Flo visit, pt. 1: Khak Sok NP and Ko Samui

2011 started with a fabulous visit from NYer Flo and a trip to the south of Thailand. As we (didn't) celebrate New Years Eve in style somewhere over Siberia on a budget Chinese airline, we were rerrin' to go the next morning. We first went to Khao Sok National Park, a lush river valley amidst jagged limestone karsts. We did a tour of a beautiful lake, and I got to steer the longtail boat for a little:

freeloaders...
Our guide made an awesome hat out of various leaves and we took turns wearing it. The next day we did a nature hike.

That afternoon, we went on a canoeing trip. Little did we know that the trip included Thai paddlers, and just got to relax and float down. I embraced it fully.
I question the paddler's decision to halt the kayak directly beneath a sleeping tree snake so we could get a close look, but other than that it was completely lovely.
From Khao Sok we took the ferry to Ko Samui for some classic Thai beach vacation. We spend a lot of time reading and napping on the beach, took a tour of Ang Thong National Marine Park, and then packed it up for some more adventures in Bangkok.