Ev Star

Oooops, I haven’t updated since the beginning of our trek in Nepal!

Well, you will all be happy to know that Mad and I made it!   There is one particularly difficult part of the trek, the Thorong La Pass which is at 5416m.  I don’t know how they figure out the height so specifically, but that is what it claims to be.  In any case, it seems that many people (including 2 out of 3 of the group that went before us) do not make it over the pass, so we were pretty happy!

The trek was very beautiful.  Lots of nice scenery and wildlife.  It was also pretty tiring though!

We finished our trek in Pokhara, and then flew to Kathmandu.  The next 2 days we slept a lot, took hot baths (we had a bathtub!!! first and so far only time on this trip) and generally relaxed.   After that we flew to Delhi and stayed with Lucie and her roommates again for 2 nights.  After that we flew to Singapore and spent one night there and then we flew to Phuket….crazy week for flying!

Neither Mad nor I were particularly taken with Phuket.  I think it would be ok to go there if you were taking a one week vacation to lie on the beach and suntan (the beach is well equipped with lines of chaises longues), but it lacks any sort of charm.  The next day we headed by bus down to southern thailand.  We spent a night in a place called Longu (i think) and then the next day we took a boat out to an island called Koh Tarutao.  The island is a part of a national park, so we knew that there would not be loads of people there or constant motor boats going by.  In an attempt to economize, I suggested we borrow a tent and camp on the beach.  It was rather uncomfortable without mattresses, but we thought we would be able to manage.  The first night was fine, but then the next day it started to get really windy….enough to cause our tent to fold in on itself!  We decided at that point to give up the camping and to rent a bungalow.  It was a good idea as just as we moved into our bungalow the rain started.  I know, coming from Vancouver and all we should be used to the rain and well equipped to deal with it, but these monsoon rains are intense!  We stayed for a week on the island (it would have been six days but the morning we wanted to leave the boat didn’t come due to unfavourable conditions at sea so we spent another night on the island).  I should probably mention that there is not much of anything on the island.  There is a restaurant, a small shop and a sort of welcome centre.  There are a few bungalows and also tents for hire that can be pitched anywhere on the island.  Other than that there is nothing much.  Oh, for those who used to watch the show, it is the island where Survivor Thailand was filmed.

After our week on the island, we took a boat back to the mainland and then shared a mini van with some people we had met on the island to the city of Hat Yai.  In Hat Yai we were able to book a night train ticket to Bangkok for that evening (we thought the train might be fully booked already, but i guess we were lucky!)  Thai trains seem more comfortable that Indian ones, but perhaps (we thought this was impossible) slower. 

We have now been in Bangkok for 4 days.  For the past 3 mornings Mad and I have been attending muay thai boxing classes.  I was scared to go as I haven’t done any martial arts before, but it is actually pretty fun!  Today we are off to see the Emerald Buddha temple and also the royal palace.

xoxo Ev