massive rocks (Oh yes) It was a painful experience, but well worth it in the end, when we sat at the peak overlooking the whole park. It was a breath taking sight. Well worth the pain that is still in my muscles two days on... In the afternoon we were taken by boat to our evening's accommodation; a raft house floating on the river, which was so cool. We could literally step outside our back door and jump into the river (which we did). We spent the afternoon lazing around the river, and went out in a cannoe to look for creatures in the surrounding land. In the evening we went out with Bob on the boat, to do a night tour. Equipped with tourches and Chang beers, we were able to view an Eagle, an owl and some Horn Bills. The following day we travelled to a cave, where we were able to see bats and frogs. Bob told me much later that there were also big spiders in there, but he didn't point them out to us in case I "Started screaming and running around" (as if!) However, he also told us that the spiders tend to follow the people through the cave, so perhaps it was better that I was unaware of them after all... Late afternoon we collected more Chang beers (Quite liking the Chang beer by now) and headed off to see the monkeys (Marquettes) which live outside the temple. Just before it gets dark, the monkey's come down from the caves and trees to feed. There were at least thirty of them, and they seemed very used to people, even though they are still technically wild. I got close enough to feed a few of them with fruit, which was amazing. However, some of them got a bit miffed when I tried to get close for a photo when they were eating. I think they thought we were trying to take their food, and one of them started hissing and running towards us. I took this as sign that we should back off, and trotted off quickly in the other direction... They were still really cool though. As we walked up to the river bank about twenty monkeys started running towards us, then climbed all over Bob. He told us that they recognise him because he usually brings food for them. Wow. On our last night in the park we heard rustling outside our room which I swear was a bear (Though probably a dog...) Still, they do have bears there, and tigers, deer, elephants and leopards. On our first night in the park I awoke to hear Dean screaming from the bathroom; "There's a lobster on my towel!" I still laughed, despite the fact that I reaslied he was talking about a scorpion. We departed quickly. Today we heading off to the Phi Phi islands. Our boat leaves in two hours and there is a bit of a storm going on outside. Not very reassuring, but, heck, we survived the jungle, i'm sure we can withstand a bit of rain, see you's Claire x