Today I took a 6 hour island tour.  It wasn't the greatest tour, but it was cheaper than the rest of the tours.  I did enjoy it though because I got to see a lot of the island.  I have a much better feel for the island now and I would live here under the right circumstances.  It kind of feels like Hawaii, but not Americanized.  Give it an Asian influence instead.  It is tropical, relaxed, but at the same time it is fast paced.  I know what I just said is an oxymoron, but I don't know how to say it any better.  It is a laid back atmosphere like any other tropical island, but in the little towns you still have a sense of urgency like in big Asian cities.  Todays tour was also very productive for me as I was able to sneak into the local bus station to get my ticket to Phuket (I leave in a few days) and I was able to buy some snacks all the while seeing a bunch of cool local spots.  Here is a random picture while driving through a town.  Notice all the wires.  What a mess!



Here is a random picture of the coastline.



Next is Big Buddha.  This thing is huge and there are some great views from up top.



This is a picture of Grandfather Rock.  Look closely can you see the rock they call Grandfather Rock?  Let me just say there is also a Grandmother Rock.  If you understand what I am talking about then you can ask me for the picture when I return.



This is a picture from the monkey show.  Basically it was a monkey on a leash climbing a palm tree to knock down the coconuts.  Afterwards we got free coconut water and coconut slices.  I think he thought my head was a coconut.



Then we saw the famous mummified monk.  Althought I have seen mummified monks elsewhere before so I wonder if this is a common practice for popular monks.  He died sometime in the 1970's.



This is a huge statue of the Chinese lady monk Jow Mae Kuan Im.



The statue was located within the Plai Laem Temple complex.  Here is the main temple.



Have you ever wondered what a monk is like?  I have seen and been around monks before, but I still have trouble seeing them as regular people.  That was until today.  I saw quite a few monks with tattoos and I saw how monks do laundry.



The more I see and interact with monks the more I am able to understand that they are just regular people who are serious about their religion.  I like monks.  I think they are cool.  Next we have the safari park where you can go to 2 waterfalls and swim in them.  You can take an atv or offroad tour through the jungle.  You can ride on an elephant.  You can watch a variety of animal shows or just take pictures with a variety of animals (like baby elephants, snakes, tiger cubs, etc.).  All for a price of course.  Here are a couple of elephants having a meal in between rides.



I don't know how I feel about this place.  Of course I want to ride the elephants and take pictures with all the animals, but am I supporting the capturing of wild animals for personal profit?  If the animals were rescued from the wild or the proceeds of the park used for conservation then I would be alright with it all, but I don't know enough about the park.  I felt the same way about the monkey show, but without thinking I had a monkey on my shoulder.  That is the problem.  Too many of us (myself included) take for granted how that animal got there and what is it's life like now.  Well that was some highlights from today's island tour.  I like the island much better than I thought I was going to.  I think my biggest problem yesterday and still today is my location.  My hotel is not near anything so it makes it difficult to do or go anywhere when every taxi driver just wants to rip you off.  If I would have stayed in Chaweng (the tourist spot)  I would have been much closer to everything.  Well at least it is nice and quiet over here in the middle of nowhere.  For dinner I ate at the restaurant next to the hotel (it is the restaurant for the hotel just not owned by the hotel) which is a family run restaurant.  It is owned by a German guy and his Thai wife.  Their kids work at the restaurant and their grandchildren hangout there.  It is kind of interesting to see 3 generations of a local family all working and hanging out together at the same time.  You can tell that family is very important over here.  Anyways, I had Massaman curry (a yellowish curry) with chicken, onions, potatoes, cashews, bell peppers, and rice of course.  It was delicious.  Some of the best curry I have ever had.



I have had curry like this before (curry is just a mixture of ground up spices), but never with bell peppers or cashews.  The cashews did nothing special for me.  However, I thought the bell peppers were a great addition that I would like to see more often in my curry.  Actually a lot of Thai food uses bell peppers.  Maybe that is why I like Thai food so much.  I love bell peppers.