Lots of Travelling

March 6

Our journey on the train was good and I slept on and off throughout the journey.  The bunks weren’t that big but I was okay.  I did keep my purse with me as I didn’t trust it out with my bag, just in case.  

On the sleeper car once the beds were made up.

We arrived around 8 am which was 1.5 hours beyond our scheduled time.  They call it “rubber” time as time is flexible.  We got off and had some breakfast and then onto our trucks for the ride to the park we were spending the night at.  

View off our deck.

 We arrived and I changed and had a swim.   It was very refreshing!  From there, I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the loungers on our front steps.  It was tempting to bring a mosquito net outside and sleep there.  Thankfully, the temperatures cooled off so sleeping at night was easier.

I could spend all day here!

Loungers on the deck

March 7

Off on a boat tour today.  We did stop at a 7-11 on our way to the lake and most of us grabbed some toilet paper and water.  We continued to the lake and everyone stopped to use the washroom first.  When we came out, there was a group of Muslim ladies outside who stopped us and asked if we would take a picture with them.  That was fun and a different experience for most of us.

Off to the river and onto the longboats.  We rode for about an hour until we got to an island and we hiked to an inner lake which took about half an hour.  It was a hard trek and one member decided to stay behind (70+ year old lady); it was uphill on rough terrain.

Steep uphill climb

Once we arrived and got back down the hill, we got onto a raft to go to a cave.  We didn’t have very far to go but the raft did sink down a bit into the water and my feet got wet.  We then had to climb up to get to the cave.  Inside the cave it was quite warm which seems odd as a person is used to caves being cool.

Cruisin, could have used some water shoes

Into the cave, who is afraid of the dark?

Then back to the raft and a hike back to the long tail boat.  It was a ten minute ride to our lunch stop where we had a family style lunch of steam rice, deep fried fish, a stir fry and a green curry.  There was also dessert consisting of a banana wrapped in coconut cream in a banana leaf, a banana fritter and a coconut leaf wrapped with sticky rice.  

After lunch we had free time.  Some people went for a swim; some went out on a canoe and some of us just relaxed and read or visited.  I did dangle my feet in the water but my kindle and I just relaxed for the most part. 

At three, we got back on the boat and headed back to the mainland. It started to rain and most of us donned the rain gear they had given us when we started out for the day.  We stopped to check out some large, mossy rocks but due to the rain, the majority of us had put our cameras away.  

From there, back to where we were staying to relax, eat and find out what is on the agenda for the next day.