Welcome to Elephant Hills

Our journey then took us northeast of Phuket to the Khao Sok National Park- one of the most beautiful places in Thailand. Khao Sok was made a National in December, 1980 and covers about 460 miles of thick native rain forest, waterfalls, majestic limestone cliffs and an island stubbed lake. It is the 22nd National Park in Thailand.

We were picked up from our hotel in Phuket and drove about 3 hours north through the Phangnga province where we stopped at a little coffee shop and bakery where we got to know the local wildlife......

....and discovered some amazing flowers.

We figured that if the rest of Khao Sok was as amazing as this coffee shop, then we were in for a real treat.

We picked up a few others along the way and we off to explore the mangrove forests that exist along the coast line by speed boat.

This area really reminded me of Florida, except for the traditional Thai longboats docked at the pier, and almost made me miss cruising through the mangroves in Florida Bay.

We were dropped off on a Burmese junk where we took kayaks out to explore the islands and mangrove channels before lunch. Annette and I did pretty well- didn't tip over once and had a great time paddling around. Don't we look professional?

We had a couple of funny stories along the way though. At one point, we were rounding one of the mangrove islands when we hit a bit of a shallow spot. Not wanting to have to back up and go around the little sand bar, we decided that we would try and scoot across it. It took a couple of tries and a lot of grunting, but we made it. We were very happy that we were out of sight of our crew on the junk though. Additionally, we were laughing at the schools of little fish that were jumping in and out of the water until one of those schools came right at us. We just knew that we were going to end up with a bunch of little fish in the kayak with us!

Our guide had told us that one of the mangrove channels was very quick and easy and that there was one way in and one way out making it sound like the channel would just loop around. After our successful trip around the island, we decided that we would go exploring. The water was calm, the trees were beautiful and there weren't any bugs. But, the further we paddled, the longer we were gone and the less it looked like we knew where we were going! So, we kept going...... until we saw the waterfall. Had we not been panicked that we were lost and afraid that we may never be seen again, it would have been a very picturesque moment where we might have stopped for a drink of water and enjoyed the beautiful scenery around us. However, we quickly turned around and starting paddling for our lives. At that same moment, our trusty crew comes around the corner in the speed boat to save us! We were never in any danger, but we had been gone longer than most of the other guests and we were about to miss lunch!

Lunch was cooked and served aboard the Burmese junk while we motored towards the Andaman Sea. We had green curry, fish and fried shrimp and it was delicious. All served with lots of rice, veggies and Coke!

We were dropped off (or some of us swam) on a nice little stretch of beach where the crew set up little umbrellas and let us play in the surf and sand for a couple of hours.

It was pretty hot and the flies made it a little unbearable to sit and read my book, but there was plenty of exploring to do!

We found lots of crabs, shells, and mangrove propagules along with some very interesting flowers.

Beach time is always a good time in my book!

The sunny weather did not last however. Once back on the speed boat, we were supposed to go looking for interesting wildlife in the mangroves- there are supposed to be lots of arboreal snakes like mangrove pythons and even pit vipers (but they aren't dangerous because they sleep during the day- or at least that was what we were told), monkeys and spiders. We saw a couple of snakes coiled up in the trees and we passed a traditional fishing village, but then it started to pour and we were forced to abort our mission. Most of us had little rain jackets and there was a bimini on the boat, but it was raining so hard that we all got soaked anyway. Two members of our little group did not have jackets and they were sitting in the front of the boat (two guys who were being gentlemanly and bearing the brunt of the storm) . Water tended to collect on top, so every time the boat rocked to one side or the other, water would pour over the side directly on top of them. It got to be rather humorous and they were super good sports about it, so we spent the rest of the water logged day giggling at their expense.

We were staying at the Elephant Hills Resort near Khao Sok- Thailand's first luxury tented camp. This place was amazing! There were open-air thatched huts everywhere amidst the sprawling jungle and limestone cliffs. It was breath-takingly beautiful- even in the rain.

Here is our tent- it was very similar to the tent I lived in while living on Little Saint Simon's Island the summer I did turtle surveys. It was so cute and we had a nice big bathroom attached to the back! I loved this place!

I couldn't get over how wonderful the landscaping was. They tried to use all native plants and it was just so lush and green and it smelled wonderful!

Check out the view from my hammock!

After we had a chance to dry off and relax a little, we met in the common area for a little film about the jungle surrounding us. They had nice fire pits and lots of fans and incense burning to help keep the mosquitoes away. There was a nice bar in the area too!

Every night, we were treated to a dance demonstration by one of the three local schools in the area. It was very interesting to see the differences between the northern style dancing of the hill tribe and the southern style dancing. At the end of the show, each girl introduced herself by telling us their name, age and what they wanted to be when they grew up!

Before dinner, we even had a cooking demonstration! They made us fresh Pad Thai and then opened the buffet line for us- there was so much food and it was all fantastic. They tried to incorporate as many traditional elements as possible while still making it a very sophisticated and luxurious camping experience.

Part of what made it so much fun was getting to meet the other guests at the resort! There were guests from all over the world, including England, Texas, Germany, Australia and Holland!

Diving in the Andaman Sea

Diving in Thailand is supposed to be phenomenal and I was quite surprised to find out that it is true. We unfortunately missed being able to go out to the Similan Islands (voted one of the best 10 dive spots in the world) because they had already closed for the season (the water gets too rough during the summer to make it out there), but we did get to go diving near Kho Phi Phi.



Sunrise Diving out of Patong had been suggested to us and they turned out to be an awesome dive center. They picked us up from our hotel and drove us over to Phuket where we met the crew and boat. We had a nice little breakfast (fruit plus Wonderbread and Nutella- yummy!) and motored our way across the Andaman Sea (it's the body of water east of Phuket Island) to the Koh Phi Phi islands.


I haven't been on a boat in a long time where I didn't have to work (i.e. worry about getting my gear together or making sure we had all of our survey supplies or finding our dive site, etc.), so it was a nice relaxing two hour ride out to the islands. Annette and I got to sit back and enjoy the scenery!

We had a small little group of divers that day: one guy from England was working on getting certified as a divemaster, one guy was on vacation from France, one Aussie guy who lives in Thailand now goes diving with Sunrise Diving on a regular basis and one other guy was on vacation from Germany. Everyone was very nice and fairly experienced divers.

Our first site was at Koh Bida Nai- little limestone formation which goes down to about 70 feet (22 meters). The water was nice and warm although the visibility was a little less than desirable (only about 40 feet). That's a downside to being spoiled by diving in 150 foot visibility! I know this may make me one of the worst reef enthusiasts in the world, but I do not own an underwater camera, so unfortunately, I can't share any underwater photos with you, but I'll do my best to describe it all in detail.


There were tons of huge sea cucumbers and lots of bubble coral around. Big schools of little fish were seen everywhere and we even saw a big octopus out on the sand making a run for it! I'd never seen one out on the reef before and watching it "walk" was amazing!

Our second site was called Koh Bida Nok and turned out to be the best dive of the day. Our divemaster, Yume, told us that they had been seeing some sharks there over the past couple of days (big things are usually the most interesting things to recreational divers and I love seeing them too!), so that we should keep an eye out for them. He was right!

Photo courtesy of www.dive-the-world.com/creatures-leopard-sharks.php

We saw two big leopard sharks chilling out on the sand- they are a species of shark known to sit on the bottom and sleep during the day. They feed on snails, molluscs, sea snakes and crustaceans, such as crabs and shrimps. They are considered pretty docile and it is possible to swim up to them and get pretty close without disturbing them. On that same dive, we also saw 4 blacktip reef sharks, a school of squid, a little stingray, a gigantic giant clam and some of the most amazing Acropora reefs of my life!
Our third dive was along a steep wall covered in sea fans, sponges, nudibranches, and other soft critters. We even spotted a little sea horse. There were some pretty cool caves too- we swam into one of them, but it was mostly just rocks and sand inside.

Overall, I was impressed by the conditions of the reefs in the area. I would have loved to have been able to spend more time diving and exploring, but we had elephants to get to......

Phuket

After a long day of cooking (and eating), Annette and I returned to the Buri Gallery Hotel.....

.... and went directly inside for a two hour Thai massage and reflexology session! Unfortunately, we had to run out the door and catch a songtaew to the airport to catch a flight to Phuket for the weekend!

Our evening departure from Chiang Mai made our arrival in Phuket a little on the late side. It didn't help matters that or taxi driver decided to "stop by" a local travel agency to see if we needed to make reservations for a hotel, cruise, or show at 1 am. Honestly, what travel agent is open at 1 am? Apparently (and the guide books warn about this), some agencies give taxi drivers a commission if they bring customers by. So, we were quite relieved when we finally made it to the hotel and were able to curl up on a comfortable bed!

Since it was the off season, we were able to book a room at a big 4 star resort for a very small price.

And there were cute little windows to play with (it's amazing what amuses you at 2 am!)

Anyway, our hotel was right across the street from the beach in Karon Beach (south of Patong on the west coast of the island). And it had a beautiful pool area (even though we didn't get to use it!).

Phuket Island is an interesting place- it's full of tourists and we had our choice of restaurants, bars, street vendors, markets and taxis to choose from.

Of course the sign claiming "The biggest draft beer in Thailand" caught my eye, so Annette and I settled in at "The Little Mermaid" for the afternoon for some cold beer and awesome people watching. It's amazing what tourists feel they can get away with wearing while on vacation at the beach......

Seems like the economy and the tsunamis of the past have taken it's toll on this area. This sign was a sad reminder of the devastation that natural disasters can have.

But, the beach was wide, open, uncrowded and the water was so warm!

It's good to relax.....

and goof around!

To add to the randomness of the day, we decided to catch a show at the infamous Simon Cabarat! The sets and costumes were fabulous and the show was entertaining, but the music was a little outdated and it felt like some of the "performers" weren't trying very hard! We were far from Broadway, but had a blast seeing the lights of Patong whiz by on the tuk tuk ride home!!

Happy Birthday to me.....Again!

So, let me flash forward to the present to say what an awesome time I had on Saturday when the girls got together and celebrated my birthday! Since I was out of town on the actual day, Annette got The Ladies together to celebrate my birthday in Hawai'i (and technically it does fall within the "one month before and after" timeline used to determine when it's appropriate to celebrate your birthday).

Megan, Bonnie, Heather, Annette, Tomoko, Me and Paula


Annette and Jeff prepared a bunch of ono grinds (aka appetizers, pupus, snacks, etc.) for us to munch on and also had a delicious selection of martinis- Dirty, Chocolate (my fave), and Caribbean.

Then, the girls piled up and headed downtown to Soul de Cuba for delicious Cuban food- I always get the Pollo Soul de Cuba which is breaded chicken breast served with mango salsa, black beans and rice, and plantains.

And who can forget the mojitos?


They brought out caramel flan and bananas with a candle to sing Happy Birthday, too!
I always eat way too much!


So, we are all glammed up and ready to go, so we headed to find some music. Lucky for us, we found a club having a Jackson tribute which mixed modern techno with Michael Jackson! We danced the night away (or at least until our feet couldn't take it anymore!).



Here's Paula looking FIERCE with her new haircut!



Tomoko and Paula

Annette and Megan

And, based on tradition, we had to pose in front of the fountain at the end of the night. Thanks girls for an awesome time!

Funny, I still don't feel 22!