Hello everyone!

I just thought I drop you a wee line as this is my last day in Thailand (at least for this short episode). After spending a couple of days in Bangkok we headed south on the overnight train (no air-con and my God, it was hot) to Khao Sok National Park where we spent two nights. It was great, being in the middle of nowhere again! The first day we went tubing (floating down the river in a blown up tyre) and on the second day I decided to go for a little walk in the National Park. Well, the 'little' walk turned out to be a 7h walk but I really enjoyed it, even though I was completely soaked in sweat afterwards and I had to flip several leeches of my boots and legs! I have to admit I was feeling a little bit stiff the next day as I haven't done anything that strenuous for weeks! But being stiff didn't really matter as we were headed for the beach! We made our way down to Krabi where we have been staying for the last 3 nights. Yesterday we went on an island hopping speed boat tour, which was good although I was feeling quite sea-sick by the end of it. The sun was shining all day long and most people got badly sunburned. Well, as always, I managed to avoid that and just turned a darker shade of brown. (Don't be too envious, Neil!)

Today was diving time again. Unfortunately, the visibility was pretty poor, only 4 to 6m but we still saw plenty of marine life, such as sea snakes, lion fish, box fish, clown fish, and much much more. The nicest thing about the dive was that the water temperature was 29degrees, so much warmer than my last dive in Vietnam. It was loooovelyyyyy!

Tomorrow is a big travelling day, we are heading for Panang in Malaysia, a 12hour journey further south. I'll be spending one week there before arriving in Singapore. And this should have been my last stop in Asia before heading to Oz but I decided that I needed a holiday from travelling and therefore I'll be flying back to Thailand for a two week break before heading back to Singapore and then Oz. The new intrepid group I have joined is much younger than the other groups before. This time, I am the oldest (by far) as most of the other travellers have just left school or uni. It is a strange experience, I must say.... But to be fair, the group is nice and the people are good fun, even though I can't keep up with the drinking and partying (which leaves me feeling really old!). Anyway, off to have my last Thai dinner (at least for a week or so). Hope you all have a good weekend ahead. Take care and, as always, keep smiling!

Yvonne
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