Islands... - Blogabond

We have left the islands behind for a night and made it to Khao Sok National Park. Brooke and I are staying in a tree house at Smiley's Bungalows! It is really amazing here. The islands have been fun, but I think the whole group was happy to leave them behind for a night and get up into the mountains. We were all feeling a little overrun by the tourist scene. The islands here are some of the most beautiful places in the world... unfortunately, everyone knows it and they come in large numbers. The Thai people and culture that I love don't really exist in these places. Here in the mountains however, we have spent time with some amazing people. Brooke and I have a little Thai girl that would like us to stay here forever... that may not be such a bad plan.

Koh Phi Phi is a beautiful island, but we spent too much time there. There is not really much to do aside from the diving and I have decided I am not much of a diver. I did get to see some cool stuff however. We dived in a wrecked ferry, swam with leopard sharks and learned some new diving skills. It was fun, but I was ready to be done with it, as was most of the group. We were all excited to get to Railey and start climbing. Obviously, that was the only reason Brooke and I wanted on this trip. It was amazing as expected. We spent a lot of time with the kids, but were able to sneak off to a few harder climbs nearby...

The highlight of Railey, may have been the coffee shop where we spent our nights drinking Thai tea with the Thai Rastafarian Barista. A very relaxing way to spend an evening after a hard day of climbing.

From here, we made our way to Phangnga bay to check out the National Park which consists of 100's of limestone karst islands. We explored these by boat all day and then spent the night in a small sea gypsy fishing village that was built entirely on stilts above the ocean. The village was pretty touristy, but we had a fun and relaxing time there anyway.

...and that brings us to where we are today, enjoying the mountains and the Thai people and culture that we love! Tomorrow, we are off to Koh Samui. This is one of the most touristed islands in all of Thailand and none of us are that excited to head back to that scene. I am sure we will find a fun way to enjoy the island for the last few days of our trip. I know that Brooke and I will be trying to relax a bit before heading up to the villages of the north.

Jason

written by

brookejason on June 28, 2009 from Khao Sok, Thailand

from the travel blog: Thailand 2009

Send a Compliment

comment on this...