'Mantic Evening Followed by an Exhausting Day at the Park

First, some more little differences...

It turns out Starbucks is not the only expensive purchase you can make in Thailand. We just couldn't help ourselves upon passing a McDonalds. Curious to see who favors McDonalds over authentic and inexpensive Thai food, and how much they were willing to pay, we entered the doors of the golden arches. It cost 150 baht for a fish sandwich which equates to about $4.50. At this price it's not surprising that the only patrons were Westerners; the food is far too expensive for a Thai salary. We've passed this same McDonalds a number of times, and have still yet to see a local.

Also making the list of "expensive things that only westerners want" are sunscreen and aloe vera. Sunscreen costs $12-15, and a bottle of aloe vera that might cost $2 in the US runs $6. Oh, the price we pay to protect our oh so fragile skin.

After showering off the day's sunscreen, sand, and saltwater, we put on some $6 aloe and headed out to the beach to try to find a good place for dinner. The beach is so beautiful at night, with the inviting lights of the restaurants meeting the stars and the sounds of the ocean.

We happened upon a beach bar which consisted of a rolling cart set up to make tropical juice drinks, mats laid out on the sand, pillows, candlelight, and Bob Marley music. SO relaxing and romantic. The lightening of a far off thunderstorm on the south end of the island completed the light show.

We abandoned our tropical oasis for the street level and our room to get a little more money before trying out an Indian restaurant for dinner. I couldn't help but practice my wai on our way out of the hotel.

A delicious feast of tandoori chicken, biryani chicken, rice, and naan completed the evening. The people who run the restaurant were so kind. Its sad that they have to work so hard to get business in the low season.

On Saturday we decided to play tourists on an excursion by boat to Angthong National Marine Park. Although the boat trip was a little long, the tour operators a little bland, and the food handling practices a little sketchy (Marko: cool chicken sitting in tropical temperatures for who knows how long), the park itself was beautiful and we met some interesting people aboard (check out the array of nationalities on the passenger log).

I don't know who I enjoyed meeting more, Kip -a speedo donning, nipple pierced Dutchman traveling

with his daughter- or the Russian couple we spoke with for the majority of the trip (Rocmoninoff). We have so much fun meeting people from other places and experiencing the cultural differences, for instance, being asked how much money we make teaching in the US. We were happy to have conversation to fill the travel time.

Upon arriving at our first stop in the park, some of the passengers embarked on a kayaking trip around the park. Nick and I decided it would be better to save the 850 Baht ($25) per person in favor of a climb to a view of an emerald colored saltwater lake and the islands of the park.

The climb was hard work! This portion of the trek was a piece of cake compared to the near vertical ascent up ladder like stairs. I like to pride myself on being brave, but I decided on the way up that my weakness is heights, not so much going up or going down, but the anticipation of coming back down while going up. I know, it hardly makes sense and it certainly didn't allow me to be present in the moment, but after climbing one particularly steep set of stairs I could imagine why people have panic attacks. I kind of wanted to cry. :)

The view from the top was beautiful, however I'm thankful that we had the camera because I was a little too preoccupied with the excess of people crowded on the platform and the thoughts of descending the staircases while a steady stream of tourists were trying to make their way up, both of us sharing the same narrow space, leaving each of us with only one handrail. Yikes!

Again, the way back down was not nearly as bad as I had envisioned it and we made it back to the beach safe and sound where we departed to stop 2 on the tour of the park.

The choices at the park were to swim, snorkel, sun bathe, or take a "30 minute" hike up 500 steep meters to a lookout point at the top of the island. Not being nearly tired or hot enough from our previous climb in the 90 degree heat, we understandably chose the hike.

You'll notice the rope in the picture which was put in place not only to guide hikers in the right direction, but to provide a not-so-sturdy handhold on the way up.

We made it to the first resting point lookout which was only 100m into the climb. It was well worth the view so we decided to continue, despite the hard work it entailed and this being our first hike of the year.

The second resting point was at 200m, and although the hike had increased in intensity, the beauty of the view still made the arduous task worthwhile. At this point, we were exhausted and pouring sweat so we decided not travel the remaining 300 meters. That is, however until the nice girls who took this picture convinced us to accompany them the rest of the way to the top.

As you can tell from the lack of a photo --->

we did not make it. :( We made it an additional

150 meters before deciding just past the 350m

resting point, that we did not have enough time

to continue and still make it back to the beach

in time for our departure with the tour group.

Bummer, right? As it was, we arrived back to

the boat with just five minutes to spare.

Tomorrow we will be leaving for Koh Tao, the scuba diving mecca of Thailand. For our facebook friends, please check out some...uh...rrrr...bonus pictures and videos from the last couple of the days.

Wish you were here,

Nick and Ty

P.S. I don't know what's going on with the photos on this page. For some reason they won't display on our computer, but hopefully you can see them. If you click on the spaces where pictures should be they will load in a separate page.