Surat Thani

Well, Surat Thani wasn't exactly the tourist haven I had imagined. Jack had told me it was a big city, and all I knew of it was that people travelling to Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan gather here to catch the ferries. Most don't stop for long, and I can see why. Surat Thani is big, busy and a fair bit dirtier than the villages and small towns I had been riding through. I only found one foriegner that was up for a bit of chit-chat. He was an older American guy from Seattle, sitting in the night market drinking a fruit shake. We were the only two foriegners there. The guy had actually been living in Asia for six years, and had lived in Jinghong of all places - a small city just across the Chinese border from Laos where I will ride through. He spoke very fondly of the place, and had spent three years living there. He even knew personally Sarah, a trekking guide working out of the forest cafe in Jinghong with whom I had been in contact with about arranging accomodation and the like for my arrival in China. Small world - he wished me well, and said to fun in his old neighbourhood.

So with very little to do in Surat Thani I made the bus trip back along the way I rode to Khao Sok National Park. I looked around a bit today after I arrived but plan on doing a proper tour starting tomorrow. Following this I have booked accomodation on the islands over Christmas & New Year, so I wont be updating the blog until I have recommenced riding in the new year.

So have a Merry Christmas y'all and I look forward to posting some more stories soon.