Ko Adang

We arrived at the national park of Ko Adang in the late afternoon on 10th December by long tail boat.  The park is wholly dominated by jungle, tall trees and creepers. The park headquarters is understated, facilities are basic although there is a restaurant with a limited menu- and surprisingly no fresh seafood. Our bungalow with fan was clean and spacious, with the (now obligatory) hard mattress; somehow they make them harder than concrete! We have developed a system of packing out under the thin duvet with all our bagged clothes, and sleeping on top of it all. Unfortunately this does little to ease the pain and in the mornings we have to pray to Mecca and remember our sleeping dog poses from yoga to feel fluid again. That said, it is a small matter when the beauty of the park surrounds us. As well as bungalows there is the ability to camp and a transient population of guests, some of which we got to know.
The weather was great, no rain anymore. On our first full day we walked to the viewpoint, a clearly signed stomp up weathered granite outcrops intermingled with forest. Needless to say we left later than planned in the morning so we had a good work out in 34C. The views were worth it though, about 240m up we had a panorama that stretched from Ko Lipe, our Thai neighbour, to Lankawi, Malaysia. On the descent we came across a troop of Crab Eating Macaques resting in the shade. Then three long tailed Greater Racket Tailed 
Drongos settled close by. At first we thought they were birds of paradise as their tails looked so gracious. Unluckily we also attracted another creature of the forest; a tick which attached itself to Sarah's right upper eyelash. After a couple of days of discomfort it was removed safely by the health centre in Lipe (mandibles included).

Our Longtail captain at the front of his boat

Dozens of varieties of lizards make the jungle their home

Ants everywhere so careful where you stand

 Jungle as far as the eye can see

Crab eating macaques block our path

The Greater Racket Tailed Drongo

Chris, hot & sweaty!

Snorkelling at Ko Adang

In the far south of Thailand, on the Malaysian border next to Ko Lipe and Lankawi is the Tarutao National Marine Park. This protected area consists of 51 islands located in the Adaman sea in the Satun Province. All of these islands have major restrictions on development and are generally inhabited by a few Chaolae villages, a traditional "sea gypsy" community that have now settled on various islands.

Established in 1974 the second of Thailand's national parks covers approximately 1500 square kilometres. The area includes many beaches which attract nesting turtles and some of the few remaining habitats of the Dugong, a relative of the Florida Manatee or "Sea Cow".

The restrictions on development mean that there are no, or very few, rubber plantations on these islands and therefore most of the islands are covered in jungle, full of birds and beasties. The park is also host to some of the most unspoilt coral reefs in all of the Adaman islands.

The majority of the species below you can see less than 50 metres from the south beach of Ko Adang where we stayed for 6 nights. We also took a day trip in a longtail (the traditional thai fishing boat) to various islands and rocky outcrops around Ko Adang where the majority of these picture are taken. Many thanks to our Turkish photographer Rawi for his underwater shots!

A Lion Fish, the 2nd most poisonous fish in the sea!

Clown fish hiding within their sea anemone

Giant clam

Soft coral

Indigo Parrot Fish

A Northern monkey!

A Southern fairy!

Room with a view

Quick time-lapse showing the view from our balcony in our new place. This is my first video attempt, things can only get better!!

1st week in Thailand

1st week in Thailand completed; a wonderful laid back country full of smiles and friendly people despite what you may be seeing on the TV in the streets of Bangkok. Here in the south the people are mainly muslim and come from a real mix of cultures including Khemer, Sea Gypsy and mainland Thai. There are a few biggish tourist resorts on the Indian Ocean side, mainly Ko Lipe and Ko Lanta. But each of the small inhabited islands tends to have beach bungalows, tents or stilted huts you can stay in.  Koh Bulon Lae is only 30 minutes from the mainland by speedboat and with a small population of around 400 people has a number of sandy beaches, remote bays and 3 very small villages.  One restaurant has internet on the island, so we visit there every few days to catch up on the outside world.

The weather has been very wet for this time of year, raining almost every day and is very overcast most of the day. But at 26C its still a very pleasant place to be. The island is covered in jungle, full of monitor lizards, at least 3 different species of snake (all poisonous), scorpions, spiders and beautiful birds and butterflies. 

We've met some great people already, some holiday makers and some fellow travellers.  Jane and David are spending 5 months travelling around south east asia and are now on their way to north Thailand and Laos. Markus is travelling around Thailand for 3 weeks and has given us some fantastic tips for the north of the country. Kristina and Andreas from Sweden are on their hols too and proved to be excellent companions during the very wet days!! We had so much in common and were delighted to spend 24 hours with them over a 36 hour period!!

A clouded monitor lizard on the way to the beach

Our friendly bathroom spider keeping the real bugs away

A beautiful indigenous butterfly of unpronounceable name

Kristina and Andreas helping us keep our spirits up during the wet weather

 You have to be careful ordering dishes where the meat isn't defined! Luckily these 6 week old kittens weren't on the menu but were happy to clean up our leftovers.

And, for all you keen blog followers who can't be bothered to register to leave a comment.... well thanks to the wizardry of John Greenwood you can now leave a comment without having to log in. Keep in touch.

Koh Bulon Lae

We arrived at Koh Bulon Lae James Bond stylie via speedboat, transferring into a local longtail in the shallow waters just off the island. These local boats are traditional wooden fishing boats adapted to be powered by car engines fixed onto a long scaffold bar on a pivot, with one end used to steer and the other end housing the prop drive with the propeller fitted at the far end some 20 feet away. We bounced are way through the waves getting soaked to the skin before beaching in the shallows and wading the rest of the way to the beach - this is not 5 star holidaying!!

We spent the first couple of nights at Bulon Marina, not on the beach as the name suggests but a short walk inland. This stilted wooden bungalow came with a large double bed, but no top sheet. Luckily we had brought our own in Ilkley. The rain continued making ideal conditions for mosquitos which seem to adore the taste of Sarah. We took the opportunity during brief interludes of clear weather to explore the island, sticking to marked paths after stories of three types of indigenous snakes being prevalent. We saw giant monitor lizards sunning themselves at Mango Bay and searching for edible snacks amongst the fisherman's huts.

We have now moved to the cheaper resort of Viewpoint (£12 a night) to a stilted bungalow on the steep jungled hillside overlooking the sea.

Jamie Oliver should taste Moo Trang

Sarah is known by many for her hobby of “airport running”. We thought this was now a thing of the past until we endured a two mile run through Moscow airport at a pace that even Roger Bannister would have been left far behind!  Needless to say that it was the airline landing late which caused our transfer exercise, but with packs and in walking boots it was not fun!

After 16 hours on the move we arrived in Bangkok and then flew on to Trang in the deep south of Thailand. We were glad we had packed our waterproofs! We settled into a comfortable hotel, “My Friend”, and arose early to visit the Trang market.  When we were here 3 years ago we stumbled upon the most delicious morsels of meat called Trang Pork or Moo Trang (mood-aaannngggg). So we were keen to find it again before our onward travel to Ko Bulone Lae. This washed down with fresh coconut for breakfast for 40p, no complaints!

Farewell Espana

Spent a wonderful time in Neja, at Jori’s seafront apartment, enjoying the delights of free tapas with every drink. We visited the Nerja caves, discovered in 1959 by 5 boys who were exploring some of the local caves and stumbled upon some of the largest chambers in Europe and the biggest stalactite column in the world!

We then headed to Granada for a few days to sample the wonderful Moorish and Andalusian architecture of the Alhambra and Albacin, followed by live flamenco during our evening meal, washed down with, of course, more beer and tapas!

Next, a 5 hour bus ride to Madrid watching The Simpsons in Spanish (El Simpsona). A truly impressive city, the largest in the world without a major river running through it, we only had time for an evening’s wander (and more tapas) before heading to the airport the next morning.

Thanks so much to Jori for looking after us in the Costa del Sol, a wonderful relaxing start to our journey.

So after a week of Iberian ham, chorizo, jamon, olives and sangria, Thailand here we come, via Moscow, the gateway to the Orient!?!