we woke up early at the condo in sarut thani to do our laundry before the day since there's a washer here but no dryer so things needed to air dry during the day. not surprisingly, it is so humid that after being out all day everything is pretty much still soaking. the other strange thing is that it's very normal to take all your laundry to be washed somewhere. to me that is like an ultimate luxury service to have but its pretty standard here. anyway, of course by the time we collected the whole group of about 15, picked up hang hang (the dog) from the vet, bought our daily dose of yakuit, and took a few street shots, it was about 11am that we were finally leaving (despite the 9am call). surprisingly, paul and i have been some of the most prompt ones on this trip and always ready to go when necessary which is pretty unheard of for us. 
fast foward an hour's drive and here we are at Ratchaprapa Dam and Khao Sok National Park, where we where given a private tour on a took took boat (as pictured). it was getting pretty gloomy and sprinkling on the car ride over (yet still warm enough out) so we figured we were good to go. hop on the boat for about 30 minutes and tour around island after island of picturesque lands. the water is actually a dam that was blocked up about 30 years ago and has since been collecting rain water. it's now 30-40 meters deep which is a very substantial amount of water! we saw a specific type of monkey in the trees that has been isolated in this area since it's been damed off. we then pulled up to a collection of floating huts which were literally just sticks and wood beams and thatched roofs (like many of the buildings around here) and that was our resting place for lunch. when getting there paul and palmer and i were joking about how we should go swimming since we were already soaking wet by the rain that had started by that time. then what started as a joke became our next few hours of fun - they somehow convinced me (with little resistance) to jump in with them and swim around. for some reason ive always been scared of large open bodies of water and i dont know why, but this had little to fear and a lot of inviting factors. so off we go into the water, in the pouring rain and warm water. we even got hang hang in the water too! it was so much fun and i was really excited to have done it. there was a random kayak tied up to the side so of course we took it for a spin (albeit with one paddle), still in the pouring rain. its weird that it was so comfortable despite the rain - usually rain means miserable and cold but this was warm and relaxing. anyway we wrapped up after about 3 hours and the boat ride back was actually pretty miserable since it continued to pour on us and we had already changed into our set of dry clothes (no longer dry). when we got back to the parking lot i bought a souvenir shirt out of desperation for something dry, which is how i now know the name and spelling of the park. we came back to the condo and dried off for a little then went to get my first thai massage. oh... my gosh. that is not for the weak of heart. they bend and fold and stretch you in every direction. it's like the lazy-man's yoga. 2 hours of this was only 260 bhat. that is less than 10 dollars. unfreaking believable. my goal is to get at least 3 more before leaving. the parents were just supposed to drop us off while they went and eat, but then all of a sudden they were in the room with us for their massages! i was happy about that because i finally had an opportunity to treat them to something considering theyve covered every little thing for me so far. it's minor in comparison but i was glad to be able to give something. driving home they all decided "hue hue" (hungry), which i really could have gone without since we had eaten essentially two lunches but next thing i know we are at street food market and i have a plate of pad thai with shrimp and squid. surprisingly it was actually one of the first noodle dishes ive had since being here and it wasnt a very familiar flavor but still really good. it was wrapped in a fried egg like an omelet. now it's midnight after yet another long and fun day. tomorrow we travel 5 hours by car to more islands a bed and breakfast. no rain in the forecast i hope. farewell!
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