Wat Pho, Bangkok

Whilst back in Bangkok we decided to give the tourist trap of the Grand Palace a miss and head to Wat Pho.

Wat Pho houses the largest recling Buddha in Thailand. It's hard to tell how incredibly big is it from these pictures, it was quite overwhelming.

I like this shot as it appears the Buddha is peering at the lens through the two pillars.

Pai, Elephants and the Hot Springs

The Hot Springs in Pai, a deserved 'bath' after our cycle there.
The Springs themselves reached 80 degrees celcius and there were a few locals up here boiling eggs!
We cycled to the Hot Springs, 7km from the town.
Pai is a prime location for Elephant treks, on the road to the Hot Springs there are numerous tour companies chasing the tourist dollar. We were happy to take a moment to respect these incredible animals and leave them to it.

Pai is a small town in the very North West of Thailand. We managed to find a bungalow across the river in a beautiful, peaceful spot.

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai has over 300 temples, after Angkor we were abit templed out but we did check out some of the more impressive examples, the above was taken at Wat Prah Singh.
Elephant images appear everywhere in Chiang Mai, this was on the way to Wat Ta Kua. I like the contrast between the simple white of the sculpture and the brighlty coloured cloth and candle wax.

Wat Ta Kua.

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'.

Short and sweet

Phew, not been able to update as we're on an island with very limited internet access. It's called Koh Mook and is beautiful. We've been staying with a Thai family, camping in their garden and helping out around their home. We've got to learn a fair amount of Thai and learn the intricacies of their way of life. It's christmas tomorrow, i think we'll spend it on the beach.
I'll try and upload some photo's soon.
Suk-San Wan Krit-Maht to you all.