Laurel’s alternate SM

Thursday July 13, 2023 I actually slept in this morning until 9:00 am. Wow. I’ve been waking up anywhere between 4-6:00 am and not able to go back to sleep. I guess I’m officially done with jet lag… to start all over again!  Farrell woke up earlier though. He returned to the Tiger Temple so he could just do a quick workout. Up all those stairs. Ugh.  And of course he said it was so much fun.  On his way back to our hotel he stumbled upon a delightful parade. They were school students and each school had its own marching band. He heard “the Stars and Stripes” and “when the saints go marching in.” He said it was awesome.  Also, a couple of elephants out for a morning stroll.  There are things you miss when you sleep in! We did a little last minute shopping while Farrell made a trip to the laundromat (we had wet things that we didn’t want to stuff into bags for the next 38 hours. We then went for lunch at our favorite spot, Basmati Restaurant.  If you ever go ...

We’ve been looking at options for tours. We found a private driver for a long-tail boat. He would take us to some islands. Up until we were picked up by a tuk tuk this morning (Wednesday July 12) and delivered to the dock, we were worried we had been scammed. Ahh, coordinating with strangers over WhatsApp with a huge language barrier. But! We made it and there was a boat and driver waiting for us! It was fascinating watching how the motor and propeller mechanism on these boats worked. The driver could lift the prop out of the water to pass over others anchor ropes. He could move the prop to nearly parallel to the boat to turn us around. And move the prop anywhere to steer.  Ko Pada Island Our driver dropped us off and suggested we take a picture of the boat number so we could find him again and said we had 2-3 hours here. Off we went! The water was incredibly clear and just the perfect temperature to swim and relax in.  I asked Farrell to please let his hands dry since he had ...

After the Emerald pool, we headed to the Tiger Temple.  We arrived at 4:45 pm and worried we wouldn’t have enough time to make it up and back down before it got dark. We were grateful for the shade as we climbed the vertical face of the mountain. 1260 stairs to the top. So nice to have handrails… not all steps are created equal. Many were twice the height of a normal step. I huffed and puffed my way up to the top. The monkeys along the way were adorable—but also made me a little nervous. 🐒 And the view was totally worth the climb. So. Amazing. I was worried how my left knee was going to handle going down the mountain. I discovered a technique where I turned around and held onto the rail and went down the steps backwards, like in a rappelling stance. It went quite quickly and was a life saver on my knees. The monkeys must have been have been gathering in for the night. About halfway down we stopped and just watched as they crashed into the branches around us and walked across a pow...