Surat Thani

Surat Thani is the furthest south we went during our trip. By bus or by train, it was about a 12 hour trip from Bangkok. After arriving by bus in Surat Thani, we had to catch a ferry to the island of Ko Phanang (?) which was another 4 hour ride. Here it was less humid than in the north, and the water was a turquoise blue.


This is a view from the boat on our way to the island. We passed a lot of little islands along the way.


Here are the honeymooners enjoying the sundeck on our way to snorkeling. (actually Tia had some sea-sickness and Paul was keeping her company)


Here is where we did some of our snorkeling. It was an awesome experience. we saw electric blue fish, yellow fish with black faces, coral reef of every color, sea urchins, a sting ray, and lots of zebra striped fish. It was the most amazing and beautiful thing I have ever seen!


Here I am all geared up for snorkeling. I was more excited than a kid on christmas morning!


This is Paul concentrating on opening a bottle of water. Suddenly the power went out and it was pitch black everywhere. Paul yelled out a loud "Whooooooo!" But it was poor timing because just before he finished, the power came back on and he was exposed. His whoop was no longer anonymous and the look on his face when the lights came back on was priceless!


Paul, Tia and Clayt hanging out on the beach at the start of the "Full Moon Party" for which this particular island is famous. Its an all night beach rave party - mostly white folks and a handful of thais. Not entirely our scene, but were curious enough to check it out for a while.


Here I am with a "bucket" - a sand pail filled with a flask of whiskey, a can of coke and a can of red bull. Not to bad!


Here some goofing off on the bus. We were all a little stir crazy at this point in the trip, having just gotten off a 4 hour ferry ride, and on our way to the train station for a 12 hour train ride back to Bangkok...


We had some time to kill while we waited for our train to depart so we wandered the streets of Surat Thani and tried some of the street vendor food - it was tasty! We had pork and chicken kabobs, corn on the cob, and lots of new fruits.


This is one of the strange fruits we tried, called dragon fruit. Its sweet and soft, like pear and watermelon mixed.


Finally on the sleeper train on our way to Bangkok, and Tia and I are making fun of the boys about something and finding it all very funny.