Onwards towards Laos

This was taken in Prachuap Kiri Khan of the East coast of Thailand as we headed up towards Bangkok. It was atop a temple that was crawling with monkeys, one of which proceeded to rob me! (fortunately it was just my water!). Later that afternoon Tom and I walked along the beach to a small fishing village 5km away and ate some incredible shrimp.

This was taken in Ayuthaya, north of Bangkok. The town is completely surrounded by a river so forms and Island and is packed with temple complexes. We spent the day riding around on bicycles and exploring. We stumbled across the Grand Palace which contained this, the largest seated bronze Buddha in Thailand.

Iced Coffee. Nuff said.

This is a sculpture park in Nong Khai just over the Mekong from Laos. I didn't know what to expect but when we got there it was incredible. The larger sculptures were 15-20m tall and intricately carved. It was definately an unexpected highlight.

Photo's!! Finally...

Finally i've found a place with cheap and reliable internet so i can share a couple of photo's with you! I've uploaded a few more to facebook so take a look.

Alot has happened since i last posted, Tom has now joined us and we've travelled across the south of Thailand. We're now in a town on the Myanmar (Burma) border called Ranong, we just returned today from Ko Chang. We spent a few days in Khao Sok national park but didn't spot any tigers!

We head north tomorrow as we spend the next two weeks travelling toward the Laos border.
The image above was taken on Ko Mook on a secluded beach we had trekked to over the mountains.
The image below was taken on our trek back..

This was not a small spider!!

Things are going really well, we're travelling alot but also getting the chance to stay in places long enough to fully experience it's virtues. Ko Chang was beautiful, it was relatively secluded and allowed us to fit in some trekking around relaxation. The image below is from Ko Chang and one of the treks we took to spot Sea Eagles (highly unsuccessful bird watching trip!).

Ranong seems like a cool little fishing town, we're going to explore this afternoon, apparently there's some hot springs just outside of town so we're going to head there.

There's so much i could write about the things i'm doing and the constant stream of thoughts rattling about my head but i'm determined to keep things concise. I plan to expand on this when i get back.

Hopefully i'll be able to post again soon..

Leaving Koh Mook

After spending a month living with Utit and his family on Koh Mook it finally came time to leave. We had an amazing time there, exploring the island and learning far more about the Thai (and specifically Buddhist) culture, values and beleifs than 4 weeks of 'town hopping' would ever have taught us. We're now in Surat Thani and waiting for Tom to arrive, tomorrow we go to Khao Sok national park to do some trekking and hopefully see a tiger or two.
Unfortunately, due to most of Thailand's antiquated internet services, it doesn't seem likely i'll be able to upload any photo's for a little while.
Before coming here we spent a day in Krabi and stayed with Utit's mother and father-in-law. We visited a temple on top of a mountain for which we had to climb 1,237, at times incredibly steep, steps. By the time we got to the top the giant seated Buddha more than made up for the ardous journey.
I think we're going to head out into the streets now and grab a bite to eat from some street vendors, the choice is overwhelming and everything is delicious..or 'a-roy'.