Reading notes and seeing photos of Halloween in San Francisco made me a bit wistful. I miss San Francisco quite a bit and sing the praises of my fair hometown to pretty much any traveler who will listen.

A lot has happened over the past few days so here's a summary. I went snorkeling at Phi Phi, saw some beautiful colorful fish and coral, swam with a school of gorgeous little yellow fish, and got plenty of sun. On the boat back, I met a Canadian and his two English travelmates on their way to Railay Beach, and I convinced them to come to Tonsai instead. Spent a wonderfully chill final evening in Krabi filled with good conversations with fellow travelers and thanks from my recruits for bringing them to the place.

Jon and I spent Tuesday traveling from Krabi to Khao Sok National Park, about midway between Krabi and Ko Pha Ngan. Because of missing the scheduled tourist bus from Tonsai to the park, we instead took a longboat/ songthauw/ mini-bus/ local bus/ taxi combination to get there, which provided us with some entertainment. The local busses and mini-busses in particular are rather amusing, as the driver is quite often blaring some Thai pop music that Jon and I enjoy singing along to in mock-Thai.

In Khao Sok, we spent the afternoon tubing down a river with our guide, Neung, who worked at our family-owned guesthouse, Khao Sok Jungle Huts. The next day, we went on a full day lake tour, which involved driving to the park's reservoir, riding across the lake in a longboat, and then having lunch at a small floating bungalow along the shore. We were to spend the rest of the afternoon on a jungle trek, but Jon's flipflops did not pass shoe inspection and so he hung back in the bungalow's hammock with his book and I went on the trek with a Belgian couple, a German guy and a Danish couple and their two cute children that I rather enjoyed listening to speaking Danish.

The hike was four hours long and involved walking through a river and along its extremely muddy and rocky banks, meandering through dense rainforest and ducking so as to avoid whacking one's head on low-hanging branches, negotiating a 2 mile-long pitch dark, bat and giant spider-infested cave through which the river ran, and emerging on the other side. At one point in the cave, there is a rope tied and you must grab it and take a blind leap into a rapid current whirlpool up to your neck. It was quite treacherous, and the fact that those Danish kids made it through without shedding a tear astounds me. (I recommend that anyone who has ever been on one of Boris's hikes and complained throughout it to send him an email apology as soon as convenient.)

And now a Thai culture note. That hike got me thinking... I am quickly learning that few cultures in this world are as safety-conscious we Americans. Since I arrived in Thailand, I have seen small children playing by the roadside. I have seen parents drive around with their 2 year-olds in their laps. I have seen 7 year-olds hacking away at coconuts with machetes. I have seen families of four squished onto the seats of motorbikes, riding around with no helmets. Part of it makes me react with a bit of shock, but mostly I just scratch my head and think these people know how to live. :)

We spent today traveling via bus/boat to Ko Pha Ngan, where we will stay for a few days. Even though it is much more built up than most places I've been so far, I like the energy here. The Full Moon Party is on Saturday, so be assured of stories.