Gulf Coast - Blogabond

After settling down in Ko Samui, we got another motorbike as its by far the easiest and cheapest way to get around. We did most of the usual tourist spots, which were pretty impressive! Our first stop was Samui Aquarium, where the marine life was spectacular. We fed some turtles some lettuce which was fun, but the sharks seemed more interested in us than the lettuce so we moved on! After seeing all the aquatic life, we headed to the small zoo, where a few animals were housed, such as parrots and a few mammals. We then sat to watch a bird/ tiger/ leopard/ otter show (they performed at different times) which was a demonstration of how clever and skillful each of them are. The birds bike race was highly amusing, and they were looked after so well in comparison to most of the wildlife places we'd visited. By far the greatest part of the day, and one of the highlights of the trip so far, was holding a 10 month old monkey called 'Pretty'. She was rejected by her mother and was attacked shortly after birth, and being hand-reared has made her so friendly to humans. She won't ever be able to return to the wild, but its far better than being orphaned alone and left to die. She was fascinated with everything, as all babies are, and holding her made it very tempting to take her home. We left empty handed, and headed to the beach for a dip then went to book a boat trip, as we had heard so much about the small islands off the coast of Ko Samui. The cluster of 41 small islands make up Ang Thong National Marine Park, and before we had even arrived, we saw a dolphin jumping out the water. We knew we were going to have a good day! White sands, turqoise waters, and great snorkelling! We even saw a monitor lizard as we kayaked past an island!
After the boat trip, we headed back to Ko Pha Ngan for the full moon party. Although it wasn't as busy as the New Year Party, we both had a few drinks and a good boogie, so we were happy! The rest of our time in Ko Pha Ngan was spent on the beach or in a hammock, until our itchy feet decided it was time to move on to Ko Tao, the smallest of the three inhabited islands on the east coast of Thailand. Before we had even stepped onto the boat, we were asked if we wanted to do a PADI Open Water scuba diving course. It was very pricey, and way out of our budget, but rumour was that Ko Tao was the best place for scuba diving in south-east Asia. so we decided to do it, and it was the greatest experience ever! After a crash course into the physical and bilogical limitations of the body, were found ourselves loaded with scuba gear and in a swimming pool for our first practical lesson. Hours later, after some academic work and an exam, we were preparing for our first of 6 dives. Each one was unbelievable. Words don't do justice to how awesome the marine life is here. Coral reefs full of psychodelic coloured fish made it very hard to concenrate on what we were supposed to be doing. After the first four dives we were qualified divers, and we decided to do another two just for the hell of it. Our last dive, at a place called Three Rocks (named after the three rocks where the coral reefs grow), was by far the best. Getting up at 5:30am to go became more than worth it, and the sight of a puffer fish nearly a meter long was more than exhilerating. To name a few favourites, we saw parrotfish, butterfly fish, banded angelfish, moray eels, stingrays, and triggerfish (have a look on google for pics, they're all amazing!).
After completing the PADI course, we decided to head to pastures new. We took a night boat to Surat Thani on the mainland, then heading straight to Kao Sok National Park.
We spent the last two days trekking in a rainforest, our base being in a jungle hut at the foot of the National Park. We expected to see a host of wildlife, although we've only managed to see some monitor lizards, some little lizzies, a preying mantis, some fish, a few toads, the odd bat, and a grasshopper. Hardly a jungle safari, but signs that TOLD us wild elephants and monkeys roamed the park made the 10km treks well worth it!
So now, we've got ourselves another sexy scooter and were going on a 3 hour road trip to see a lake, which lies on the edge of the national park. If were lucky, we hope to see a few monkeys! The only one we have seen was thanks to a Dutchman living opposite us who left his bananas in view, leading to a family of monkeys harrassing him to the point where he couldn't get into his room! He was amazed this could happen in the jungle, and called for the owner to get rid of them using firecrackers to scare them! Hopefully the next monkeys we see will be allowed to roam freely, and eat as many bananas as they want!

Peace out from PADI 1 and PADI 2 x x

P.S. Sorry about the lack of blogs and briefness of this one, revising for tests (a task we thought we'd said goodbye to) and underwater activity has taken up most of our time lately! We'll try and be more punctual and frequent in the upcoming weeks!

written by

Kav & Sara on January 19, 2009 from Khao Sok, Thailand

from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!

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scuba diving is immense!!! well done for passing guys :)
looking at the pics...u r far too tanned and im not allowing u to come home hahahaa!!!

glad ur well, look forward to next blog and more pics, still jealous lots of love xx

written by mandy smith on January 19, 2009

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