Jungle Home

I think that like drugs and tatoos (i speak from experience) and murder (i don't but I have heard) ... ordering your first cheeseburger and chips in a really nice Thai restaurant is one of those things that takes loads of building up to first time ... but just seems so easy and natural after that ..... I feel slightly ashamed !!!



Ok well it feels like ages since we've updated this and seems like so much has happened but when I go to write it down my mind goes slightly blank and I just wish I could upload some photos ... but all those of you who said that would be easy in all the Internet cafes were 100% wrong !!! So far despite having sophisticated memory card readers not 1 cafe has been able to both read my photos from it and also upload to the internet .... and best of all the last 1 I went to wiped three weeks of photos and destroyed both memory cards i was carrying !! Fortunately I found a small photo workshop where the guy was able to recover the photos to disk ... and amazingly .... for we are now on one of the smaller Islands (Ko lanta ... but i'll get to that !!!) ... told me that he didn't like chelsea anymore cos we sacked Mourinho ... wtf ??? don't you have better things to worry about ... you can't even understand the man !!!!! Haters everywhere !!!



On to the travels ... well to be honest we have still been lame and not really started any sort of 'travelling' as such and have just moved from one amazing resort to the next ... although the 6 hour bus and 2 ferry journey here with Toby showed us how good he is getting at this whole think ... he behaved brilliantly except for announcing he 'really needs a wee' at the back of a cramped minibus in the middle of a traffic jam in torrential rain which necessitated kate clambering over people with him and getting passengers to get out into the downpoor to let her out with him (an ever popular move !!)



We are now on a beautiful island ... Lanta ... staying in a resort cut into jungle/forest like scenery overlooking a beach which makes for the most stunning landscape but also an unbelievable array of insects and animals ... monkeys roam the grounds in the morning (although having never seen any I am prone to suspect a conspiracy and that everyone else in the resort is lying)



We have however explored the Island and come across a lovely elephant whose owner let Toby have a 10 minute ride in the Jungle just so we could check he was ok to go on a larger trek in Chiang mai ... and he had the best time ... just wish I could send some pics of his face !



We also hired a jeep for the day (please note all those of you who thought we would be ok here cos at least kate was sensible ... the jeep was my idea ... Kate wanted a single motorbike for the three of us !!! ) and in true Berger fashion set off around the Island with no map ! Stunning views from up in the mountains and a beautiful old village on the sea were the highlights.



We were also lucky enough to be here for the Islands annual 'Choa Ley' boat festival where small floats are made from palm leaves and filled with a lock of hair and some fingernails together with incense and money and sent to see as an offering to the water gods and wishes made. We went to the beach on the November full moon with Toby asleep and made him up a small bed while we made our wishes and it was really beautiful. We have just started putting him to bed ... waiting and then going out with him asleep next to us wherever we go ... so far hasn't been too bad except for the night we drove with him on the back seat of the Jeep to the most romantic spot on the island ... drove up onto the beach and got out to enjoy the view ... only to turn around to check him and find he had fallen off in the two minutes we were out of the car and was now screaming wildly.



Tomorrow we return to a different part of Krabi for a few days before on to Chiang Mai and then the temples at Angkor Watt in Siem Reap which did originally get cut from our itinerary but the more I hear about them the more determined I am to make the journey ... however circuitous it makes our route.



It's currently looking like Christmas and New Year in Nepal .. well if i get my way (unlikely I know)



Hope all is good with everyone and it's always so nice to hear from you all back home



M



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